Born and raised in Witten, Germany, Schimmack received her artistic education in the United States, at the University of California Irvine. Masterclasses with Martin Katz, Marylin Horne, Prof. Ellen Müller-Preiss and Ks. Christa Ludwig in New York complemented her studies. She continued her vocal work and development from alto to dramatic soprano with Ks. Martha Dewal and Ks. Ileana Cotrubas in Vienna. She had her operatic debut as Rossweisse/Walküre with the Arizona Opera USA in 1991. Her German debut was in the role of Erda/ Rheingold. She was Principal Soloist with the Dortmund Opera from 1993 to 1998 and from 1998 to 2000 with the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen. She has worked as a freelance singer since 2000. She has collaborated with renowned conductors such as Antonio Pappano, Thomas Dausgaard, Michael Schønwandt, Frank Beermann, Giordano Bellincampi, Laurent Wagner and stage directors Sir Peter Hall, John Dew, Heinz Lukas-Kindermann.
Susanne Schimmack’s repertoire equally includes the oratorio and Lied, especially the great song cycles of Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner. She is a laureate of several international competitions: the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, the International Competition for Wagnerian Voices, the Concours International de Chant de Paris. She received the Jessye Norman Scholarship of the Orange County Philharmonic Society USA and the Bajazzo award at the Dortmund Opera for outstanding artistic achievement.
At Conservatorium Maastricht. Schimmack is a main subject lecturer in Opera and Solo Singing.
Classical Singing / Opera
Susanne Schimmack
Classical
When German soprano Susanne Schimmack performed in the 1997 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, she was pronounced “the Rolls Royce of voices”. The London Times stated "...the luxurious-sounding German singer Susanne Schimmack". “Susanne Schimmack’s ‘Cassandre’ dominates the entire performance through her noble phrasing, her intelligent role portrayal and her excellent French diction” (Opéra). Since then, Schimmack has successfully sung around 90 operatic roles, including Turandot, Kundry/Parsifal, Feldmarschallin/Rosenkavalier, Marta Tiefland, Ellen Orford/ Peter Grimes, Cassandre/ Les Troyens, Carmen/Carmen. Engagements have taken her to the Theatre Royal de la Monnaie Brussels, the Czech National Opera Brno, Staatstheater Mainz, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Opera Pacific USA, Arizona Opera USA, Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern, the theatres of Dortmund, Frankfurt, Chemnitz, Staatstheater Kassel, Dessau, Lübeck, Ulm, Trier, Wuppertal, Gera, the Musikfestspiele Dresden, Budapest Spring Festival, Festival d'Auvers-sur-Oise France, Festspiele Bad Hersfeld as well as the broadcasting companies BBC, DR, ZDF, WDR and NDR. Alongside Angela Georghiu and Roberto Alagna, she has recorded a new complete edition of Massenet’s Manon under the baton of Antonio Pappano.