Katja Pieweck was born in Hanover. She studied voice with Judith Beckmann at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg, where she participated in various masterclasses, including those with Elio Battaglia, Brigitte Fassbaender, and James Wagner.

Katja is a prize-winner of numerous competitions, including the Oberdörfer-Prize 2007 by the Körber-Foundation, the ‘Kulturpreis der Berenberg Bank Stiftung’, and was the winner of the International Robert Stolz Singing Competition 2000 in Hamburg.

From 1997 to 1999 she was a member of the International Opera Studio at the Hamburgische Staatsoper, where she appeared in roles such as Sélysette in the new production of Ariane et Barbe-Bleue (Dukas) conducted by Ingo Metzmacher, and as Siegrune in Die Walküre (Wagner) by Gerd Albrecht. In the season of 1998/99 she sang Mercédès in Carmen (Bizet) and Alisa in a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti) under the baton of Frédéric Chaslin.

In 1999, Katja became a regular soloist of the Staatsoper. The roles of her first seasons included: Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini); Mother in Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Offenbach); First Lady in Die Zauberflöte (Mozart); Mother in Hänsel und Gretel (Humperdinck); Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart); Annina in La Traviata (Verdi); Giovanna and Maddalena in Rigoletto (Verdi); Suzuki in Madama Butterfly (Puccini); and Annina in Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss) directed by Konwitschny. In the 2002/03 Season she appeared as Magdalena in the premiere of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner), also directed by Konwitschny.

Further roles at the Hamburgische Staatsoper have been: Fenena in Nabucco (Verdi) under the direction of Karoline Gruber; Mère Marie in Dialogues des Carmélites (Poulenc); and Marquise de Berkenfield in La Fille du Régiment (Donizetti). In the season of 2006/07 Katja Pieweck reprised the roles of Marcellina, Suzuki, and Mother (Hänsel und Gretel). A highlight of the season was the role of Klementia from the opera Sancta Susanna (Hindemith), with the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra in a special concert also conducted by Simone Young. In 2007 she gave her role debut as Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde (Wagner) under Simone Young. In the ballet version of J. S. Bach`s Christmas Oratorio, directed by John Neumeier, Katja sang the alto solos. In the new 2008 production of Wagner’s Ring cycle she made her role debut as Fricka in the premiere of Rheingold. Other notable roles in 2008/09 were Meg Page in Falstaff (Verdi) and Adelaide in Arabella (Strauss). In the 2009/10 Season, Katja will appear as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni (Mozart) and Alice Ford in Falstaff.

Outside her engagements with the Hamburgische Staatsoper Katja was a guest soloist at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin in 2003/04 as the First Maid in Elektra (Strauss), and in 2003 performed at the Staatstheater Mainz as Eglantine in Euryanthe (Weber) with great success. In 2005 she appeared in two concerts of Jenufa (Janáček) with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle and also in the same year as Aufseherin in Elektra at the Bayerischen Staatsoper München under Peter Schneider. At the 2004 and 2006 International Herrenchiemsee Festpiele she sang the part of Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, and in 2007 made her role debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni.

Besides her operatic activities, Katja Pieweck is a passionate concert-, lied- and oratorio-singer. Numerous concerts led her to various European countries as well as to Israel, Russia, Japan and the USA. She has worked with distinguished conductors such as Ingo Metzmacher, Gerd Albrecht, Rolf Beck, Enoch zu Guttenberg, Sebastian Weigle, and Krzysztof Penderecki.

Last update Feb. 2010