Born in Feuchtwangen, Bavaria, soprano Christiane Karg completed her studies at the Mozarteum University Salzburg under Heiner Hopfner and in the lied class of Wolfgang Holzmair, where she was additionally awarded the Lilli Lehmann Medal for her master's degree in opera performance. While still completing her studies, she made her highly acclaimed debut at the Salzburg Festival.

Christiane Karg has been heard in the most celebrated roles of her fach, having performed at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Opéra national de Paris as Pamina, at the Lyric Opera Chicago and at the Met in New York as Susanna, at La Scala in Milan as Sophie and Euridice, at the Vienna State Opera as Mélisande, at the Hamburg State Opera as Pamina, Mélisande, Daphne and Contessa, at the Berlin State Opera as Micaëla, and at the Bavarian State Opera as Pamina, Blanche (Dialogues des Carmélites) and Fiordiligi. As Artist in Residence at the Graz Musikverein, Christiane Karg was heard for the first time as Rosalinde in a concert performance of Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus, and as Rusalka in Antonín Dvořák's eponymous fairy-tale opera she made her acclaimed role debut at the Berlin State Opera.

The soprano is an equally sought-after performer on the international concert stage. Her musical partnerships to date have included names such as Ivor Bolton, Herbert Blomstedt, Riccardo Chailly, Christoph Eschenbach, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Iván Fischer, Daniel Harding, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Thomas Hengelbrock, Manfred Honeck, Mariss Jansons, Fabio Luisi, Marek Janowski, Christian Măcelaru, Antonello Manacorda, Andrew Manze, Klaus Mäkelä, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Kirill Petrenko and Christian Thielemann. These have paved the way for collaborations with major orchestras such as the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Philadelphia Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Bamberg and Vienna Symphony Orchestras and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.

Engagements in the current season include Ravel's Shéhérazade with the Cleveland Orchestra under Elim Chan, Mahler's Fourth Symphony with the Concertgebouw Orchestra under Andris Nelsons and the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Daniel Harding, Mahler's Second Symphony with the Staatskapelle Berlin under Sir Simon Rattle, as well as a tour of Spain with the Gürzenich Orchestra under Andrés Orozco-Estrada with concertante excerpts from Richard Strauss' Capriccio. Christiane Karg will also make her operatic debut at the Staatsoper Berlin as the Governess in Britten's The Turn of the Screw.

Christiane Karg continues to cultivate her passion for song and chamber music projects, with several recent recital appearances with the Aris Quartett. She is a regular guest at the Schubertiade in Hohenems and Schwarzenberg, as well as at London's Wigmore Hall, where she was artist in residence for the 2019/2020 season. She has given numerous recitals at the Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus, the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin and at the Salzburg Festival.

Off stage, Christiane Karg is the leader and creator of her own concert series in her hometown of Feuchtwangen, as artistic director of the KunstKlang festival, while also spearheading the project "Be part of it! - Music for All", championing music education for children and young people. For her services, she received the Brahms Prize of the Brahms Society of Schleswig-Holstein, the Bavarian Culture Prize in the category of art, and the Bavarian Order of Merit.

In spring 2017, Christiane Karg released her critically acclaimed solo CD Parfum with settings of texts by Charles Baudelaire, Leconte de Lisle, Paul Verlaine, Tristan Klingsor and Victor Hugo on the Berlin Classics label. She also received the coveted Echo Klassik for her recording of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro under Yannick Nézet-Séguin in the category Opera Recording of the Year. Her additional discs Scene! with the Arcangelo Baroque Ensemble under Jonathan Cohen as well as her first lied disc Verwandlung - Lieder eines Jahres were honoured with the renowned music prize in the category Solo Recording. Her recordings Amoretti with arias by Mozart, Christoph Willibald Gluck and André Grétry, and Heimliche Aufforderung with songs by Richard Strauss are also available on the Berlin Classics label.

Currently an exclusive artist with Harmonia Mundi, Christiane Karg can be heard on disc in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Choral Fantasy with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra under Pablo Heras-Casado, and in her solo album Erinnerung (Memory) with lieder by Gustav Mahler. Her latest solo-recording Das Licht der Welt - A Christmas Promenade, together with pianist Gerold Huber and the Bavarian Radio Choir under Howard Arman, showcases enchanting, lesser-known festive works, which she has since performed in recital at the Vienna Musikverein. Further recordings as a soloist in Mahler's Second Symphony with the Czech Philharmonic under Semjon Bychkov, and in Haydn's Creation with the Dresden Philharmonic under Marek Janowski, have been released on the Pentatone label.

2025 | 2026

www.christianekarg.com

This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorized by the artist’s management.