Anja Petersen has been a member of the RIAS Kammerchor Berlin since 2010 and is a busy soloist, primarily in the concert and oratorio field. After studying violin and voice in Stuttgart, she became a member of the Oldenburg State Theater ensemble, where she performed many roles in the lyric coloratura repertoire. As a freelance singer, she has made guest appearances at the Semperoper in Dresden, the Theater Bremen, and the state operas in Stuttgart and Wiesbaden. In 2014, 2015, and 2020, Anja Petersen held teaching positions at the Berlin University of the Arts. In October 2014, she stepped in at extremely short notice and with great success in the world premiere of Arnulf Herrmann’s Drei Gesänge am offenen Fenster (Three Songs at the Open Window) with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. She performed with this orchestra again in 2017 and in the same year appeared in the female lead role in Herrmann’s opera Der Mieter (The Tenant) at the Frankfurt Opera. In 2021, Anja Petersen performed again with the BRSO under Pablo Heras-Casado as part of musica viva.

What fascinates you about singing?

For me, the sound of the voice is always the most direct form of communication between people; it is a vital source of orientation and says so much about us. When we speak or sing, we “reveal” ourselves to others and project our energy outward. When I sing, I am both within myself and in the room, and when I hear a polyphonic choral sound that moves me, I often imagine that this is what paradise must sound like.