+++
date = "2017-11-25T09:50:00-05:00"
discipline = "Soprano"
lastmod = "2017-11-25T09:50:00-05:00"
primary_image = "https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1545409169/media/webhook-uploads/1511621333953/20091004_anja-518.jpg.jpg"
publishDate = "2017-11-25T09:50:00-05:00"
related_companies = ["scene/companies/semperoper-dresden.md","scene/companies/oper-frankfurt.md"]
slug = "anja-petersen"
title = "Anja Petersen"
website = "http://anjapetersen.com/"
+++

The soprano Anja Petersen initially completed studies in violin and music education in Stuttgart before devoting herself entirely to singing, finishing her education in the soloist class with highest marks. While
still a student, she was a member of the Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart and appeared with them in many international concerts.

From 2002 to 2007 Anja Petersen (at the time, Anja Metzger) was a member of the Oldenburg State Theatre ensemble, where she developed and performed many lyric coloratura roles amongst which Gilda, Zerbinetta,
Susanna, Adina and Olympia. In 2005 Anja Petersen was awarded the Erna Schlüter Prize for “Extraordinary Vocal Achievement as a Young Performer”. Since 2007 she has performed as a soloist in several productions of the West German Radio Orchestra; as Blonde she has given guest performances at the Wiesbaden State Theatre, the Bremen Theatre and the Semperoper Dresden; she was Queen of the Night at the New European
Festival and Polyneikes in the Stuttgart State Opera premiere of Younghi Paagh-Paan’s chamber opera, *Mondschatten*.

In the 2007 / 2008 season she was a member of the Augsburg Theatre ensemble where she appeared as Despina in *Così fan tutte*, Blondchen in *The Abduction from the Seraglio*, and Oscar in Verdi’s *Un ballo in
maschera*.

Anja Petersen has been an active guest-performer since the birth of her daughter in 2008 and can be heard both nationally and internationally in a repertory which stretches from the baroque to the modern.

In 2010 Anja Petersen became a member of the RIAS Chamber Choir and in 2014 and 2015 she held a lectureship at the Berlin University of the Arts. In June of 2014 she appeared as First Israelite in Carl Philipp
Emmanuel Bach’s *Die Israeliten in der Wüste* as part of the Leipzig Bach Festival. This performance, conducted by Christoph Spering at the St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig, was released as a CD by Sony in March of 2015.

In October 2014 she jumped in, at extremely short notice, to substitute at the world premiere of Arnulf Herrmann’s *Drei Gesänge am offenen Fenster* with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Herkulessaal Munich, a feat for which she received wide acclaim from the international press.

In December 2016 she is Lady Macbeth in the world premiere of Frank Schwemmer’s opera *Macbeth* in Berlin and in 2017 she will again be performing with the BR Symphony Orchestra in Munich (June) and sing the female leading part Johanna in Arnulf Herrmann’s opera *Der Mieter* at the Oper Frankfurt.
