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“Johannes Held’s baritone voice has a firm, glowing core and a gripping, expressive force,” Susanne Benda wrote of the German baritone in Stuttgarter Nachrichten. Since his graduation from the Royal Danish Opera Academy in 2013, Johannes has impressed audiences and critics alike.
Johannes has performed as a soloist with companies including the Royal Danish Opera, Wermland Opera (SE), Staatstheater Oldenburg (GER), Staatstheater Mainz (GER) and Theater Bozen (IT). He has sung major operatic roles including Papageno, Gulgielmo, Dr. Falke, Sid, and Escamillo.
Johannes is an experienced oratorio soloist and prize-winning lieder singer. He has appeared with the orchestra of the Royal Danish Opera, Copenhagen Phil, Odense Symphony Orchestra, the Latvian National Orchestra, La Verdi Milan, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, and Orchestra Haydn Bolzano e Trento. His substantial oratorio repertoire includes works by Bach, Haydn, Brahms, Mendelssohn and Martin, and his thoughtfully programmed lieder recitals feature music by Schubert, Schumann, Mahler, and Weill, among others.
Johannes has collaborated with conductors including Andris Poga, Claus Peter Flor, Arvo Volmer, Simon Gaudenz, Johannes Gustavsson, Michael Boder, and Ruben Jais. He has appeared in chamber music festivals at Meraner Festwochen, Schubertiade Roskilde, and Lofoten International Chamber Music Festival, and has sung at Auditorio Bolzano, Teatro Garibaldi in Palermo, and Gothenburg Opera House. In 2018, he recorded Schubert´s Winterreise with pianist Daniel Beskow. He created the concept for “Winterreise Staged,” which he has performed since 2015 across Europe.
Johannes is founder and artistic director of the international art song-festival DER ZWERG, which is held biannually in Sindelfingen, Germany.
Johannes grew up in Sindelfingen, Germany. After early training with Stuttgart Hymnus Boys’ Choir, he studied voice at the Music Academy Freiburg, Germany, and continued at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and the Opera Academy in Copenhagen under the guidance of Susanna Eken. He has worked with coaches including Mikael Eliasen, Fiona MacSherry, Ouri Bronchti, and Tim Ribchester. Deborah Polaski has given him further impulses. Johannes is grateful to the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, the Evangelische Studienwerk Villigst, the Richard Wagner Foundation, and the Kunststiftung BW for support that has aided his studies and career.