Serafina Starke was a member of the International Opera Studio of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin from 2024 to 2026, where she appeared in roles including Olympia in Les contes d´Hoffmann, Frasquita in Carmen and Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos. She also sang Isotta in a new production of Die schweigsame Frau under the musical direction of Christian Thielemann. A highlight of her time at the studio was her acclaimed role debut as Blonde in a new production of Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. 

 

The 2026/27 season brings further important debuts: she takes on the role of the Shepherd in Tannhäuser under the baton of Christian Thielemann at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, as well as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and makes her house debut at the Opernhaus Zürich as Valencienne in The Merry Widow. She can also be heard as Sandman in Hänsel und Gretel under Kirill Petrenko with the Berliner Philharmoniker. Concert engagements take her on tour with Philippe Herreweghe and the Collegium Vocale Gent, including performances at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and the Alte Oper Frankfurt, where she sings Schubert's Mass in E-flat major. A recital with Rebeka Stojkoska at the Wiener Musikverein and concerts with Bach´s Christmas Oratorio with the Thomanerchor at the Konzerthaus Berlin are further highlights oft he 26/27 season. 

 

In 2022 she was a participant of the Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival. The following year she returned to the Salzburg Festival as Barbarina in a new production of Le nozze di Figaro. That same year, under the baton of Riccardo Muti, she sang the soprano solo in Verdi's Te Deum (Quattro pezzi sacri). Further engagements have taken her to Bayerische Staatsoper, the Bregenzer Festspiele, the Easter Festival Baden-Baden, and the Handel Festival in Halle. In spring 2025 she made her debut at the Glyndebourne Festival in Wagner's Parsifal. Her operatic debut came at the age of 13, when she sang Flora in Britten's The Turn of the Screw. 

 

As a concert singer, she has appeared as soloist in works including Mozart's Great Mass in C minor and Exsultate, jubilate as well as Haydn's The Creation. In the 2025/26 season she sang Bach's Mass in B minor with the Thomanerchor Leipzig and performed the St John Passion at the Opernhaus Zürich.  

 

She has performed with orchestras including the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, and the Berliner and Wiener Philharmoniker, working with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Kirill Petrenko, and Christian Thielemann, as well as directors including Lydia Steier, Martin Kušej, Philipp Stölzl, and Jan Philipp Gloger.