The Austrian tenor Dietmar Kerschbaum is one of the most internationally renowned performers in the German opera and concert repertoire. With a repertoire of over 80 roles, his artistic range extends from Mozart, Strauss, and Wagner to 20th-century and contemporary works.
His international career has taken him to the world’s most prestigious opera houses and festivals, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, the Opéra Bastille in Paris, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and the Salzburg Festival. He has worked with conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Kirill Petrenko, Philippe Jordan, Daniele Gatti, and Kurt Masur.
After studying in Vienna with Walter Berry, he began his career with engagements at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin. There he developed a wide-ranging repertoire with roles such as David („Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg“), the Steersman („Der fliegende Holländer“), Pedrillo („Die Entführung aus dem Serail“), and the Dance Master („Ariadne auf Naxos“).
He made his debut at the Vienna Volksoper as the youngest Eisenstein („Die Fledermaus“) in the history of the house and enjoyed great success there, including in the title roles of „Der Evangelimann“ and „Die Ausflüge des Herrn Brouček“. Other important roles in his repertoire include Fatty („The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny“) and Monostatos („The Magic Flute“), as well as Valzacchi („Der Rosenkavalier“).
In addition, his repertoire includes striking character roles such as the Witch („Hansel and Gretel“), Loge („Das Rheingold“), and the Captain („Wozzeck“), which underscore his versatility and dramatic range.
Future engagements will take him, among other places, to the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing, where he will appear as Monostatos and Loge.
In addition to his opera work, concert appearances have taken him to venues such as Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Gulbenkian Hall in Lisbon, and Avery Fisher Hall in New York, where he performed in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion under Kurt Masur. He also maintains a regular collaboration with the Vienna Konzerthaus and the Musikverein Vienna, where he most recently performed works such as Zemlinsky’s „Florentine Tragedy“ and Janáček’s „Diary of One Who Disappeared“.
In addition to his international career as a singer, Dietmar Kerschbaum has shaped major cultural institutions for many years as artistic director and general manager, most recently at the Brucknerhaus Linz (2017–2024), as well as serving as founder and artistic director of the international jOPERA Jennersdorf Festival Summer (1998–2021). His experience as an artistic director shapes his work on stage through a keen understanding of dramaturgy, musical processes, and the realities of production.