Born in Munich, tenor Jonas Kaufmann is now internationally recognized as one of the most important artists of our day. In recent seasons Kaufmann has been heard in most of the world’s leading opera houses. He appeared  at the Royal Opera Covent Garden in La Rondine opposite Angela Gheorghiu, in the 2006 new production of Carmen as well as in  his first performances of Tosca in 2008, both under Maestro Pappano. He has also appeared there as Alfredo in La Traviata with Anna Netrebko and has performed Alfredo at the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Bavarian State Opera, Opera-Bastille, Teatro alla Scala, and in Munich as well. Kaufmann returned to the Berlin State Opera in 2008 as Rodolfo in La Boheme under Gustavo Dudamel and in the fall of that year opened the Chicago Lyric Opera season in his debut as Des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon, a role he later repeated to great acclaim in Vienna. Following his London debut as Cavaradossi, he has been heard in the role at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, in Vienna, Zurich and at the Metropolitan Opera. Other notable engagements in the recent seasons have included Fidelio for the Opera de Paris, the revival of Humperdinck’s rarely performed Koenigskinder in Zurich, and appearances as the Italian Tenor in Der Rosenkavalier at Baden- Baden under Christian Thielemann. In the summer of 2009 his debut in the title role of Wagner’s Lohengrin at the Bavarian State Opera in July of 2009 was hailed as revelatory by the international musical press.

In September of 2009 Kaufmann returned to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in Don Carlos under Semyon Bychkov. He returned to Munich as Lohengrin and then opened the 2009 La Scala season as Don Jose in a new production of Carmen conducted by Daniel Barenboim. In January of 2010 Kaufmann made his debut in Werther for the Opera National de Paris. He returned to the Metropolitan Opera House in Carmen and Tosca and to the Zurich Opera for a revival of Konigskinder, and sang Verdi’s Requiem with the forces of La Scala in both Milan and Paris under Daniel Barenboim, and at the Salzburg Festival under Mariss Jansons. Following performances of Carmen in Munich, Kaufmann starred in the Munich’s Festival’s new production of Tosca. Also in the summer of 2010 Kaufmann makes his debut at the Bayreuth Festival in a new staging of Lohengrin. He returns to the Luzern Festival as Florestan in concert performances of Fidelio under Claudio Abbado, under whose direction he sang Brahms’s Rinaldo with the Berlin Philharmonic in May 2010. During the season, he also sings solo operatic concerts in Hamburg, Berlin, Duesseldorf, Baden-Baden and Dortmund and appears in recital at both the Munich and Salzburg Festivals.

Jonas Kaufmann begins his 2010/2011 season in his first performances
of the role of Maurizio in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur in concert performances with
Angela Gheorghiu at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He will also star in a new production of the work, again with Mme Gheorghiu, at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where he will later appear in two Gala Performances of Tosca. Kaufmann returns to Munich as Florestan in Fidelio and as Don Jose. He will be heard in Werther at the Vienna State Opera and with the Metropolitan Opera on tour in Japan in Don Carlos. Prior to the tour he will make his debut as Siegmund in the Metropolitan’s new production of Die Walkuere under James Levine. A recital tour with Helmut Deutsch will include concerts in Berlin, Paris, Frankfurt, Barcelona, Seville, Vienna, London, and Zurich.

Jonas Kaufmann has appeared with many of the world’s leading conductors and orchestras. Among these engagements are performances with the Berlin Philharmonic under both Sir Simon Rattle and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst and the Vienna Philharmonic under Helmut Rilling.

In January 2008 Jonas Kaufmann’s first solo album for DECCA titled Romantic Arias became an immediate international best seller. His second solo Album titled Sehnsucht, a collection of German Opera Arias with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado, has been acclaimed internationally. His most recent release is a recording of Schubert’s Die Schoene Muellerin with Helmut Deutsch. Scheduled for fall release is his third operatic album of Verismo Arias with Antonio Pappano conducting the Accademia di Santa Cecilia.