The German counter-tenor with Ghanaian roots was born in Nuremberg. He started his vocal career at the age of ten as a member of the noted Windsbacher Knabenchor in Germany. With this choir he took part in various CD-, radio- and TV-productions as well as in concert tours throughout the world. Grown up, he studied trumpet with Prof. Reinhold Friedrich in Karlsruhe and thereupon became a member of the WDR Rundfunkorchester in Cologne as a trumpet player. At the same time he studied voice with Kai Wessel at the Cologne Music University from which he graduated with distinction. Besides, Andreas Scholl (Basle), Charles Brett (London) and Thomas Quasthoff (Berlin) have given an important impetus to Yosemeh’s vocal development.

Since his concert debut with Reinhard Goebel and musica antiqua, Yosemeh has been performing as a soloist with well known orchestras and ensembles such as collegium cartusianum, Capella Istropolitana, Polnische Kammerphilharmonie, Kammerorchester Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Gächinger Kantorei, WDR Rundfunkorchester, Potsdamer Kammerakademie and Lautten Compagney Berlin under conductors such as Karl Heinz Steffens, Helmuth Rilling, Andrea Marcon, Denis Comtet, Wolfgang Katschner, Nicholas McGegan and Konrad Junghänel. He guested at renowned venues, such as Cologne Philharmonic Hall, Essen Philharmonic Hall, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Early Music Festival of Brugge, Music Festival La folle journée in Nantes (France), Rheingau Music Festival, MDR Musiksommer as well as in Bilbao and Lisbon.

Yosemeh furthermore appears frequently to great acclaim with the ensemble “concerto grosso Friedrich” under Reinhold Friedrich at venues such as Liederhalle Stuttgart, Glocke Bremen, Festspielhaus Luzern, Cologne Philharmonic Hall, Herkulessaal Munich and Forum in Ludwigsburg. This successful programme was CD recorded for Capriccio.

Concerts organized by Villa musica Mainz with it’s baroque ensemble telemann consort and a world premiere with the Nationale Reisopera at the Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam complement Yosemeh’s diverse activities. A highlight in 2011 was a very successful Japan tour with Bach´s Mass in B minor under the baton of Morten Schuldt Jensen.

Besides, the young counter-tenor took part in various CD and radio recordings for instance with the SR (Saarbrücken), SWR (Stuttgart), WDR Cologne, DF (Baden-Baden) and the MDR (Halle) .. to name but a few.

On beeing a finalist of the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb and a prize winner of the international competition Old Music in Brugge Detlev Glanert composed for Yosemeh Adjei the music for the WDR radio play Orlando furioso. This composition was later edited by Random House, New York.

Yosemeh Adjei has the remarkable flexibility to sing Ancient Music and Contemporary Music as well: He performed the oratorio Athalia at the Halle Handel Festival with La Stagione Frankfurt, followed by Giulio Cesare at the Göttingen International Handel Festival in 2007. Further projects in 2007 included Oberon at Theater Detmold, Handel´s Siroe at the Wuppertaler Bühnen as well as Niccolo Piccinni´s Catone in Uttica at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. In 2008, he sang Artemis in Hans Werner Henze´s opera Phaedra at the Theater Heidelberg and Anfione in the world premiere of Adriana Hölszky’s opera HYBRIS/Niobe at Schwetzinger Festspiele. In 2009, the counter-tenor returned to the Schwetzinger Festspiele to sing the title role in Handel´s Ezio, performed the part of Jalal in Alex Nowitz´ Bestmannoper at the Theater Osnabrück and guested as the Voice of Apollo in Britten’s Death in Venice at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich. In 2010, he revived Anfione in HYBRIS/Niobe at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon, he was engaged at the Halle Handel Festival as vocal soloist in the Handel-Dance-Project Maria xxx and appeared as Gisomondo in concert performances of A.Scarlatti’s opera Penelope la casta with the Lautten Compagney at the Rheingau Music Festival and at the WDR Cologne (CD production for Sony BMG).

Further engagements in the 2010/11 Season included: Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night´s Dream at the Staatstheater Braunschweig, Antippo in Telemann´s opera Der geduldige Sokrates at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich (revival in 2011/12), Bajazete in Vivaldi´s Tamerlano at the festival Schwetzinger Winter and the part of Eustazio in Handel’s Rinaldo at the Rheingau Musik Festival with the Lautten Compagney under Wolfgang Katschner: In the 2011/12 Season this production toured Switzerland and Austria, now with Yosemeh as Goffredo, guested at the De Singel in Antwerp and ends with a final concert at the Philharmonic Hall Warsaw in 2012.

Further engagements in 2012 include: Polinesso in Handel´s Ariodante at the Theater Ulm, the male leading role in Orfeo and Euridice by Gluck at the Theater Regensburg as well as John Cage´s Europeras directed by Heiner Goebbels at the Ruhr Triennale 2012 in Bochum.

Last update February 2012