39 Facts About Andreas Scholl

Andreas Scholl was born on 10 November 1967 and is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range, specialising in Baroque music.

Just four years later, Andreas Scholl was offered a place at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, an institution that normally accepts only post-graduate students, based on the strength and quality of his voice.

Andreas Scholl became an instructor at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland, succeeding his own teacher, Richard Levitt.

The bulk of Andreas Scholl's recording career has been with Harmonia Mundi and Decca, and his CDs are among Harmonia Mundi's best sellers.

Andreas Scholl has worked with most contemporary Baroque specialists, including William Christie and Philippe Herreweghe, and is himself a songwriter and composer of ballet and theatre music, with his own professional sound studio.

Andreas Scholl was born on 10 November 1967 in Eltville, West Germany, and grew up in neighbouring Kiedrich.

Aged 13, Andreas Scholl performed the role of the "second boy" in Mozart's Die Zauberflote at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, while his sister Elisabeth sang the first boy.

Andreas Scholl was 17 when the extent of his ability was recognised by the voice coach of the Chorbuben from the Darmstadt Music Academy.

Andreas Scholl sent a demo tape to Rene Jacobs to evaluate his talent.

At the Schola, Andreas Scholl's teacher was Richard Levitt, followed by Jacobs in his second year.

Violinist Chiara Banchini and soprano Emma Kirkby were major influences, as Andreas Scholl began to specialise in the music of the Baroque.

Andreas Scholl additionally studied with soprano Evelyn Tubb and lutenist Anthony Rooley.

Andreas Scholl has been teaching interpretation in the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, succeeding his own teacher, Richard Levitt, and is in much demand for master classes.

In January 1993 Andreas Scholl stood in for Rene Jacobs at Jacobs' request at the Theatre Grevin in Paris, causing a sensation.

Andreas Scholl performed Bach's Mass in B minor in 1995, conducted by Jacobs, and sang works by Purcell on a tour in France.

Andreas Scholl performed the title role of Handel's Solomon at The Proms.

Andreas Scholl gave recitals in Wigmore Hall and at the Brighton Festival.

Rodelinda was a huge success and Andreas Scholl "stopped the show" according to the Sunday Times.

Andreas Scholl performed this role at the Metropolitan Opera in 2006, opposite Renee Fleming in the title role and Kobie van Rensburg, conducted by Patrick Summers, repeated in 2011.

Andreas Scholl performed Bach's Christmas Oratorio in Avery Fisher Hall, conducted by Ton Koopman.

In 2001, Andreas Scholl sang in Handel's Saul in Brussels and performed the title role in Handel's Solomon, conducted by Paul McCreesh.

Andreas Scholl sang Bach's St John Passion in the Thomaskirche, Leipzig.

In 2008 Andreas Scholl made his debut with the New York Philharmonic, singing Handel's Messiah in Avery Fisher Hall, conducted by Ton Koopman.

In 2011 Andreas Scholl made his debut at the RMF in three events, an interview, a trip to three churches with different concert programs, and an opera recital with his sister Elisabeth at Eberbach Abbey.

Andreas Scholl appeared with the vocal ensemble Profeti della Quinta and lutenist Edin Karamazov.

Andreas Scholl has worked with most contemporary Baroque specialists, including Christophe Coin, Michel Corboz, Paul Dyer, John Eliot Gardiner, Reinhard Goebel, Christopher Hogwood, Robert King, Nicholas McGegan, Roger Norrington, Christophe Rousset, Dominique Veillard and Roland Wilson.

Andreas Scholl performed as a member of Konrad Junghanel's Cantus Colln, and has collaborated with ensembles such as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Musica Antiqua Koln, the Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, the Freiburger Barockorchester, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Accademia Bizantina.

The composer Marco Rosano has created a new Stabat Mater for Andreas Scholl; he sang the first complete performance of this work on 22 February 2008 at the City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney, accompanied by the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra under Paul Dyer.

Andreas Scholl has always composed songs, as well as music for ballet and theatre, and has his own professional sound studio in Basel, Switzerland.

Alongside Andreas Scholl was fellow Baroque countertenor, Roland Kunz, who specialises in setting Elizabethan English poems to his own electronic music.

The bulk of Andreas Scholl's recording career has been with Harmonia Mundi and Decca.

The recording of Bach's St John Passion conducted by Philippe Herreweghe on which Andreas Scholl sings was nominated for a Cannes Classical Award in 2003.

Andreas Scholl was Germany's Kultur Radio Artist of the Year in 1998.

Andreas Scholl has revealed, to German audiences in particular, some little-known masterworks of German Baroque composers and has thereby made a significant contribution to the modern rediscovery of the Baroque repertoire.

Andreas Scholl's 2001 album of folk songs, Wayfaring Stranger, was a personal project, well received by the CD-buying public but not universally acclaimed by his fellow musicians, some of whom regarded it as an inappropriate departure from his more classical work.

Andreas Scholl has often interpreted the works of Oswald von Wolkenstein.

In 2015 Andreas Scholl was the 22nd recipient of the Rheingau Musik Preis.

Andreas Scholl's recording of Vivaldi's Stabat Mater with Ensemble 415 under Chiara Banchini received a Gramophone Award for best Baroque Vocal performance in 1996.

In 2012 Andreas Scholl married pianist, harpsichordist and composer Tamar Halperin.