Klemens Sander

The Upper Austria native and St. Florianer boys choir alumnus Klemens Sander studied vocal performance at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna with Helena Lazarska and Robert Holl. His broad career led him to the Vienna Volksoper and Theater an der Wien, the New National Theatre in Tokyo, Luxembourg’s Grand Theatre, the Opéra de Dijon, the Operas in Limoges, Caen, Chemnitz and Leipzig as well as Neue Oper Wien and the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, singing lead roles including Onegin, Papageno, Don Giovanni, Belcore, Silvio, Marcello, Graf Almaviva, Harlekin, Falke, Orest, Donner and Escamillo.

In 2018/19 Klemens Sander appeared as Papageno in Romeo Castellucci’s internationally acclaimed reinterpretation of Mozart’s Magic Flute at the Opéra de Lille. Quickly establishing himself as well in the world of modern opera, Klemens appeared at the Neue Oper Wien in the role of Sokrates in Krenek’s Pallas Athene Weint. His arresting performance in the title role premiering Manfred Trojahn’s Orest was enthusiastically received.

In addition, the baritone is a frequent guest and recitalist in halls and festivals including the Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus, the Salzburger Festspiele, the Grafenegg Festival, the Chamber Music Festival in Lockenhaus, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Oxford Lieder Festival, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the St. Peterburg Philharmonie, Beethovenfest in Warsaw, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Wiener Festwochen, London’s Wigmore Hall and at the Philharmonie in both Berlin and Paris.

Sander has collaborated with conductors such as Kirill Petrenko, Kent Nagano, Christophe Rousset, H.K. Gruber, Jérémie Rhorer, René Jacobs, Helmuth Rilling, Bertrand de Billy, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Stefan Vladar, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Thomas Dausgaard and Georges Prêtre.

As a winner of the Richard Tauber Prize (Wigmore Hall London) as well as of the International Schumann Competition Zwickau and the International Singing Competition S’Hertogenbosch, he has received many awards for his dedicated approach to lieder singing.

In 2013, Klemens put out his first solo album, featuring Schubert‘s Schwanengesang and Seidl settings, op. 105 with pianist Justus Zeyen. In 2016 he released a CD of the Schubert cycle Die schöne Müllerin, which was universally praised and has been featured on Lufthansa flights. Die schöne Müllerin also received the Supersonic Award from Pizzicato and was nominated for the International Classical Music Awards in 2017. His 2017 album, Das Lyrische Intermezzo, a co-production with celebrated actor Cornelius Obonya was nominated for the International Classical Music Awards in 2019 and also selected by Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa to be featured on board. This album was furthermore awarded the Bank Austria Kunstpreis.

His discography also includes Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, the Fauré Requiem, Judas Maccabaeus by Handel and the Verdi Requiem as well as the Bach’s cantata Ich habe genug.

The 2019/2020 season includes a tour with the Camerata Salzburg to Colombia, a gala concert at the St. Peterburg Philharmonie, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at the Frauenkirche Dresden and Vienna Musikverein, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at the Antwerp Spring Festival and at the Carinthische Sommer, the world premiere of Manuela Kerer’s new opera Toteis in Bolzano and Vienna as well as various recitals, e.g. at the National Theatre Maribor (Slovenia) and at the Oxford Lieder Festival.

Parallel to his performance career, Klemens Sander is on the vocal faculty of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. From 2020/21 he was appointed professor at the vocal faculty of the Carl Maria von Weber University in Dresden.