Britta Schwarz & Christine Schornsheim
Biography Britta Schwarz & Christine Schornsheim
Britta Schwarz
The well-known singer Britta Schwarz was born in Neubrandenburg (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania).
She first studied singing at Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. She then went on to study with Prof. Ch.Elßner and Prof. H. Zabel in Dresden, after which she was engaged for four years to sing at the Studio of the Staatsoper Dresden (Semperoper).
Britta Schwarz has won several prizes at different international competitions, so in Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic), in Zwickau (Germany) and in London (Great Britain).
She has very successfully exploited her extensive repertoire in numerous concerts with renowned orchestras such as the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Dresden Philharmonia, the Berlin Radio Orchestra, also the Berlin Philharmonia, the Concertgebouw orchestra Amsterdam, Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields.
An important factor in these triumphs has been her talent for working with celebrated conductors like Marek Janowski, Milan Horvat, Kent Nagano, Michel Plasson, Philippe Herreweghe, Helmut Rilling, Bruno Weil, Peter Schreier, Gustavo Dudamel and Jörg-Peter Weigle.
The long-lasting cooperation with Sir András Schiff was especially inspiring.
Concerts and recitals have taken Britta Schwarz to most European countries, as well as to Canada, Japan and the USA. The international festivals she has participated in, include: Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, Holland Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, the Dresden Music Festival, Blyth Valley Chamber Music, the MDR Summer Festival and Passau European Weeks as well as Menuhin Festival Gstaad. In 2014 she took part yet again in the festival in Lucerne performing Ludwig van Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis under the direction of Sir András Schiff.
For many years, Britta Schwarz has vigorously devoted herself to Baroque music. As a result she has sung with famous conductors and Baroque ensembles, including Gustav Leonhardt, Reinhard Göbel, Marcus Creed, Bruno Weill, Ludger Remy, Hans-Christoph Rademann; and Batzdorfer Hofkapelle, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Musica Antiqua Köln, La Stagione Frankfurt, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, RIAS Kammerchor and Cantus Cölln.
Important musical partners are Maria Graf and Nora Koch (harp), Pauline Sachse (viola), the pianists Daniel Heide and Oliver Pohl as well as Christine Schornsheim (fortepiano).
Her repertoire is to be heard in several radio productions and on CD recordings on labels such CPO, Raumklang and Kammerton.
In 2001 was published her first solo CD with baroque cantatas for voice and basso continuo at the label berlin classics. Meanwhile, two more solo CD’s have been released. Chorales from the Schemelli collection (Querstand 2017) and Schubert’s “Winterreise” (Rondeau 2019).
In 2012 a composite recording of the J.S. Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” was released by the label berlin classics as well as Bach’s “b minor mass”. A composite recording of Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” will be published by Rondeau.
For several years Britta Schwarz has taught at the Hochschule für Musik “Carl Maria von Weber“ in Dresden, leading the course for oratorio interpretation.
In October 2015, she was appointed honorary professor at Hochschule für Musik „Hanns Eisler“ in Berlin.
