Sophie Harmsen

Sophie Harmsen has become internationally successful both in the concert hall and on the operatic stage, delivering beautifully crafted, emotionally intelligent performances in a diverse range of repertoire.

An avid traveller, her career has brought her to experience some of the world’s most beautiful venues, such as the Teatro Colon, Palau de la Musica, Teatro Real, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Wien, Philharmonie de Paris, Shanghai Grand Theatre and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.

Sophie regularly performs with orchestras such as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, SWR Symphonieorchester, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, Orchestre National de Paris, musicAeterna, Konzerthausorchester Berlin Düsseldorfer Symphoniker NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester and the Freiburger Barockorchester.

She has worked with conductors including Jeremie Rhorer, Thomas Hengelbrock, Ádám Fischer, Iván Fischer, Teodor Currentzis, Vaclav Luks, Jos van Veldhoven, Andreas Spering, Daniel Harding, Constantinos Carydis, Kent Nagano, Markus Stenz, Philippe Herreweghe, Frieder Bernius, René Jacobs and Pablo Heras-Casado.

Many of her CD recordings have received awards, for example Bruckner’s Missa Solemnis with the RIAS Kammerchor (Diapason d’Or) and the complete recording of J.S. Bach’s Luther Kantaten with Christoph Spering (Echo 2017).

Sophie’s career began at Cape Town Opera with roles including Hermia (Britten, A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Graf Orlowsky (Strauss, Die Fledermaus), and Cherubino (Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro). She has since sung Annio (Mozart, La Clemenza di Tito) at the Teatro Real Madrid, Dorabella (Mozart, Cosi fan tutte) at the Opéra de Dijon and the Opéra de Luxembourg, Stephano (Gounod, Romeo et Juliette) at the Tiroler Landestheater in Innsbruck, Argene (Myslivecek, L’Olimpiade) at the opera houses Prague, Caen and Theater an der Wien. In this time she has worked with directors such as Robert Wilson, Ursel and Karl-Ernst Herrmann, William Kentridge and Andreas Dresen.

Some of Sophie’s recent concert repertoire includes Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Rückert Lieder, Dvorak’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.

Sophie is a frequent performer at international festivals including the Salzburger Festspiele, Mozartwoche Salzburg, Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, Rheingau Musikfestival, International Händelfestspiele Göttingen and Halle and the Bachfest Leipzig.

Recent highlights include her debut as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier in the Felsenreitschule in Salzburg, Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium with Christophe Rousset, her first Verdi Requiem with Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Philippe Herreweghe, Mahlers Das Klagende Lied at the Mahler Festival Leipzig with the MDR Sinfonieorchester and Dennis Russel Davies and Mendelssohn’s Walpurgisnacht with SWR Sinfonieorchester under Pablo Heras-Casado.

This season’s highlights include performances with Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Hamburger Symphoniker, MDR Sinfonieorchester, Wiener Symphonika, Orchestra deal Toscana and re-invitations with the Antwerp Symphony, Les Talens Lyriques and Kammerorchestter Basel under the batons of Karina Canellakis, Sylvain Cambreling, Alexander Liebreich, Constantinos Carydis, Markus Stenz, Philippe Herreweghe, Christophe Rousset and René Jacobs.

Sophie Harmsen studied at the University of Cape Town and with Prof. Dr. Edith Wiens, has been mentored by Tobias Truniger for many years and now lives in Berlin with her family.

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