Kerstin Avemo

The internationally acclaimed Swedish soprano Kerstin Avemo will the season 2024/25 sing in the world premiere of the performance Tiefer Graben 8 directed by Christoph Marthaler at Theater Basel. Kerstin will also perform the roles of Madame Hertz in Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor and Brigitta in Iolanta in a double bill at the Göteborg Opera. In June 2025 Kerstin will again perform the Castellucci production of Schubert’s Schwanengesang D744, this time at the MC93 - Maison de la culture de Seine-Saint-Denis, Paris.

The previous season Kerstin sang the role of Nelly in the world premiere of the opera Mythomania by Malmborg Ward, as well as Schönberg’s Pierrot lunaire, both at the Göteborg Opera. Kerstin was also a guest at the New National Theatre in Tokyo where she sang Adele in Die Fledermaus, and she appeared as Poppea in L’Incoronazione di Poppea at Theater Basel in a new production by Marthaler.

Kerstin Avemo is from 2018/19 engaged as a guest soloist at the Göteborg Opera and has since then appeared in roles such as Juliette in Trois fragments de Juliette by Martinů, Violetta in La traviata, Mimì in La bohème, Olympia, Antonia and Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Elle in La voix humaine and the Prima Donna in Donizetti’s Viva la mamma. In 2021 Kerstin created a performance of Schönberg’s Pierrot lunaire, based on Kerstin's own idea, concept, and direction. Kerstin made her debut at the Göteborg Opera in 2002 with the title role in Alban Berg's Lulu, for which she won both the Svenska Dagbladet and Opera magazine prizes. This was followed by roles such as Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice.

Kerstin has been a guest at the Royal Swedish Opera in several productions with roles like Leilah/Lilith in the world premiere of Tristessa by Johan S. Bohlin, Mélisande in Pelléas and Mélisande, Gilda in Rigoletto and the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte.

Kerstin has an extensive international career, performing on renowned stages worldwide. In the season of 2020/21, Staatsoper Hamburg witnessed Mrs Avemo’s magical performance of Elle in La voix humaine, a role that yielded her rave reviews. Among her many roles you find Anita in Léhar’s Giuditta (Bayerische Staatsoper), Oscar/Un ballo in maschera and Sophie/Der Rosenkavalier (Grand Théâtre de Genève). Leticia Maynar in The Exterminating Angel by Adès (The Royal Danish Opera), Gilda/Rigoletto (Staatstheater Darmstadt), the Maid/Powder her Face (La Monnaie in Brussels, Polish National Opera). Olympia/Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffmann directed by Stefan Herheim (Bregenzer Festspiele), Despina/Così fan tutte directed by Michael Haneke (Teatro Real in Madrid, La Monnaie, Wiener Festwochen). Iris/Semele (William Christie at Theater an der Wien), Hanako in Hosokawa’s Hanjo with the Ruhrtriennale, Atalanta/Serse at (Artipelag/ Stockholm, Opèra Royal de Versaille), Wendla Bergmann in Benoît Mernier’s Frühlings Erwachen (La Monnaie) and Kristin in Boesmans’ Julie (Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, La Monnaie).

Kerstin Avemo has performed roles such as Blondchen/Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Servilia/La Clemenza di Tito, Oscar/Un ballo in maschera, Musica and Euridice/Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, Ofelia/Hamlet, Gretel/Hänsel und Gretel, Juliette/Roméo et Juliette, Adele/Die Fledermaus, Gilda/Rigoletto, Violetta/La traviata, Zerlina/Don Giovanni on stages like Oper Frankfurt, Opernhaus Zürich, Festival Aix-en-Provence, Bolshoi in Moscow, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, DNT Weimar and The Royal Danish Opera. She has worked with directors such as Luc Bondy, David Mc Vicar, Christoph Loy and Kasper Holten under the musical direction of Daniele Gatti, Kazuchi Ono, René Jacobs, Emanuelle Haïm, Esa-Pekka Salonen and others.

Kerstin Avemo’s concert engagements include a wide range of music from contemporary music to baroque. Kerstin has sung the world premiere of Hosokawa’s Futari Shizuka (The Maiden from the Sea) with the Ensemble intercontemporain in 2017 at the Philharmonie de Paris Cité de la musique, and since then at the Kölner Philharmonie, the Kaufman Concert Hall in New York and at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo.

Kerstin Avemo has also performed Schubert’s Schwanengesang D744, staged by renowned director Romeo Castellucci, at several venues since it premiered in 2013 at the Festival d’Avignon – at the Enniskillen International Beckett Festival and at the Stanislavsky Festival in Moscow, at Opéra Grand Avignon, La Monnaie, and venues in Paris, Luxembourg, Pavia, Torino, Antwerp and Milano.

On CD, Kerstin Avemo can be heard as Kristin in Boesmans Julie (Cypres), as Amor in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice (Naxos) and in René Jacobs’ interpretation of Handel’s Messiah (Harmonia Mundi). She can also be experienced on DVD in Christoph Loy’s praised production of Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Oper Frankfurt).

Kerstin Avemo studied at the University College of Opera in Stockholm. In 2016 Kerstin Avemo was awarded the medal Litteris et Artibus from HM King Carl XVI Gustaf, for her outstanding accomplishments as an opera singer.

October 2024