Simone Kermes

Simone Kermes Biography

Simone Kermes is a German coloratura soprano, especially known for her virtuoso voice, suited to the opera seria genre, of the Baroque and early Classical repertoires. Born in Leipzig, Kermes studied with Helga Forner at the Felix Mendelssohn College of Music and Theatre in her home city. She also attended master classes of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer Dieskau. In 1993 she won first prize in the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Competition in Berlin, and in 1996 she was awarded second prize in the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig. Kermes has performed at many important theatres, festivals and concert halls internationally, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Staatsoper Stuttgart, the Bonn Opera House, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Schwetzingen Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Rheingau Musik Festival, Festa de musica Lisbona, the Ruhr Triennale arts festival, Triennale di Colonia, Dresda MDR, Figures sacrées Paris, Autumn of Praga, Bach festival Leipzig , and Bonn e Resonanzen Vienna. She has also performed with many notable orchestras, including Gewandhaus Lipsia, Symphonic Orchestra of Prague, Venice Baroque Orchestra, Classical Orchestra of Madrid, Staatskapelle of Dresden, Orchestra of the Comunale of Bologna, Orchestra regionale Toscana, Complesso Barocco, Orchestra of the Fiandre. On the opera stage she has performed many roles, including Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, and the title role in Euridice. She has also portrayed numerous Händel heroines, including Adelaide in Lotario, Asteria in Tamerlano, Laodice in Mitridate Eupatore, Merab in Saul, and the title roles in Alcina, Deidamia, and Rodelinda.