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The German soprano, Anja Petersen, orginally studied violin and music pedagogic at the Music College, Stuttgart, before devoting herself fully to singing. Remaining at the College, she studied voice with the mezzo soprano Dunja Vejzovic. Whilst still a student she was spotted and immediately engaged by the Ensemble Modern. In 2005, she was awarded the Erna-Schlüter-Prize for an exceptional performance by a young singer, aussergewöhnliche sängerische Leistungen in jungen Jahren.
The extraordinary versatility of Anja Petersen has won her great repute both in opera and as a concert singer. She lives in Berlin and has a diverse repertoire ranging from the Baroque to modern, eg. Jacques Barraqué's Mélodies de jeunesse for the Ultraschall Festival, January 2012 or J.S. Bach's B Minor Mass (BWV 232), in the Philharmonie Berlin, March 2012, or Graun's Te Deum with the Lautten Compagney , 2011. Since 2010, she is permanent member of the RIAS-Kammerchor.
Recently Anja Petersen's operatic repertoire has seen a new departure into the more lyric repertoire of Mimì, Pamina, Rusalka, Liù, Lucia and Traviata. She reworked her Fach with the Voice Teacher Janice Alder-Alford and her husband, pianist Prof Jonathan Alder (UdK, Berlin). Her first engagement was at the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater from 2002 to 2007. Her roles included Gilda, Zerbinetta, Susanna, Adina and Olympia. From there she was further engaged in Theater Augsburg in 2007-2008, where her repertoire was extended to include Blondchen, Despina and Oskar. As Blondchen she was engaged as a guest not only in the Staatstheater Wiesbaden and Theater Bremen, but also in the Semperoper Dresden. Further performances have seen her appear at the New European Festival as Queen of the Night and also at the Staatsoper Stuttgart as Polyneikes in the World Première of Younghi Paagh-Paan's chamber opera Mondschatten.
Now June 2012 sees Anja Petersen recording for the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, as the main soprano role Kathie in The Student Prince with the conductor John Mauceri. |
