About this Artist
The well-known alto BRITTA SCHWARZ was born in Neubrandenburg (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). She first studied singing with Christa Niko at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. She then went on to study with Christian Elsner and Hartmut Zabel in Dresden, after which she was engaged for four years to sing at the Studio of the Staatsoper Dresden (Semperoper).
Schwarz has won several prizes at different international competitions in Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic), Zwickau (Germany), and London (Great Britain).
She has very successfully presented her extensive repertoire in numerous concerts with renowned orchestras such as the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Dresden Philharmonia, the Berlin Radio Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonia, the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
An important factor in these triumphs has been her talent for working with celebrated conductors like Marek Janowski, Milan Horvat, Kent Nagano, Michel Plasson, Philippe Herreweghe, Helmut Rilling, Bruno Weil, Peter Schreier, Gustavo Dudamel, and Jörg-Peter Weigle. Especially worth mentioning is her continuous and very inspiring collaboration with Sir András Schiff.
Britta Schwarz has a marked preference for Romantic Lieder, a predilection shared with the Dresden pianist Camillo Radicke. Concerts and Lieder recitals have taken Schwarz to most European countries, as well as to Canada, Japan, and the U.S. The international festivals in which she has participated include the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, the Holland Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, the Dresden Music Festival, Blyth Valley Chamber Music, the MDR Summer Festival, and the Passau European Weeks.
Britta Schwarz has devoted herself to Baroque music very intensively for many years. As a result she has sung with famous conductors and Baroque ensembles, including Gustav Leonhardt, Reinhard Göbel, Marcus Creed, Bruno Weill, Ludger Remy, Hans-Christoph Rademann, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Musica Antiqua Köln, La statione Frankfurt, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the RIAS Kammerchor, and Cantus Cölln.
Together with the lutenist Stefan Maass, Britta Schwarz has also presented numerous programs for solo voice and basso continuo.
Her repertoire has been heard on several radio productions and on recordings released by labels such as CPO, Raumklang, and Kammerton. In 2001 she released her first solo CD, a recording of Baroque cantatas for voice and basso continuo, on the Berlin Classics label.
For several years Britta Schwarz has taught at the Hochschule für Musik “Carl Maria von Weber” in Dresden. Among others, she conducts the course for oratorio interpretation. In April 2010 Schwarz was appointed visiting professor of classical singing at Hochschule für Musik, “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin. Starting October 2015 she will be an honorary professor at the same institution.