Skip to main content

Frederica von Stade

One of America’s finest artists and singers”

— The New York Times

Biography

Frederica von Stade continues to be extolled as one of the music world’s most beloved figures. Known to family, friends, and fans by her nickname “Flicka,” the mezzo-soprano has enriched the world of classical music for four and a half decades.

Though she retired from full-time performances in 2010, she continues to make appearances across the United States. The 2018-19 season opens with the world premiere of Lembit Beecher’s Sky on Swings at Opera Philadelphia. Also during the fall, she will perform alongside Susan Graham and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s for the DiMenna Center Benefit in New York City. March marks a return to the San Diego Opera as she portrays Madeline in Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers, a role she created a decade ago. In 2017, Ms. von Stade opened the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s season with a tribute to Leonard Bernstein conducted by Andris Nelsons.

Ms. von Stade has appeared with every leading American opera company, including San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Los Angeles Opera. Her career in Europe has been no less spectacular, with new productions mounted for her at Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, and the Paris Opera. She is invited regularly by the finest conductors, among them Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, André Previn, Leonard Slatkin, and Michael Tilson Thomas, to appear in concert with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Washington’s National Symphony, and the Orchestra of La Scala.