Mag.art.
Kerstin Turnheim
BA BA MA
The Austrian singer Kerstin Turnheim performs a wide-ranging repertoire, alternating between mezzo-soprano and soprano roles. Equally at home on the opera stage and in concert, she appears as a soloist, chamber musician and creator of song-performance projects across genres. She is regarded as one of Austria’s leading classically trained crossover artists and has been widely praised for both her dramatic depth and comedic flair. Since 2018, she has served as Senior Lecturer in Voice at the Mozarteum University Salzburg, where she also teaches vocal pedagogy.
Kerstin Turnheim studied voice performance with Ingrid Janser-Mayr and completed postgraduate studies in Lied and oratorio with Thérèse Lindquist at the Mozarteum University Salzburg. She subsequently continued her vocal training with Helena Łazarska in Vienna. Important artistic impulses came through masterclasses with Gerd Uecker, Jack LiVigni and Peter Schreier. Her pedagogical work is grounded in comprehensive academic training. Alongside her artistic studies, she completed degrees at the Mozarteum University in vocal and music pedagogy, specialising in flute, and obtained certification in Estill Voice Training in Vienna. She also holds a degree in English and American Studies from Paris Lodron University Salzburg. Her research engages with the intersection of scholarship, artistic practice and pedagogy.
Her operatic engagements have taken her to theatres throughout Austria and Germany, including Musiktheater Linz, Oper Graz, Dschungel Wien, Theater an der Rott and the Herbsttage Blindenmarkt. She has collaborated with ensembles and orchestras such as the Bruckner Orchester Linz, the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, the Salzburger Bachgesellschaft, the Filharmonia Krakowska and the Hyperion Ensemble. Beyond the operatic stage, her artistic activities include cross-genre projects, premieres of contemporary works, radio and television recordings, and recitals at festivals, concert halls and opera houses throughout Europe.