Intendant and Kammersängerin Brigitte Fassbaender was born in Berlin, and studied singing with her father, Kammersänger Willy Domgraf Fassbaender. When she was 21, she had her debut at the Bavarian State Opera, starting her spectacular international career. She performed at all leading operas of the world (Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco, Chicago, La Scala, Covent Garden, Vienna, Bayreuth, Berlin, Hamburg, Salzburg and many more) and sang all signifi cant parts for her voice. For two generations of audiences she was the Oct avian in Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier. Her distinct ive timbre has enchanted audiences world-wide. Over 350 recordings bear witness to her great signifi cance as singer of operas and Lieder. Her recording of the three Schubert cycles was a milestone. To this date, she is the only woman to have recorded them all. Her recordings received various prizes, amongst which the Gramophone Award is one of the most prestigious. Brigitte Fassbaender retired from singing in 1995 in order to dedicate herself completely to her work as a direct or. She has now direct ed more than sixty product ions at home and abroad. She was managing direct or of the Tyrolean State Th eatre from the 1999/2000 season to 2012. Before that, she was manager of the opera at the Braunschweig State Th eatre. Promoting young talents and off ering them gentle guidance through the challenges of the music business have been — and still are — very important to Ms Fassbaender. She is sought after as as vocal pedagogue and teaches master classes at home and abroad. Several of her students, such as Juliane Banse and Michelle Breedt, enjoy notable careers today. Since 2002, Ms Fassbaender has been responsible for the Eppaner Liedsommer, which is becoming an internationally important address for singers of the Lied. In 2009, she took over art direct ion of the Richard Strauss Festival in Garmisch- Partenkirchen, Germany. Kammersängerin Brigitte Fassbaender received the Critic’s Choice Award Berlin, in 1985 the Frankfurt Music Award, the Merit Cross on Ribbon and the Merit Cross First Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Bavarian Order of Merit as well as the Maximilian Order for Science and Art. She is a member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, received the title Kammersängerin from the Bavarian and Austrian State Operas, and was bestowed an Honorary Ph.D. by the University of Manchester. In 2004, she was the recipient of the W.A.-Mozart- Award of the Goethe Foundation, Basel. In 2002, she was honoured with the Tyrolean Grand Order of the Eagle, and in 2005 with Merit Cross and the Decoration for Culture of the City of Innsbruck. In 2006, she received the City of Munich Music Award, and in 2010 the Pour le Mérite for Science and Art. In 2010, the President of France made her a knight in the Legion of Honour. In 2012, she was awarded the Grand Merit Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2013, Brigitte Fassbaender was awarded the Hugo-Wolf Medal.
