Banse, Langner, Kim, Jakobs, Humm, Bittner, WDR Radio Choir, Cologne Chamber Orchestra & Christoph Poppen
Biography Banse, Langner, Kim, Jakobs, Humm, Bittner, WDR Radio Choir, Cologne Chamber Orchestra & Christoph Poppen
Juliane Banse
German soprano Juliane Banse, who grew up in Zurich, initially studied with Paul Steiner and later with Ruth Rohner at the Zurich Opera House, before completing her training under Brigitte Fassbaender and Daphne Evangelatos in Munich. Since then, she has performed on opera and concert stages worldwide, frequently collaborating with renowned conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Bernard Haitink, Franz Welser-Möst, Marin Alsop, Zubin Mehta, and Manfred Honeck.
Chamber music and song recitals also play a significant role in her schedule. She now passes on her expertise to the next generation: after five years at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf, she has been a professor at the Mozarteum University since 2020 and also conducts masterclasses internationally. She is a sought-after jury member for competitions both at home and abroad.
Charlotte Langner
performed at the Tonhalle Düsseldorf and as the Second Boy in Mozart’s *The Magic Flute* at the Theater Krefeld/Mönchengladbach while still a teenager; she was a violist in the North Rhine-Westphalia State Youth Orchestra and, while still in school, a junior student of Juliane Banse at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf (RSH) as part of a program for the highly gifted. Following her bachelor’s degree at the Mozarteum Salzburg and a master’s degree with Konrad Jarnot at the RSH, she is currently pursuing an "Excellence" degree program at the RSH.
She has participated in numerous masterclasses and is a prize-winner in the junior category of the Federal Vocal Competition (Bundeswettbewerb Gesang) in Berlin, a multiple national prize-winner of the "Jugend musiziert" competition, and a recipient of the Walter and Charlotte Hamel Foundation’s special prize. Charlotte Langner made her debut at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein during the 2023/2024 season as Uli in Lucia Ronchetti’s *Das fliegende Klassenzimmer*. She recently garnered attention through her performance with Rolando Villazón at the "Mozart 270" concert in the Tonhalle Düsseldorf.
In the 2026/27 season, Charlotte Langner will make her role debut as the Queen of the Night in *The Magic Flute* (*Die Zauberflöte*) at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.
Christoph Poppen
Conductor and violinist. As a violinist, he founded the Cherubini Quartet in 1978; as its first violinist, he won the Grand Prix at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France, in 1981. From 1995 to 2006, Christoph Poppen served as conductor and artistic director of the Munich Chamber Orchestra. Subsequently, and until the summer of 2011, he was chief conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern. In 2010, he was awarded the Saarland Art Prize for his artistic achievements and his commitment to the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie and the Saarland cultural scene. As a guest conductor, Poppen has led ensembles such as the Bamberg and Vienna Symphony Orchestras, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden and Freiburg, the WDR and hr Symphony Orchestras, and the Camerata Salzburg. At the Frankfurt Opera, he conducted *The Pearl Fishers* (*Die Perlenfischer*) in 2009 and *The Magic Flute* in 2012. He continued his operatic conducting work at the Aalto Theater in Essen with Mozart’s *Die Entführung aus dem Serail*. He has had multiple engagements at the Tiroler Landestheater in Innsbruck, conducting works such as Strauss’s *Arabella*, Rossini’s *Otello*, and Verdi’s *Falstaff*. He has also made numerous CD recordings of contemporary music. In the 2012/13 season, Christoph Poppen conducts the new production of *Iphigenia in Aulis* at the Stuttgart Opera.
