Firmly established in Europe as a singer of unusual depth and deep musicality, German baritone Jochen Kupfer is now also enjoying a growing career in the United States.

Recently Jochen Kupfer made his role debut as Lindorf/Coppélius/Dapertutto/Dr. Miracle at the Vienna Volksoper in Jacques Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann. Another role debut was his appearance as Wozzeck in a new production of Berg’s opera in a return to Staatstheater Nürnberg. Other recent highlights include Peter in Hänsel und Gretel with Staatsoper Hamburg and Staatstheater Nürnberg;, Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde with Oper Graz; Gunther in Götterdämmerung with Staatstheater Nürnberg; Orff’s Carmina Buranawith the Indianapolis Symphony under Krysztof Urbanski; Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with Staatsheater Nurnberg; Escamillo in Carmen, Gunther in Gotterdammerung and Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde with the Teatro Comunale di Modena and Teatro Comunale di Ferrara; his debut at the Glynebourne Festival as Beckmesser in Der Meistersinger von Nurnberg. In past seasons with Staatstheater Nurnberg he has sung Germont in La traviata, Marcel in Les Huguenots, Mandryka in Arabella, Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde and Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. He sang Wolfram in Tannhäuser in new productions in Japan and France, and debuted at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires as the Spirit Messenger in Richard Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten.

Firmly established in Europe as a singer of unusual depth and deep musicality, German baritone Jochen Kupfer is now also enjoying a growing career in the United States.

Recently Jochen Kupfer made his role debut as Lindorf/Coppélius/Dapertutto/Dr. Miracle at the Vienna Volksoper in Jacques Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann. Another role debut was his appearance as Wozzeck in a new production of Berg’s opera in a return to Staatstheater Nürnberg. Other recent highlights include Peter in Hänsel und Gretel with Staatsoper Hamburg and Staatstheater Nürnberg;, Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde with Oper Graz; Gunther in Götterdämmerung with Staatstheater Nürnberg; Orff’s Carmina Buranawith the Indianapolis Symphony under Krysztof Urbanski; Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with Staatsheater Nurnberg; Escamillo in Carmen, Gunther in Gotterdammerung and Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde with the Teatro Comunale di Modena and Teatro Comunale di Ferrara; and his debut at the Glynebourne Festival as Beckmesser in Der Meistersinger von Nurnberg. In past seasons with Staatstheater Nurnberg he has sung Germont in La traviata, Marcel in Les Huguenots, Mandryka in Arabella, Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde and Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. He sang Wolfram in Tannhäuser in new productions in Japan and France, and debuted at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires as the Spirit Messenger in Richard Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten.

In addition to his long association with Staatstheater Nürnberg, Jochen Kupfer appeared for multiple seasons with Semperoper Dresden, where his roles included the Count in Le nozze di Figaro, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte. He has also appeared with Komische Oper Berlin in the title role in Don Giovanni, Opernhaus Zürich in the title role in Guillaume Tell, Staatsoper Unter den Linden (Berlin) as Olivier in Capriccio, and the Bayerische Staatsoper München as Guglielmo.

Mr. Kupfer’s concert and recital appearances have taken him to Japan and throughout the United States and Europe, including performances at Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center Festival, Salzburger Festspiele, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Rheingau Musik Festival, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Nuits Romantiques in Aix-les-Bains, lle de France Paris, Festival International de Musique et d’Art Lyrique Montreux, the Rossini Festival and the Salzburg Festival. He has performed in concert with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona, Bach Collegium München, Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg, and Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Mexico.

Jochen Kupfer has sung under such distinguished conductors as René Jacobs, Krzysztof Penderecki, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Mark Soustrot, Hartmut Hähnchen, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Helmuth Rilling, Masaaki Suzuki, Trevor Pinnock, Herbert Blomstedt, Riccardo Chailly, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Paavo Järvi, Fabio Luisi, Kurt Masur, and Kent Nagano. His multiple recordings include releases of a recording of Schubert’s Winterreise on the MeisterKlang label, a DVD performance as Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Konstabel in Strauss´ Friedenstag for Deutsche Grammophon, a CD of Robert Schumann songs for Channel Classics, and the complete songs of Franz Schreker.

At the age of nine, Jochen received his first singing lessons in his hometown of Grimma. He subsequently studied with Helga Forner at the Musikhochschule Leipzig, attended master classes with Theo Adam and Elio Battaglia, and later completed his studies with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Harald Stamm, and Dale Fundling.