The contralto Wiebke Lehmkuhl, originally from Oldenburg, studied with Ulla Groenewold and Hanna Schwarz at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. While still a student, she joined the ensemble of Zurich Opera, following guest appearances at the State Operas in Hamburg and Hanover as well as the Kiel Opera. Her international breakthrough came in 2012 at the Salzburg Festival under Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
Her repertoire spans from Monteverdi, Handel, and Bach to Romantic oratorios, Mahler, and Wagner. With this stylistic range, she is equally at home on major international concert stages and opera houses. She regularly performs with top orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Orchestre de Paris, Concertgebouworkest, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Bamberg Symphony – under conductors such as Kirill Petrenko, Klaus Mäkelä, Daniel Harding, Riccardo Chailly, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Philippe Jordan, Tarmo Peltokoski, and Antonio Pappano.
A signature role in her repertoire is Erda in Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Siegfried, which she has performed at the Bavarian State Opera, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Paris Opera, and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. In the 2025/26 season, she returns to London in this role, makes her debut at the Vienna State Opera, and goes on a European tour with the Rotterdam Philharmonic under Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
She opens the season with Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in Basel with the Sinfonieorchester Basel under Markus Poschner. This is followed by Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody in Utrecht and Amsterdam with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest under Karina Canellakis, and a recital at the Cologne Philharmonie. She performs Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Andris Nelsons and the Orchestre National de France under Klaus Mäkelä. In Schumann’s Paradise and the Peri, she appears with the Orchestre National de France under Philippe Jordan and with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Petr Popelka.
Further highlights include Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in Copenhagen with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under Fabio Luisi and in Vienna with the Vienna Philharmonic under Andris Nelsons. She also sings Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Daniel Harding in Rome, and at the Musikverein Vienna and in St. Florian. With Bach’s Mass in B minor, she appears at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, in Brixen, and in Schwäbisch Gmünd. During Passiontide, she sings the St. Matthew Passion in Rotterdam.
Recent engagements include Mahler projects in Toulouse (Symphony No. 2), at the Festival de Canarias (Symphony No. 3), and Das Lied von der Erde with the Orchestre national de Lyon under Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider. She toured with the Christmas Oratorio and B’Rock across cities including Bergen. In spring 2025, she performed the role of the Angel in Mendelssohn’s Elijah in Andreas Homoki’s new production at Zurich Opera under Gianandrea Noseda and in concert at the Salzburg Easter Festival with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
Wiebke Lehmkuhl’s artistic work is documented in numerous recordings, including Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Riccardo Chailly (Decca) and C. P. E. Bach’s Magnificat with the RIAS Chamber Choir and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin under Hans-Christoph Rademann (Harmonia Mundi).
