Ulrike Wutscher is an Austrian mezzo-soprano based in Scotland. She regularly appears in opera productions. Her roles have included Daniel in a staged production of “Belshazzar” (Handel) at Blackheath Halls in London under the guidance of stage director Emma Rivlin and music director Nicholas Kraemer, Dido in “Dido and Aeneas” (Purcell) with directors Jörg Zwicker and Andrea Strassberger and Bastien in “Bastien et Bastienne” (Mozart) with Rainer Vierlinger and Lydia Vierlinger. Most recently she went back to Blackheath Halls to sing the role of Hermia in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (Britten) at Trinity Laban Opera with stage director Olivia Fuchs and music director Diego Masson.
Additionally to her appearance as an opera singer she also shows great interest in performing lieder and oratorio. She is a keen recitalist and concert singer and has performed in world-renowned venues including the Musikverein in Vienna and St-Martin-in-the-Fields in London. She is equally at home performing music of the baroque, classical and romantic periods. Ulrike appeared as a soloist at the Royal Greenwich Early Music Festival in 2013 under baroque specialist Robert Howarth and in 2014 she participated in a masterclass with world-renowned conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
Another main focus lies in music after 1900 leading well into the 21st century. Ulrike’s extensive repertoire of Lieder and art songs include music by Mahler, Strauss, Berg, J. Weir, Barber and Schumann. She has enjoyed working with the renowned specialist in Lied, Eugene Asti for the Strauss Festival 2014 and the Schubert Festival 2015 and was a finalist in the Elisabeth Schumann Lieder Competition 2015.
Ulrike studied singing with Lydia Vierlinger at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna), where she gained her magisterium artium (MA) in 2012 with distinction. She continued her training in London at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance under the guidance of Sophie Grimmer and Helen Yorke, where she completed her Postgraduate Artists Diploma in 2015 again with distinction. She is grateful for the support by the Kathleen Roberts Vocal Scholarship (2013-15).
Music always had been a very important part of her life as Ulrike’s mother worked as a teacher for early musical education and her father was the musical director of the local youth wind orchestra. By the age of three she could already play the recorder and subsequently moved on to other instruments. Besides playing the piano and violoncello, she sang in several choirs and ensembles in and around Vienna. Ulrike also has several years’ experience as a voice teacher and choir director, having studied Vocal Pedagogy with emphasis on Drama and Choral Conducting with Johannes Hiemetsberger and Alois Glassner.
Ulrike always aims to improve her performance by attending masterclasses and coachings with outstanding musicians in their respective fields and musical inspiration by tutors such as Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Julius Drake, Eugene Asti, Graham Johnson, Joan Rogers, Norman Shetler and Michael Chance have had a great impact on the young mezzo-soprano.