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Born in Attendorn, Westphalia, bass Georg Zeppenfeld began his musical career studying music and German literature for the teaching profession before devoting himself entirely to singing. He received his vocal training in concert and opera at the music academies in Detmold and Cologne, where Hans Sotin was a particularly influential mentor. Following early engagements in Münster and Bonn, he joined the ensemble of the Semperoper Dresden in 2001, which has remained his artistic home ever since. With his noble, characterful voice, Zeppenfeld is widely regarded as one of the most sought-after basses of his generation. He appears at the leading opera houses across Europe and the United States, as well as on internationally renowned concert stages.
His broad repertoire encompasses major roles in both the German and Italian operatic canons—including Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra), Rocco (Fidelio), Kaspar (Der Freischütz), King Karl (Fierrabras), Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Zaccaria (Nabucco), Banco (Macbeth), Sparafucile (Rigoletto), King Philip II (Don Carlo), Daland (Der fliegende Holländer), Landgrave Hermann (Tannhäuser), King Henry (Lohengrin), King Marke (Tristan und Isolde), Hunding (Die Walküre), Gurnemanz (Parsifal), Hans Sachs and Veit Pogner (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Gremin (Eugene Onegin), Arkel (Pelléas et Mélisande), Pimen (Boris Godunov), and La Roche (Capriccio). A prominent role in his repertoire is Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), which he performed under Claudio Abbado in Baden-Baden, among other venues. A major milestone in his career was his celebrated debut as Hans Sachs at the 2019 Salzburg Easter Festival under the baton of Christian Thielemann. Since 2010, he has been a mainstay at the Bayreuth Festival, appearing continuously in the principal bass roles of the core Wagnerian canon.
Georg Zeppenfeld opens the 2026/27 season performing Verdi’s Messa da Requiem alongside the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Lahav Shani. Concert performances follow, featuring Wagner’s Parsifal with the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne under Andrés Orozco-Estrada at the Kölner Philharmonie, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphonywith the Vienna Philharmonic under Christian Thielemann at the Salzburg Mozart Week, and Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under Petr Popelka.
At his home house, the Semperoper Dresden, Zeppenfeld showcases his extraordinary vocal and artistic range in roles such as King Philip in Verdi’s Don Carlo, Baculus in Lortzing’s Der Wildschütz, King Treff in Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges, Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and Gurnemanz in Wagner’s Parsifal. At the Bavarian State Opera, he takes on the role of Daland in Der fliegende Holländer. He makes his late debut at the Teatro Real in Madrid as Landgrave Hermann in a new production of Wagner’s Tannhäuser, directed by David Hermann and conducted by Gustavo Gimeno. Zeppenfeld also returns to the Bayreuth Festival, performing as Veit Pogner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg under Simone Young, as well as Henry the Fowler in a new production of Lohengrin, directed by Ilaria Lanzino and conducted by Tarmo Peltokoski.
Despite his global opera and concert commitments, Zeppenfeld performs with increasing frequency in art song recitals. Highlights include a March 2027 performance with pianist Gerold Huber at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia and a recital at the Vienna Konzerthaus featuring Lieder by Schubert, Brahms, and Loewe.
Georg Zeppenfeld has collaborated with a vast array of distinguished conductors, including Pierre Boulez, Riccardo Chailly, Sir Colin Davis, Gustavo Dudamel, Daniele Gatti, Daniel Harding, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Thomas Hengelbrock, Marek Janowski, Fabio Luisi, Lorin Maazel, Andris Nelsons, Marc Minkowski, Antonio Pappano, Kirill Petrenko, Christian Thielemann, and Franz Welser-Möst.
In recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the arts, he was appointed Sächsischer Kammersänger in 2015, awarded the Prize of the Foundation for the Promotion of the Semperoper in 2018, and honored with the Austrian Music Theatre Prize in 2022 for his outstanding portrayal of Gurnemanz at the Vienna State Opera.
