Kathrin Zukowski

Kathrin Zukowski made her highly acclaimed debut at the Salzburg Festival in the summer of 2025 in the concert performance of H.W. Henze's “Das Floß der Medusa” at the Felsenreitschule (Ingo Metzmacher/RSO Vienna). In October 2025, she will make her debut at the Berlin State Opera as Waldvogel in “Siegfried” under Christian Thielemann. She will return to the Vienna State Opera in September 2025 as Pamina in “Die Zauberflöte.”

In the concert field, Kathrin Zukowski will once again sing in the traditional New Year's concerts with the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria/Alfred Eschwé in early 2026, as well as “Ein Sommernachtstraum” (Mendelssohn Bartholdy) with the WDR Symphony Orchestra/Marie Jacquot and works by G.F. Handel with the Bach Consort Vienna/Rubén Dubrovsky at the Musikverein Vienna.

At the Cologne Opera, she will be heard in 2025/26 in the revival of “Zauberflöte” in the role of Pamina, as well as in the new productions of "Rheingold" as Woglinde, in “Le nozze di Figaro” as Susanna, and in “Tancredi” as Amenaide.

After completing her studies in classical guitar, Kathrin Zukowski studied vocal pedagogy and opera/concert performance at the Detmold University of Music and subsequently completed a master's degree in musical theater/opera singing at the August Everding Theater Academy in Munich under Lars Woldt. As part of her studies, she sang Arbace in Johann Adolf Hasse's “Artaserse” at the opening of the Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth together with the Munich Court Orchestra under the baton of Michael Hofstetter, in the world premiere of "False Good News – Alles klappt" by Ondřej Adámek at the Residenztheater Munich, and as Fiordiligi in "Così fan tutte" at the Munich Chamber Opera. During this time, Kathrin Zukowski is a scholarship holder of the Richard Wagner Association Bielefeld, a two-time scholarship holder of the Hasse Society, and winner of the special prize for “Best Singer” at the “Giangiacomo Guelfi” opera competition in Bolzano.

From 2018, she was a member of the International Opera Studio at Cologne Opera for two seasons, before joining the Cologne Opera ensemble in 2020-21. Here, she appeared as Niece in Britten's “Peter Grimes,” Antonia in “Hoffmanns Erzählungen für Kinder,” Marzelline in “Fidelio,” Contessa in Salieri's “La scuola de' gelosi,” Périzade in Offenbach's “Barkouf,” Princess in “Der Teufel mit den drei goldenen Haaren,” and Musetta in “La Bohème.” In season 2020.21, also at the Cologne Opera, she made her highly successful role debut as Pamina in Mozart's “Die Zauberflöte” and her role debut as Susanna in Mozart's “Le nozze di Figaro” (stream). 

She also appeared in Schnittstellen [II], a production by the Cologne Opera and a collaborative project between the Cologne Opera and InterArtes e.V., in the world premiere of Pepita Lunarium by Matej Bonin. Kathrin Zukowski's other roles include her role debuts as Gretel in “Hänsel und Gretel” and Konstanze in “Die Entführung aus dem Serail” as well as Micaëla in “Carmen.” 

Since 2022.23, Kathrin Zukowski has played other major roles in Cologne, including Donna Clara in “Der Zwerg,” Musetta in “La Bohème,” Cleopatra in “Giulio Cesare in Egitto,” Pamina in “Die Zauberflöte,” Adina in “Der Liebestrank,” E in the world premiere of Ondřej Adámek's “INES,” and Ilia in “Idomeneo.” In 2023, she received the Cologne Offenbach Prize, awarded by the Friends of the Cologne Opera Association. In January 2023, she was a guest soloist at a New Year's concert of the Tonkünstler Orchestra Vienna under the baton of Alfred Eschwé. In December 2024, she made her first appearance at the Vienna State Opera as Ighino in Pfitzner's “Palestrina” under the baton of Christian Thielemann.

Further guest engagements took her to the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria (including the Musikverein in Vienna and Grafenegg), to the opera houses in Bielefeld, Braunschweig, Hanover, and Karlsruhe, and as Griletta in “Lo Speziale” to the Haydn Festival in Brühl.

At the Cologne Opera in 2024.25, he played the role of Gabriel in the new stage production of Haydn's “Die Schöpfung,” Donna Anna in “Don Giovanni,” and, for the first time, the title role in “Lucia di Lammermoor.”