Richard Franke
baritone
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While still a member of the Kreuzchor in Dresden Richard Franke’s solo appearances included concerts at the Konzerthaus in Berlin and with Tokyo Opera City. He sang 1st Boy in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Semperoper in Dresden from 2003 - 2005. He won several prizes at the Jugend musiziert competition and scholarships from Germany’s Musikleben Foundation, the Walter-Kaminsky Memorial Foundation and Bärenreiters. This baritone studied with Piotr Bednarski at the University of Music in Dresden and Andreas Karasiak at the University of Music in Mainz. He also gained valuable experience from Olaf Bär and Michael Millard and in master courses run by people including Marcelo Amaral. He appeared in Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen at the State Schauspiel in Dresden. While still enjoying an active concert career he joined the Youth Ensemble at the Staatstheater in Mainz in 2021/22, where he made his debut as the Dance Master in Manon Lescaut and can be heard this season in Mauricio Kagel’s Zählen/Erzählen / Counting/Recounting. He also took part in Jörg Widmann’s Babylon at Hessen’s Staatstheater in Wiesbaden during the 2022 May Festival. He made his debut at Oper Frankfurt in the world premiere of Vito Žuraj’s opera Blühen / Blossoming in the Bockenheimer Depot and now you can hear him again in this new Britten Prodigal Son / Burning Fiery Furnace double bill.