Hailed as “the world’s leading Mozart tenor” German-Canadian Michael Schade performs in all of the leading Opera houses. His art form embraces a wide repertoire of performances in opera, recital, concert and recording.

His close collaboration with the Vienna Staatsoper continues in the 2010/11 season returning to Vienna for the New Year’s Fledermaus production and Arabella. At the Staatsoper Mr. Schade has performed all of the leading Mozart-roles and in addition he has performed extensively in the bel canto repertoire. Recent successes for Mr. Schade have included Mozart’s Idomeneo as well as Strauss’ Arabella and Capriccio with Renée Fleming. Opera reclaimed him in three new productions; his first Prince in Rusalka at Toronto’s COC, as Aschenbach in Britten’s Death in Venice at the Hamburg Staatsoper, which awarded Mr. Schade’s outstanding performance with the Rolf-Mares-Prize for an exceptional achievement in a leading role. He was featured in the highly acclaimed production of Thais at the Metropolitan Opera with Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson. Mr. Schade returned to the Met in 2010 for Lulu under Fabio Luisi and sang his first Des Grieux in Manon for Opera Lyra in Ottawa. For 2010/11 he has been invited to sing Zauberflöte in Munich and Toronto.

At the Salzburg Festival, Mr. Schade appeared 16 consecutive years in new productions of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Titto, Purcell’s King Arthur, two new productions of Mozart’s Zauberflöte, Haydn’s Armida and Cherubini’s Medêe. He was appointed by Jürgen Flimm as the creative director of the Salzburg Young Artists Project for 2008 and 2009; a yearly program that invites exceptional singers to study under the guidance of the respective responsible person during the festival.

In addition to his opera career, Michael Schade performs extensively in concert and recital. His immense concert repertoire ranges from Bach’s Passions to Mahler’s Lied von der Erde, in numerous concerts with the Vienna and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras, the Philadelphia and San Francisco Orchestras, the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto and Montreal Symphony Orchestras and the Boston Symphony Orchestra under such renowned conductors as Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph von Dohnányi, Valery Gergiev, Daniel Harding, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Mariss Jansons, James Levine, Sir Charles Mackerras, Riccardo Muti, Kent Nagano, Peter Oundjan, Sir Simon Rattle, Helmuth Rilling, Christian Thielemann, Franz Welser-Möst and Simone Young.

Mr Schade has a close association with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Concentus Musicus, also performing under the Maestro with both the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic. Many of these concerts have been released on CD for SonyBMG. Highlights of their collaboration include a program of arias by Mozart and Haydn at the Vienna Musikverein, touring to Brussels and Bern, Bach’s St. Johns Passion at the Vienna Musikverein and then the Lucerne Festival. Endeavours of the current season with the Maestro include Franz Schmidt’s Das Buch mit Sieben Siegeln and Mozart’s Il Sogno di Scipione in concert in Vienna. In October 2010 he will sing Bach’s B-Minor Mass at Vienna’s Musikverein and together with Haydn’s Schöpfung in Japan.

Concerts of the 2010/11 season further include Haydn’s Paukenmesse in Berlin, Messias in Montréal, Damnation de Faust in Bilbao, Lied von der Erde in Baden-Baden and with Sir Simon Rattle in Birmingham, Janá?ek’s Glagolitic Mass at  Vienna’s Musikverein as well as Mozart arias and Schöpfung in Berlin.

As a recitalist Michael Schade has been singing at La Scala, the Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall, and at London’s Wigmore Hall. He is a regular guest at the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg.  The 2010/11 season features Mr. Schade performing in Stuttgart, London, Graz, Zürich and Schwarzenberg. He will sing with Genia Kühmeier, Bernarda Fink and Thomas Quasthoff Brahms’ Liebesliederwalzer on tour throughout Europe and the USA.

A prolific recording artist, Michael Schade was awarded a Grammy in 2002 for Bach’s St. Matthew's Passion under Harnoncourt. With the Maestro, he also recorded Handel’s Messiah, Verdi’s Requiem, Haydn’s Orlando Paladino and Mozart’s Zaide. His recording of Daphne (Decca) with Renée Fleming was nominated for a Grammy in 2005.  Mr. Schade has been awarded two Junos; one for “Soirêe Française” and for “Mozart: Arie e Duetti”, both under Maestro Richard Bradshaw (CBC records).  For Mr. Schade’s Leukimia foundation, he released a recording of Die Schöne Müllerin with Malcolm Martineau (CBC Records). This recording was nominated for a Juno in 2005.

In January 2007, Michael Schade was appointed Kammersänger by the Austrian government, the first Canadian to receive this honour. Mr. Schade serves as the creative Director of both the Salzburg Young Singer’s Project and as artistic director of the Hapag Lloyd Stella Maris International Vocal Competition.  The Vienna Musikverein has named Mr. Schade as ‘Artist in Residence’ with his own subscription series for 2009/10 season.