DENominated as Singer of the Year by the Opernwelt the young dramatic soprano Esther Dierkes will be heard in the 2024/2025 season as the title role in Dvořáks opera Rusalka, as “Desdemona” in Verdis Otello as well as “Laura” in J. Strauss Casanova at Stuttgart State Opera, where she joined the ensemble in 2017.
Her credits with the company include the title role in Janáčeks opera “Jenůfa” , “Rusalka” in Dvořáks opera Rusalka, “Mimì” in Puccini`s La bohème, “Gretel” in Humperdinck`s Hänsel and Gretel, “Ninetta” in Prokofjew`s Die Liebe zu drei Orangen, “Pamina” in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, “Zerlina” in Mozart`s Don Giovanni, the female lead in the world premiere of Hosokawa’s Erdbeben.Träume, “Susanna” in Mozart`s Le nozze di Figaro, “Gretchen”and “Una Poenitentium” in Schumanns Faust Szenen, “Micaela” (Carmen) as well as “Freia” (Das Rheingold) , “Gerhilde” (Die Walküre) and “Gutrune” (Götterdämmerung) in the new Ring production.
In addition she was heard as “1. Dame” in Mozart´s Die Zauberflöte at Opéra de Lausanne and “5. Magd” in R. Strauss` Elektra at the Kölner Philharmonie, State Opera Stuttgart and at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées as well as “Gretel” in Humperdinck`s Hänsel and Gretel at the SemperOper Dresden. At the Glyndebourne Festival and at the BBC Proms as well as the Komische Oper Berlin Esther Dierkes was heard as “1. Dame” in Die Zauberflöte.
As a concert singer she has already performed with the MDR Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Radio Philharmonic, the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, the hr-Symphony Orchestra and the Gürzenich Orchestra. Esther Dierkes is a regular guest at the Kölner Philharmonie, the Berliner Philharmonie, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the Alte Oper Frankfurt and is working with conductors such as Hartmut Haenchen, Philippe Herreweghe, Elias Grandy, Cornelius Meister, Sylvain Cambreling, Risto Joost, Marc Soustrot, Andrew Manze, Marek Janowski and Bertrand de Billy.
The soprano is a scholarship holder of the “Richard-Wagner-Verband”, received the scholarship of the Catholic Study Foundation “Cusanuswerk” and was also supported by the “Da Ponte” Foundation and Yehudi-Menuhin “Live Music Now” e.V.
During her studies in the class of Prof. Hedwig Fassbender at the Frankfurt State Conservatory, Esther Dierkes already performed at Opera Frankfurt, at Staatstheater Darmstadt, the “Festival of Young Artists” in Bayreuth, Rheingau Music Festival and at the St. Margarethen Opera Festival.