Performance Database

Bele Kumberger

Bele Kumberger made her debut with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Andris Nelsons’ baton in 2015, followed by her debut in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen. At the latter her repertoire has since included Regina in Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler, Gänsemagd in Humperdinck’s Königskinder, Blanche in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, Tatjana of Tchaikovsky’s (chamber version) Jewgeni Onegin, Yvette in Weinberger’s Die Passagierin.
Born in Straubing, Bele Kumberger received a scholarship of Bavarian ’Singakademie‘ and studied with Manuela Dill in Munich. She studied at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin with Anneliese Fried and additionally with Christine Schäfer and Dagmar Schellenberger, since 2015 with Jagna Sokorska Kwika. In 2007, she joined in Wolfram Rieger’s recital class and Julia Varady’s interpretation class. In master classes Bele Kumberger worked with producer Willy Decker, accompanist Irwin Gage, early music specialist Wolfgang Katschner, bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff and baritone Bo Skovhus. The prize winner was awarded scholarships by Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Foundation and Jütting Stiftung. In 2017, she was awarded the 20th Gelsenkirchener Theaterpreis "for outstanding artists of the Musiktheater”.
In Wagner’s Parsifal, Bele Kumberger performed at the Bayreuth Festival from 2016 to 2019 and will return for a concert performance in 2021; made her Salzburg Easter Festival debut in 2013 under the baton of Christian Thielemann, followed by her debut with the China Philharmonic Orchestra at the Beijing Music Festival. She performed the title role in Orff’s The Story of the King and the Clever Young Woman (Carl Orff-Festival in Andechs), made her debut at Berlin’s State Opera in Wolf-Ferrari’s Aschenputtel singing the part of Hartwige and covering the title role in 2011. She was a guest at Braunschweig State Opera and Lake Festival Mörbisch, Austria. Her early music repertoire includes Poppea in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Titania in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen and Ariene in Scarlatti’s Penelope la Casta. Scarlatti’s Penelope la Casta.
Bele Kumberger is a dedicated concert singer and her repertoire includes works by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Pergolesi and Vivaldi. She performed at the Fränkische Musiktage 2012, has taken part at the 3rd Encuentro de Música Religiosa de Caja Canarias at Fuerteventura/Canary Islands. A dedicated recitalist, she covers a wide Lied repertoire and went on tour of Germany and Spain with Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch, together with baritone Bo Skovhus, in 2019.
Bele Kumberger performed with Bamberger Symphoniker, Bayreuther Festspielorchester, China Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Bochumer Symphoniker, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Lautten Compagney Berlin, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Staatskapelle Berlin and Staatskapelle Halle – and worked with conductors including Semyon Bychkov, Hartmut Haenchen, Marek Janowski, Julia Jones, Andris Nelsons, Christian Thielemann.
Her Discography includes Hindemith’s Tuttifäntchen with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin [cpo], Bock’s The Fiddler on the Roof [OEHMS] and Wagner’s Parsifal with Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden (Deutsche Grammophon) and the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra (Unitel).

Engagements in Bayreuth

Year Opera Part
2021 Konzert Parsifal Klingsors Zaubermädchen
2019 Parsifal Klingsors Zaubermädchen
2018 Parsifal Klingsors Zaubermädchen
2017 Parsifal Klingsors Zaubermädchen
2016 Parsifal Klingsors Zaubermädchen