Tenor Kai Kluge began his musical training with the Aurelius Boys‘ Choir in Calw and thus made his first national and international stage experiences – for example as the 3rd boy in „The Magic Flute“ by W.A. Mozart. He studied at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe with Prof. Friedemann Röhlig and completed his bachelor’s degree in voice and opera with distinction. He received further impulses through master classes with Prof. Regina Werner-Dietrich, Peter Berne, Roberto Sacca, Thomas Hampson and KS Christa Ludwig.
While still a student, he was engaged at the opera studio of the Staatstheater Karlsruhe, where he sang Remendado in Bizet’s „Carmen“ and Pedrillo in Mozart’s „Die Entführung aus dem Serail“.
For the 2016/17 season he joined the opera studio of the Staatstheater Stuttgart and has been a permanent member of the ensemble there since the 2017/18 season. There he celebrated great successes in important roles such as Tamino /“Magic Flute“, Ottavio/“Don Giovanni“, Lurcanio/“Ariodante“, Alfredo/“La Traviata“, Prince/“The Love for Three Oranges, Alfred/“Die Fledermaus“, the Italian Singer/“Der Rosenkavalier“.
Recently he made his successful debuts as Duca/”Rigoletto” and Jim/”Mahagonny”.
Guest engagements have taken him to the opera houses in Bonn, Kiel, Bremen, Karlsruhe, Basel, Kassel and Wiesbaden. His debut at Semperoper Dresden as Nemorino deserves special mention.
In the course of his busy concert schedule, he has already sung at the Liederhalle in Stuttgart, the Meistersingerhalle in Nuremberg and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.
In the course of his career he has worked with conductors such as Georg Fritsch, Cornelius Meister, Dirk Kaftan, Lothar Koenigs, Frieder Bernius, Lorenzo Viotti and Thomas Guggeis as well as with directors such as Peter Konwitschny, Jossi Wieler, Aron Stiehl and Axel Ranisch.
Kai Kluge successfully participated in various competitions. In 2014 he won the 1st prize of the Baden-Baden Opera Academy and in 2015 was a finalist in the Lied duo with his sister Melania Kluge at the International Competition „Franz Schubert and the Music of Modernity“.
He will stay in steady and fruitful contact with Staatsoper Stuttgart also in the future, role debuts as Max/”Freischütz” and Prince/”Rusalka” are planned for season 2024/25.