Christine Goerke - Detroit Opera

Associate Artistic Director, Detroit Opera

Soprano Christine Goerke (Detroit Opera productions include Fidelio, Elektra and Twilight: Gods) has appeared in many of the most prestigious opera houses of the world including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Royal Opera House, Paris Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Real in Madrid, and the Saito Kinen Festival. She has sung much of the great soprano repertoire, beginning with the Mozart and Handel heroines and now moving into dramatic Strauss and Wagner roles.

Ms. Goerke has also appeared with a number of leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Radio Vara, the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the BBC Proms, and both the Hallè Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Symphony at the Edinburgh International Festival.

Ms. Goerke's recording of Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra won the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Classical Recording and Best Choral Performance. Her close association with Robert Shaw yielded several recordings including Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes, Poulenc's Stabat Mater, Szymanowski's Stabat Mater, and the Grammy-nominated recording of Dvorak's Stabat Mater. Other recordings include the title role in Iphigenie en Tauride for Telarc and Britten’s War Requiem, which won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance.

During the 20/21 season,  Ms. Goerke’s many engagements included Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera, Elektra at the Vienna State Opera, and performances of Act II of Tristan und Isolde with the National Symphony Orchestra at both the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center. Due to the ongoing worldwide pandemic, Ms. Goerke’s 2020 engagements were unfortunately cancelled. However, starting in the spring of 2021, Ms. Goerke will return to the stage in recitals presented by Carnegie Hall, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Cal Performances, and venues in St. Louis and Princeton. She also appears on tour in Carnegie Hall and in Europe with the Met Opera Orchestra in concert performances of Die Walküre, Act I.

Ms. Goerke was the recipient of the 2001 Richard Tucker Award, the 2015 Musical America Vocalist of the Year Award, and the 2017 Opera News Award.


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