Gudrun Pelker

The mezzosoprano Gudrun Pelker completed her post-graduate artistic degree in voice with honors under Josef Metternich at the Musikhochschule Köln. In 1988, she made her debut as Carmen in the opera of the same name by Georges Bizet at the International Sommerfestspiele auf Schloss Weikersheim. Also in that year, she took up her first position at the Musiktheater in Gelsenkirchen. She then transferred to the Frankfurt Opera in 1998, where she was a permanent member of the ensemble for several years. Guest appearances have included roles at theaters such as the Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Oldenburg, Hannover, Cologne and Basel as well as at festivals such as the Schwetzingen Festival, the Munich Biennale and the Vienna Festival. She has collaborates with conductors such as Markus Stenz, Bernhard Kontarsky, Rasmus Baumann and Adam Fischer. At the Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen, she debuted the role of Herodias in Salome, Ježibaba in Rusalka, Kostelnička Buryjovka in Jenufa, the Countess in Pique Dame, and as Amme in Frau ohne Schatten. For her portrayal of her role as Kostelnička Buryjovka, she was awarded the Alfred Weber Theater Prize in 2014. At the Staatstheater Mainz in July 2016, she gave her debut performance as the old prioress in Poulenc’s Diologues des Carmelites with great success. Since 2007, she has been at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media working as a professor of voice.