“When we sing, we tell stories. And stories always have something human about them, because ultimately they are experiences that we collect and pass on.” – Anna Lucia Richter
Anna Lucia Richter has established herself internationally as a versatile mezzo-soprano who acts both intellectually and emotionally in the fields of song, opera, and concert. Her voice, which skillfully weaves baroque lightness with romantic drama, along with her expressive power, allows her to command a broad repertoire ranging from Bach’s oratorios and orchestral works by Berlioz, Ravel, or Mahler, to the lieder of Schubert, Wolf, and Brahms, and extending to key roles in her vocal category in operas by Monteverdi, Handel, Mozart, Bizet, and Strauss, as well as contemporary works by Reimann, Holliger, and Rihm.
Since her debut as Zerlina at the Salzburg Festival 2021 under Teodor Currentzis, Anna Lucia Richter has become a fixture in the opera world. She regularly receives invitations from Cologne Opera (e.g., Sesto/Handel, Hansel/Humperdinck, Idamante/Mozart), Theater an der Wien (La Périchole/Offenbach, Elisabeth/Henze), Dutch National Opera, Berlin State Opera, Opera de Lille (La Musica and Euridice/Monteverdi), impressing critics and audiences alike with her captivating and sensitive interpretations.
In concert, the mezzo-soprano enjoys close collaborations with renowned ensembles such as the Vienna Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Il Giardino Armonico, MusicAeterna, Orchestre de Paris, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, under conductors including Iván Fischer, Paavo Järvi, Klaus Mäkelä, Franz Welser-Möst, Bernard Haitink, Herbert Blomstedt, Marin Alsop, and Jakub Hrůša.
Anna Lucia Richter gives song recitals in leading international music centers, having performed at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall London, Bavarian State Opera Munich, Konzerthaus Vienna, Carnegie Hall and Park Avenue Armory New York, as well as Suntory Hall Tokyo and Frankfurt Opera. She is accompanied by pianists such as Ammiel Bushakevitz, Sir András Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida, Daniel Heide, Igor Levit, Michael Gees, and Gerold Huber. As a welcome guest, the mezzo-soprano receives invitations to prestigious festivals including the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg/Hohenems, the festivals in Lucerne, Granada, Verbier, and Gstaad, the BBC Proms London, Heidelberg Spring Festival, and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. At the Rheingau Music Festival, Anna Lucia Richter was “Artist in Residence” in 2018 and held the same position for the 2018/19 season at the Cologne Philharmonie.
In the 2025/26 season, Anna Lucia Richter will tour with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich under Paavo Järvi—performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in Bucharest, Zurich, Vienna, Baden-Baden, Cologne, and Paris. Another tour will take her again to Paris as well as Budapest, Toulouse, and Amsterdam, featuring Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Isula Orchestra. In Tokyo and Kawasaki, she will sing Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra under Jonathan Nott. She will also perform the St. John Passion with the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Andreas Reize in Leipzig and in Dortmund. In Osaka, Elgar’s Sea Pictures will appear on her concert program for the first time. Song recitals will take her to Copenhagen, Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), and London (Wigmore Hall), among other cities.
Anna Lucia Richter’s artistic work is documented on numerous award-winning albums. In October 2023, the CD “Licht“(Challenge Classics), a musical journey through 800 years of German art song, was released in collaboration with Ammiel Bushakevitz. Previously, she recorded various song and chamber music albums for Pentatone and Bach arias—awarded the “Diapason d’Or”—for Alpha. A recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Bamberg Symphony under Jakub Hrůša, released by Accentus, won the “Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik” in 2021. For Berlin Classics, she recorded songs by Schumann and Reimann with the Schumann Quartet, earning her the “Opus Klassik” award in 2019. In fall 2025, her first orchestral album will be released: Songs of Fate will feature Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne under Jordan de Souza for Myrios Classics.
Anna Lucia Richter comes from a long-standing family of musicians. Influential in her training were especially Prof. Tamar Rachum, Kurt Widmer, Klesie Kelly-Moog, Christoph Prégardien, and Margreet Honig. She counts Bernard Haitink, Mitsuko Uchida, and Sir András Schiff among her most important mentors and supporters. Among many awards, Anna Lucia Richter is a laureate of the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust.
The singer regularly gives masterclasses and is committed as a cultural ambassador for the association Casa Hogar Deutschland e.V., which works to empower girls and women in Colombia’s crisis region of Chocó.
