Anja Kaesmacher, married name Anja Börner (born 3 September 1974) is a German operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

and a teacher of music, ethics and performing arts. She has performed contemporary music, especially world premieres by

Manfred Trojahn Manfred Trojahn (born 22 October 1949) is a German composer, flutist, conductor, writer and academic teacher. Career Trojahn was born Cremlingen in Lower Saxony and began his musical studies in 1966 in orchestra music at the music school of Brau ...

Life and career

Born in

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

, Kaesmacher studied with Charlotte Lehmann and

Ingeborg Hallstein Ingeborg Hallstein (born 23 May 1936) is a German coloratura soprano, known for the purity and range of her voice. She had an international career as a guest singer on the opera houses of Europe and was a member of the Bavarian State Opera from 1 ...

at the

Hochschule für Musik Würzburg The Hochschule für Musik Würzburg (University of Music Würzburg) was founded in 1797 by Franz Joseph Fröhlich as Collegium musicum academicum (Academic college of music). From 1921 to 1973, it was named Bayerisches Staatskonservatorium der M ...

and completed her studies in 2000 with the opera and concert exam. Since 2006, she has been taught by Monika Bürgener. Kaesmacher made her debut at the

Mainfranken Theater Würzburg Mainfranken Theater Würzburg is a theatre in Würzburg, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. ...

in the 1997/98 season and remained a member of the ensemble until 2008. She appeared there in Wagner's ''

Die Feen ''Die Feen'' (, ''The Fairies'') is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. The German libretto was written by the composer after Carlo Gozzi's '' La donna serpente''. ''Die Feen'' was Wagner's first completed opera, but remained unperformed in ...

''. She then began to work freelance. She has appeared as a guest at the

Staatstheater Wiesbaden The Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden (Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden), also known as the Staatstheater Wiesbaden or Theater Wiesbaden, is a German theatre located in Wiesbaden, in the German state of Hesse. The company produces operas, plays, b ...

Staatstheater Braunschweig The is a theatre company and opera house in Braunschweig, Germany, presenting and producing music theatre (opera, operetta, musical), Tanztheater, theatre, Theatre for Young Audiences and concerts. The is owned by the State of Lower Saxony. ...

Staatstheater Kassel The Staatstheater Kassel is a state-owned and operated German theater in Kassel, Germany. The theatre employs around 500 people. The opera house has 953 seats, the Playhouse Theatre 540 seats and the Fridericianum 99 seats. With its total number ...

Meiningen Court Theatre The Staatstheater Meiningen (State Theatre Meiningen), also called the Meiningen Theatre, is a four-division theater in the Thuringian town of Meiningen, Germany. The theater was founded in 1831 and was called ″Meininger Hoftheater″ (Meiningen ...

Bielefeld Opera The Bielefeld Opera is the venue of Städtische Bühnen Bielefeld (Municipal stages Bielefeld) in Bielefeld, Germany. It is a ''Dreisparten Haus'' (three-department house), offering Play (theatre), plays, music (opera, musical theatre), and ball ...

, Theater Heildelberg and

Theater Chemnitz Theater Chemnitz is a German municipal theater organization based in Chemnitz. Performances of opera, ballet, plays, symphonic concerts, and puppet theater take place in its three main venues: * ''Opernhaus Chemnitz'' (for opera, ballet and musica ...

, among others. She performed the double role of Giullia/Carolina Fabbri in

's opera ''Limonen aus Sizilien''. In the field of contemporary music, Kaesmacher has worked with conductors such as

Jun Märkl Jun Märkl (born 11 February 1959 in Munich) is a German conductor. Biography One of three children born to a Japanese pianist mother and a German violinist father, Märkl studied piano and the violin as a youth. Beginning in 1978 at the Musikhoc ...

and

Matthias Pintscher Matthias Pintscher (born 29 January 1971) is a German composer, conductor and academic teacher. Biography Pintscher was born in Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia. As a youth, he studied the violin and conducting. He began his music studies with Gise ...

and the orchestras including the

MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra The MDR-Sinfonieorchester (MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra) is a German radio orchestra based in Leipzig. It is the radio orchestra of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, the public broadcaster for the German states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony ...

. She appeared at the Musica Viva festival in Strasbourg in 2007 in Unsuk Chin's ''Die Troerinnen'' and ''Kalà'', with

Juanita Lascarro Juanita Lascarro is a Colombian soprano in opera and concert, and a voice teacher. She began her career in Europe in the title role of ''Daphne'' by Richard Strauss at several houses. Based at Oper Frankfurt, she has performed leading roles at m ...

, Ruth Sandhoff, , the

WDR Rundfunkchor Köln The WDR Rundfunkchor Köln (West German Radio Choir Cologne) is the choir of the German broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), based in Cologne. It was founded in 1947. The choir premiered works by contemporary composers including Arnold Schoenb ...

and the

Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra The Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra (also known in English as the SWR Baden-Baden Freiburg Symphony Orchestra and in German as the Sinfonieorchester des Südwestrundfunks) was a German radio orchestra located in the German cities of Ba ...

conducted by

Rupert Huber Rupert Huber may refer to: * Rupert Huber (composer) Rupert W.M. Huber (born 1967 in Mödling, Austria) is an Austrian composer and musician. In 1994, Huber founded ''Huber Musik'' to publish his own music, and in the same year, founded Tosca w ...

, in 2007. She has performed several world premieres of

's works, such as the ''lettera amorosa'' in 2007 on the occasion of the reopening of the Anna Amalia Library in Weimar, ''Che fie di me'' for two sopranos and orchestra, together with soprano

Mojca Erdmann Mojca Erdmann (born 29 December 1975) is a German soprano who is particularly associated with the List of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart operas. She created the role of Ariadne in Rihm's ''Dionysos (opera), Dionysos'' at the Salzburg F ...

and the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra, and in 2009 ''Ariosi'' for soprano,

basset horn The basset horn (sometimes hyphenated as basset-horn) is a member of the clarinet family of musical instruments. Construction and tone Like the clarinet, the instrument is a wind instrument with a single reed and a cylindrical bore (wind in ...

and orchestra, with

Sabine Meyer Sabine Meyer (born 30 March 1959) is a German classical clarinetist. Biography Born in Crailsheim, Baden-Württemberg, Meyer began playing the clarinet at an early age. Her first teacher was her father, also a clarinetist. She studied with Otto ...

and the conducted by Trojahn. In 2015 she sang ''

Four Last Songs The ''Four Last Songs'' (), Op. posth., for soprano and orchestra were composed in 1948 when Strauss was 84. They are – with the exception of the song "Malven" (Mallows), composed later the same year – the final completed works of Richard ...

'' by Richard Strauss in

Bad Nauheim Bad Nauheim () is a town in the Wetteraukreis district of Hesse state of Germany. As of 2020, Bad Nauheim has a population of 32,493. The town is approximately north of Frankfurt am Main, on the east edge of the Taunus mountain range. It is a w ...

. In addition to singing, she studied philosophy and Catholic theology at the

Justus Liebig University Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the German-speaking world. It is named after ...

from 2010 to 2011 and passed the second

Staatsexamen The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future physicians, dentists, physical therapists, teachers, research librarians, archivists, pharmacists, food chemists, psyc ...

for teaching music and ethics in May 2014. Kaesmacher achieved a teaching qualification for the subject

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

in 2015 and has worked at the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Schule in Wetzlar. Kaesmacher is married to the German tenor ; they have two sons.

Awards

* 1993 Bundespreis ''

Jugend musiziert ''Jugend musiziert'' is a music competition for children and adolescents in Germany on regional, federal and national level. ''Jugend musiziert'' in Germany In Germany, the nationwide competition refers to young adults up to 20 years and for t ...

'' * 2003

Bayerischer Kunstförderpreis Bayerischer Kunstförderpreis is a Bavarian arts and literary prize. Selected winners Source: 2002 :Performing arts * Stefanie Dietrich (actress) * Barbara Schöller (actress) * Christian Hettkamp (actor) * Marc Oliver Schulze (actor) ...

in der Sparte Darstellende Kunst.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaesmacher, Anja German operatic sopranos German voice teachers 1974 births Living people People from Trier