Esther Dierkes

German opera singer

Esther Dierkes (born 9 February 1990) is a German operatic, concert and lied soprano.

Life and career

Born in Münster, Dierkes received her first voice lessons at the age of 13. She achieved first prize in the national competition Jugend musiziert. From 2009 to 2015, she studied opera singing at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts in Hedwig Fassbender's class.^[1]^[2]^[3]

In the autumn of 2014 Dierkes toured Poland with the Landesjugendorchester [de] of North Rhine-Westphalia, conducted by Hubert Buchberger with concerts in the Filharmonia Wrocławska [pl], the Kraków Philharmonic and in the University of Warsaw.^[4] The concert with works by Arnold Schoenberg, Franz Schubert, Alban Berg and Max Reger was broadcast by WDR 3.^[5]

Dierkes attended master classes with Gerd Uecker, Rudolf Piernay, Edith Wiens and Helmut Deutsch.^[6]^[1] She was a member of the opera studio of the Staatstheater Stuttgart from 2015^[6] and became a member of its ensemble with the 2017/18 season,^[7] where she appeared as Venus in Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld,^[8] Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni^[9] and in the title role in Dvořák's Rusalka.^[10]^[11]

She appeared at the Glyndebourne Festival as the First Lady in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte in 2019.^[6] She is a regular guest at the Kölner Philharmonie, Berliner Philharmonie, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, and Alte Oper in Frankfurt. She has worked with conductors such as Hartmut Haenchen, Sylvain Cambreling, Risto Joost, Marc Soustrot, Andrew Manze, Ulf Schirmer and Bertrand de Billy.^[1]

Personal life

Dierkes is married to the baritone Björn Bürger^[12]^[13]

Scholarships, honours and prizes

2009: Scholarship of the International Association of Wagner Societies^[6]
2010: Scholarship of the Cusanuswerk^[6]
2011: Scholarship of the Da–Ponte–Stiftung^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Esther Dierkes Staatsoper Stuttgart, retrieved 23 October 2019
^ "Esther Dierkes". Bayerische Staatsoper (in German). Retrieved 18 September 2024.
^ "Hedwig Fassbender". Hedwig Fassbender (in German). Retrieved 18 September 2024.
^ "Landesjugendorchester NRW in Polen". Dachverband der Musikverbände und -vereine in Nordrhein-Westfalen (in German). 31 October 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
^ "WDR Sinfonieorchester Saison 2014 / 2015". Issuu. 9 June 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Esther Dierkes". Glyndebourne. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
^ "Esther Dierkes". Münchner Brahms-Chor (in German). 6 March 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
^ Großkreutz, Verena (5 December 2016). "Orpheus in der Unterwelt – Armin Petras inszeniert die Offenbach-Operette an der Stuttgarter Staatsoper". nachtkritik.de (in German). Retrieved 18 September 2024.
^ "konzertante Spontanität". Online Merker (in German). 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
^ "Esther Dierkes singt "Rusalka": Sopranistin mit Doppelleben". Stuttgarter Zeitung (in German). 2 June 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
^ Tholl, Egbert (8 June 2022). "Oper Stuttgart: Drag Queen Reflektra verkörpert Dvořáks Rusalka". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 18 September 2024.
^ "Stuttgart: Foyer der Staatsoper: 2. Liedkonzert mit Esther Dierkes (Sopran) und Björn Bürger (Bariton)". Online Merker (in German). 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
^ "Bariton Björn Bürger: Bühnenmensch mit Familienanschluss". Stuttgarter Zeitung (in German). 26 October 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2024.