The young German/Ethiopian mezzo-soprano Sarah Ferede comes from Hamburg, where she
took her first musical steps as a member of the Hamburg State Opera’s children’s
choir ‘Die Alsterspatzen’. From an early age, she subsequently took private singing
lessons with Professor Charlotte Lehmann in Hannover.
Sarah has been a prize winner at various singing competitions such as the Wiesbadener
Mozart Preis 2007, the Berlin Bundeswettbewerb Gesang 2010 (special prize) as well
as the prestigious Competizione dell´Opera 2010 (special prize) at the Semperoper
Dresden (Saxonian State Opera), and she took part in numerous musical events and
concerts for prize winners such as the 2007 Gala Concert of the Kammeroper Schloss
Rheinsberg.
In addition, she appeared as a soloist in works such as Mahler’s 3rd Symphony under
Stefan Soltesz, Mahler’s 2nd Symphony under Alexander Joel and Bruckner’s Te Deum
under Georg Mark. And she sang Clothilde in a concert performance of Bellini’s Norma
alongside Edita Gruberova under the baton of Andriy Yurkevych at the Berliner Philharmonie.
In 2014, she sang Symphony No. 2 by G. Mahler under Kent Nagano at the Audi Summer
Concerts, as well as Bruckner’s Te Deum and Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream
alongside noted actor Klaus Maria Brandauer at the Herrenchiemsee Festspiele under
Enoch zu Guttenberg. Concert engagments for 2014-2015 and 2016 include: Braunfels’
‘Das Spiel von der Auferstehung des Herrn’ and Jonathan Dove’s church opera ‘Tobia
and the Angel’ with the Münchener Rundfunkorchester (Munich Radio Orchestra) under
Ulf Schirmer, Verdi’s Requiem at the Berliner Philharmonie under Enoch zu Guttenberg,
with whom she performs a Bruckner program at Rheingau Musik Festival 2017 and in
2018 Bach’s Christmas Oratorio at the Philharmonie am Gasteig in Munich, and concert
performances of Strauss’ opera Elektra in Beijing and Shanghai under the baton of
Charles Dutoit.
In addition, Sarah Ferede has sung in the opera and concert fields under renowned
conductors such as Yves Abel, Christoph Altstaedt, Giordano Bellincampi, Enrico Delamboye,
Howard Griffith, Leopold Hager, Karen Kamensek, Axel Kober, Friedemann Layer, Daniel
Lipton, Marc Piollet and Markus Poschner.
Since 2005 she has participated in numerous theatre and opera productions: At the
Altes Schauspielhaus Stuttgart she performed the part of Sharon Graham in Terrence
McNally’s Master Class Maria Callas. In the 2006-07 Season, she was a member of the
ensemble at the Landestheater Coburg. Her roles there included Nancy in Martha and
Meg Page in Falstaff. In 2007-08, she was awarded the Franz-Josef-Weisweiler-Scholarship
at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, where she subsequently appeared in roles such as
2nd Lady in The Magic Flute, Antonia in Tiefland, Giovanna in Rigoletto, 2nd Maid
and the Confidante in Elektra. In 2008, she made her role debut as Carmen at the
Theater fuer Niedersachsen in Hildesheim.
From 2008-09 to 2011-12, Sarah was a member of the Staatstheater Braunschweig’s ensemble,
where she for instance performed Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Alcina in Orlando Paladino
by Joseph Haydn, the leading role of the Tochter in the world premiere of the opera
‘Baruchs Schweigen’ by Ella Milch-Sheriff, Orlowsky in Die Fledermaus (The Bat),
Olga and Larina in Eugene Onegin, the title role in Carmen and Hermia in A Midsummer
Night's Dream. In the 2011-12 Season, new parts there included Rosina in Il Barbiere
di Siviglia and Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro.
In the same season she jumped in at short notice as Cherubino at Augsburg Theatre,
Larina at the Nationaltheater Mannheim and Meg Page at the Staatstheater Hannover.
In 2013, she returned to Mannheim as Olga in Eugene Onegin.
At Herrenchiemsee Festspiele 2013, Sarah has made her role debut as the Komponist
in R. Strauss’ opera Ariadne auf Naxos under Ljubka Biagioni to great acclaim.
Since 2012-13, Sarah Ferede is a member of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Duesseldorf-Duisburg,
where she performed roles such as Hansel and Getrud in Hansel and Gretel, Mary/The
Flying Dutchman, 2nd Lady/The Magic Flute and Lovis in the world première of ‘Ronja
Räubertochter’. In the recent past, she has made some important role debuts at the
Deutsche Oper am Rhein: Adalgisa in Bellini’s Norma in 2013-14, followed by her highly
acclaimed Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther (Duisburg première) in 2014-15. In the
2016-17 season, she makes her role debut as Eboli in Don Carlo followed by 4 role
debuts in 2017/18: Elisabetta in Maria Stuarda (première), Santuzza in Cavalleria
rusticana, Sieglinde in The Valkyrie (Duisburg première) and Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi.
In addition, she will appear at the Komische Oper Berlin as Boulotte in the première
of J. Offenbach’s operetta Blue Beard in the same season– her role debut as well.
Last update May 2017
