The young German contralto Maria Radner, celebrated by the press as a „rare jewel“, already made a name for herself in her first opera premiere, triumphing as Cornelia in Handel’s Giulio Cesare at the Theater Hagen.

Maria Radner studied opera at the Robert-Schumann-Hochschule Düsseldorf with Prof. Michaela Krämer, and since 2006 with KS Marga Schiml in Karlsruhe.

Her first stage experiences include her university’s productions of Viva la Mamma by Gaetano Donizetti in the role of Dorotea Caccini and later as Marcellina in Mozart’s Nozze di Figaro. In June 2005 she sang the role of “Mother” in the opera production of Der Herr Gevatter in Düsseldorf and Prinzregententheater Munich. Besides her university projects she also pursues a burgeoning concert career in the fields of oratorio and lied. Her repertoire includes the most renowned oratorios, and she has a marked preference for the romantic lied.

In December 2006 she won the Bundeswettbewerb Gesang in the concert category and in May 2007 the Cantilena Gesangswettbewerb in Bayreuth. Maria Radner is a recipient of the Richard Wagner Verband Bayreuth scholarship.

2007/08