When joining the international vocal competition "Operalia" founded by Plácido Domingo, Elsa Dreisig was awarded First Prize as best female singer in July 2016. Only few weeks later the renowned magazine "Opernwelt" granted her the sought-after mention as "Young Artist of the Year".
In 2015 Elsa Dreisig had already been awarded both Second Prize of the Queen Sonja International Music Compertition in Oslo as well as First Prize and Audience's Prize of the "Neue Stimmen" Competition of the Bertelsmann Foundation in Gütersloh. She was also granted the "Prix jeune soliste 2015 des radios francophones publiques" (Young Soloist' Award 2015 of the French speaking public radio-companies) and she is the "Vocal Discovery" of the prestigious Victoires de la Musique Classique 2016. These major honours make her shine as a new star of the vocal art firmament.
Elsa Dreisig is French and Danish. She was still a child and already very keen to sing. She entered the Maîtrises (choir’s schools) of the Opéra royal de Wallonie and of the Opéra national de Lyon. She studied singing at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris (class of Valérie Guillorit) and at the Hochschule in Leipzig (Regina Werner). She also attended numerous Masterclasses. Her singing teacher is Lionel Sarrazin.
In 2012 she was awarded both the jury and the audience prizes at the "Des Mots et des Notes" competition, dedicated to the French repertoire. In 2014 she was awarded the first prize at the "Ton und Erklärung" competition (organized by the Club der Deutschen Wirschaft) accompanied by the MDR Symphony Orchestra. She was also awarded the audience prize, the prize of the young audience and the prize for the most promising artist at the 2015 Clermont-Ferrand competition.
In 2013/14 she made her stage debut in Der Wildschütz by Lortzing the Music Hochschule Leipzig, performed then Semiramide by Hasse at the Hochschule Leipzig and on tour in Graz. In 2014/15 she performed Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (Jenny) at the Théâtre du Châtelet with Natalie Dessay and Laurent Naouri under the baton of Michel Legrand. She also sang Madame de Folleville in Il viaggio a Reims by Rossini in Royaumont.
In 2015/16 she became a member of the Opera Studio of the Staatsoper Berlin under the artistic direction of Daniel Barenboim. Soon she was offered to perform main roles such as Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) and Euridice (Orfeo ed Euridice with Bejun Mehta as Orfeo). At the Staatsoper Berlin she also took part in the new production of Martinú's Juliette with Rolando Villazón and Magdalena Kozená. She furthermore performed Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Clermont-Ferrand Opera and on tour throughout France.
Her Plans in 2016/17 include Pamina and Euridice once again at the Staatsoper Berlin, Pamina for her debut at the Opéra de Paris, Musetta (La Bohème) at the Opernhaus Zürich and Micaëla (Carmen) at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence. From 2017/18 on, she will be a member of the Ensemble of the Staatsoper Berlin. At the same time she will be performing as guest at the Opernhaus Zürich (Pamina) and at the Opéra de Paris (Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi).
She recently took part in the prestigious gala concert of the German AIDS-Foundation at the Deutsche Oper Berlin under the baton of Donald Runnicles and at a performance of Rossini's Petite messe solennelle at the Staatsoper Berlin. During the summer 2016, she performs at the Berlioz Festival in La Côte Saint André and goes on tour with the Orchestre Français des Jeunes under David Zinman (Mahler's 4th symphony).
Elsa Dreisig was a recipient of the "Cercle Wagner" in Paris in 2015. She is currently a recipient of the Liz-Mohn-Musik- und Kulturstiftung.
