Peter Schreier, tenor

One of the world’s most renowned tenors, Peter Schreier has distinguished himself as one of the foremost conductors of the music of Mozart, Bach and their contemporaries.

Born in Meissen, the son of a church cantor and music teacher, Peter Schreier was a member of the Dresden Kreuzchor where he was entrusted with many solo parts, including the Alto solos in Bach’s passions and oratorios, instilling a lifelong relationship with these works. He attended the State Academy of Music in Dresden, where he studied singing with Herbert Winkler and Johannes Kemter, conducting with Ernst Hintze and choral conducting with Martin Flämig.

He made his operatic debut in 1959 as the First Prisoner in Beethoven’s Fidelio.  A few years later he joined the Dresden State Opera, where in 1962 he had his first big success in the role of Belmonte in Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio. This was followed by a series of important debuts: the German State Opera as a guest soloist, the Vienna State Opera, the Bayreuth Festival in 1969 and the Salzburg Festival in 1970, where he performed the role of the young seaman in Tristan und Isolde. He continued to appear in Salzburg every year for the next 25 years.

From the start of his long career, Peter Schreier earned a reputation as a world-class Mozartean tenor. Mozart’s operatic roles form a core part of his stage work.

Peter Schreier maintained a dual career as singer and conductor for over 25 years. He performed Bach‘s Passions and Christmas Oratorio, both conducting and singing the role of ‘the Evangelist’ with many of the world’s leading orchestras in Cleveland, Los Angeles, Vienna, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, and Cologne. He retired from singing in 2005, but continues to be in demand to conduct the world’s leading orchestras.