Okka von der Damerau is one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her generation. With her powerful, nuanced mezzo-soprano voice and clear, natural diction, the Hamburg-born singer senses the authentic tone in every character, which connects her with her audience.
In the 2025/26 season, she will return to the Teatro alla Scala in Milan as Fricka (Rheingold, Walküre) and will also take on the role in concert with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Daniel Harding in Rome. One focus is on Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde at the Musikfest Berlin, the Symphony No. 2 with the Czech Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic under Karina Canellakis, as well as the Symphony No. 3 in Warsaw and at the Bavarian State Orchestra's gala concert celebrating Zubin Mehta's 90th birthday.
As a longtime member of the Bavarian State Opera ensemble, she appeared on stage in many roles including Waltraute (Götterdämmerung), Erda (Rheingold, Siegfried), Azucena (Il Trovatore), and Charlotte (Die Soldaten). From Munich, her career took her to major opera houses such as the Vienna State Opera, Opéra national de Paris, La Scala in Milan, Teatro Real Madrid, Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Semperoper Dresden, and the Bayreuth Festival.
Her role debuts in recent years include Brünnhilde (Walküre), Ariadne (title role), Ježibaba (Rusalka), and Venus (Tannhäuser). Her Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) was celebrated in Munich under Simone Young, as well as at the Opéra de Paris and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel.
She is also in high demand as a concert performer and works with renowned orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the BR Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the KBS Symphony Orchestra Seoul, and the Cleveland Orchestra. She has performed Boulanger's Psalm CXXX under Edward Gardner at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Mahler's Kindertotenlieder under Daniel Barenboim at the Salzburg Festival, among others. In 2024, she sang Bruckner's Mass No. 3 at the Tokyo Spring Festival; other works in her concert repertoire include Mahler's Rückertlieder and Verdi's Messa da Requiem.
She was awarded the Festival Prize of the Munich Opera Festival (2013) and the Special Prize of the Jury at the International Singing Competition for Wagnerian Voices in Venice (2006).