Johannes Held

Baritone Johannes Held began his training with the Stuttgart Hymnus choirboys, then studied in Freiburg and completed his studies in Copenhagen at the Opera Academy with Susanna Eken. His coaches include Mikael Eliasen, Fiona MacSherry, Ouri Bronchti, Tim Ribchester and Christopher White.

After completing his studies, Johannes Held was a member of the ensemble at the Oldenburg State Theatre and has since worked as a soloist at many international theatres, including the Royal Danish Opera, Wermland Opera (Sweden), Oldenburg State Theatre, Mainz State Theatre and Bolzano Theatre (Italy).

In recent years, Johannes has made a name for himself as a Lied interpreter and his work with Schubert’s Winterreise in particular has received international recognition.

In concert, Johannes recently performed Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen under the direction of Kolja Blacher with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano in Milan. Johannes was also a guest at the chamber music festival KAMARA.HU at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, where he sang songs and chamber music by Brahms, Wolf, Bussoni and Schoenberg.

Highlights of this season for Johannes are the performance of Elijah under Volker Hedtfeld in Berlin, as well as his appearance in Bach’s St. John Passion in Milan Cathedral as Jesus under the direction of Ruben Jais.

Johannes Held is the founder and artistic director of the Liedfestival Sindelfingen (formerly DER ZWERG), which takes place every two years in Sindelfingen. Starting this year, in collaboration with Prof. Götz Payer, he is setting up the Lied Akademie Sindelfingen, which aims to inspire people of all ages and all levels of performance for the Lied.

Johannes Held is grateful for the diverse support he has received from the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, the Evangelisches Studienwerk “Villigst”, the Richard Wagner Stiftung and the Kunststiftung BW.