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The Swiss contralto, Barbara Magdalena Erni, obtained her teaching diploma for singing, as well as her diploma in concert and opera studies, from Hochschule der Künste Bern, where she studied with Frieder Lang. She also successfully completed further training in concert and opera with Hans Peter Blochwitz and at the Schweizer Opernstudio in Biel. She deepened her studies in master-classes and is currently receiving important impulses from the contralto Ingeborg Danz.
As a sought-after concert singer at home and abroad, Barbara Erni works with numerous orchestras at home and abroad, including the Barockorchester Capriccio Basel, Sinfonie Orchester Biel Solothurn, Camerata Schweiz, Barockorchester l'Arco Hannover, Le Moment Baroque, Bach-Ensemble Luzern and Cantus Firmus Consort Solothurn, Ensemble la fontaine, Die Freitagsakademie Bern, BachCollegium Bern and Orchestra OPUS Bern. In 2011 and 2013, as part of the Bachwoche Stuttgart, she was a soloist under Helmuth Rilling in J.S. Bach's Johannes-Passion (BWV 245) and Matthäus-Passion (BWV 244). Her concert activities led her to bigger stages such as the KKL Luzern and the Tonhalle Zürich. She likes to tend to classical Lieder and she has been in various roles on theatre stages in Biel and Solothurn.
Her wide-ranging repertoire includes works from the early Baroque to contemporary music. Barbara Erni has made an excellent name for herself with her expressive interpretations, for example in J.S. Bach's Passions (BWV 244 & BWV 245), Mass in B minor (BWV 232) or Weihnachts-Oratorium (BWV 248); George Frideric Handel's Messiah, Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah, Rossini's Petite Messe solennelle; or in the Misa a Buenos Aires by the Argentine composer Martin Palmeri. Her modulation-capable, warm alto voice, which unfolds its rich sonority even in the lowest register, is able to inspire again and again. She is also a member of BERNVOCAL (Director Fritz Krämer).
Barbara Erni now lives near Biel. In addition to her concert activities, she teaches singing at schools and gives private lessons. |
