Soloist - Mezzosopran
Karolina Gumos
Zitat einfügen oder Element löschenI need nature to breathe.
Karolina Gumos grew up on the shores of Gdańsk Bay. Right outside her front door was the vast expanse of the sea, which piqued her curiosity about what lay beyond the horizon – invisible to the eyes, but able to be glimpsed by the heart. The same with singing. She sang her first role (in The Little Prince by Saint-Exupéry) in the musical theatre in her home town, overlooking the beach. She was 18 years old, and hadn’t really been interested in singing before that. She went to audition because her boyfriend at the time was involved in the production. »I suddenly realised how much I enjoy singing!« And her voice turned out to be perfectly suited to the opera.
She was lured in by the call of opera! Firstly to Poznán, to study singing, and then to Germany. »I didn’t want to come here at all in the beginning. The relationship between Germany and Poland is quite strained, after all.« And then there was her family history: as a young man, her father had fought for Polish independence during the Nazis’ reign of terror, and had ended up in a concentration camp as a result. »An incredible man. After all the terrible things that happened to him, he never became bitter, and worked tirelessly to foster reconciliation after the war.« The Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg was her first stop in the country next door. Which is where she met a young man who is one of the reasons why she stayed in Germany and put down roots. »He was a hornist in the orchestra.« Her great love. »He played the alphorn for me by the lake, and that was it for me!« They’ve been together ever since.
»One day we were walking along Unter den Linden in Berlin. There was a window display showing videos of performances by the Komischer Oper. At the time we talked about how great it would be if I could sing here some day …«
After stints in Dortmund and Braunschweig, fate did indeed bring her to the Komische Oper Berlin. And now it has become her home. She loves the lakes and rivers of Brandenburg. She is a passionate kayaker, and likes to comb through the forest in her favourite gumboots, foraging for mushrooms. If she ends up in the mountains though in the holidays, she has to be careful: »I get queasy on winding mountain roads.« After all, she is a child of the sea …
In the Ensemble of the Komische
Oper Berlin since 2006. Named a
Berlin Kammersängerin in 2022.
ORIGINALLY FROM
Gdynia / Poland
STUDIES
Akademia Muzyczna in Poznan (Wojciech Maciejowski), Hochschule für Musik »Hanns Eisler« Berlin (Anneliese Fried)
Oper Berlin since 2006. Named a
Berlin Kammersängerin in 2022.
ORIGINALLY FROM
Gdynia / Poland
STUDIES
Akademia Muzyczna in Poznan (Wojciech Maciejowski), Hochschule für Musik »Hanns Eisler« Berlin (Anneliese Fried)
PRIZES
Ada-Sari-Gesangswettbewerb, Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg
IMPORTANT DIRECTORS
Willy Decker, Stefan Herheim, Heiner Goebbels, Hans Neuenfels, Barrie Kosky, Marco Arturo Marelli, Christine Mielitz, Udo Samel, Beverly Blankenship, Lucas Kindermann, Andreas Homoki, Sebastian Baumgarten
IMPORTANT CONDUCTORS
Peter Schneider, Friedemann Layer, Stefan Soltesz, Michael Boder, Michael Hofstetter, Ion Marin, Pedro Halffter, Sebastian Weigle
IMPORTANT PREVIOUS POSITIONS
Theater Dortmund, Staatstheater Braunschweig
IMPORTANT PARTS AT THE KOMISCHE OPER BERLIN
Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Idamante (Idomeneo), Prinz Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel),Le Prince Charmant (Cendrillon), Arsamenes (Xerxes), Magdalena (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Kasturbai (Satyagraha), Le Prince Charmant(Cendrillon - Aschenputtel), Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier), Smeraldine (Die Liebe zu drei Orangen), Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Ino (Semele), Mrs. Meg Page(Falstaff), Juno(Orpheus in der Unterwelt), Jokaste(Œdipe), Varvara(Katja Kabanowa), La muse/La mère d’Antonia(Les contes d’Hoffmann)
ELSEWHERE
Sextus(Titus), Fenena (Nabucco), Rosmira (Partenope), Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde, Verdi: Requiem
EXCURSIONS
Semperoper Dresden, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Teatro de La Maestranza Sevilla, Oper Frankfurt, CC Lissabon, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Ruhrtriennale, Münchener Opernfestspiele, Lutosławski-Festival Warschau, Händelfestspiele Karlsruhe, Berliner Philharmonie