Isa Katharina Gericke

Photograph by Paul Bernhard

"We just had a post-festival meeting of our Program Advisory Committee and there were many comments to the effect that the two concerts by Katharina Gericke and her colleagues from Oslo were highlights of the Festival. I personally was very entranced by her interpretations of the Grieg songs. She has a wonderful stage presence and really connected with our audience."
George Laverock, Program Director
Festival Vancouver, August 2007

Biography

Isa Katharina Gericke, Soprano

'Charisma in abundance'

Isa Katharina Gericke has already shown her versatility in widely different fields of music theatre, from Rameau to Sommerro, from Humperdinck to Matthus. Her Mozart has comprised both Susanna, Pamina and a highly acclaimed Zaïde at Leif Ove Andsnes' Risør Chamber Music Festival. 'Charisma in abundance', to quote the press.

She is also a popular and sought-after soloist with orchestras and has sung with most Norwegian and a number of international orchestras such as BBC Symphony and Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. She has visited numerous festivals in Norway, as well as in Germany, Austria, Canada and South Africa and worked with conductors like Sir Andrew Davis, Phillippe Herreweghe, Manfred Honeck and Tönu Kaljuste. She has recently sung with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in various programmes, both in Oslo and on tour. She also figures as soloist with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in Simax' special CD project 'Norwegian Heartland', to mark Norway's independence 1905-2005.

Her versatility is remarkable. She recently sang Mozart's Pamina and was a soloist in Olav Anton Thommessen's 'The Hermaphrodite', in one and the same week. She has made her mark as a Lieder singer, having worked with Rudolf Jansen, Brigitte Fassbaender and Håkan Hagegård. In 2003 her recording titled 'Waldabendlust' caught considerable interest. It was the result of her research in the field of the German Lied in Norway: a personal compilation of songs by Kjerulf, Irgens-Jensen, Backer-Grøndahl and Winter Hjelm. As Die Tonkunst wrote: 'This is a CD all Lieder-lovers ought to listen to'.

Isa Katharina Gericke was born in Berlin and grew up in Norway. After studies with Ingrid Bjoner and Svein Bjørkøy at the Norwegian Music Academy in Oslo and Ingrid Figur at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin she won the 1st Prize in the national part of the Queen Sonja International Music Competition 2001 in Oslo. The following year she received the Luitpold Prize at the Kissinger Sommer, and the same year she was selected as a performer within the Norwegian Concert Institute's launching scheme 'INTRO-classic' for 2002-2004.

Isa Katharina Gericke is a driving force behind the newly established Oslo Baroque Opera. Her creativity also finds an outlet in her work as Artistic Director of the annual chamber music-festival, Glogerfestspillene in January, together with the pianist Sveinung Bjelland, finding inspiration in the festival's central venue, the splendid Kongsberg Church.

Contact: Sven Henning, Scanarts