Sarah Ferede

The German-Ethiopian mezzo-soprano Sarah Ferede was born in Hamburg. She received her private vocal training from Prof. Charlotte Lehmann in Hanover.

Sarah Ferede is a member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein – following engagements at the Landestheater Coburg, the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Staatstheater Braunschweig.

At the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Sarah Ferede has been able to continually expand and develop her repertoire – from her first major roles to increasingly complex parts. These include, amongst others, Adalgisa (Norma), Charlotte (Werther), Eboli (Don Carlos), Hansel and Gertrud (Hansel and Gretel), as well as Sieglinde, Waltraute and the Second Norn in ‘Der Ring des Nibelungen’. With roles such as Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito), Santuzza (Cavalleria rusticana), Mère Marie (Dialogues des Carmélites) and, most recently, Kundry (Parsifal), she has impressively demonstrated her versatility.

Among the highlights of the 2024/25 season were three premieres featuring role debuts at the Rheinoper: as Yü-pei in Alexander Zemlinsky’s ‘Der Kreidekreis’, as Giulietta in Offenbach’s ‘Les contes d’Hoffmann’, and as the Foreign Princess in Dvořák’s ‘Rusalka’ – three very different and demanding roles.

During the 2025/26 season, Sarah Ferede once again appeared as Kundry in Wagner’s ‘Parsifal’ and as Sieglinde in ‘The Valkyrie’. She also sang the role of Orlofsky in Strauss’s ‘Die Fledermaus’ and the Second Lady in Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’. The season culminated in a special highlight: her role debut as Marie in Alban Berg’s ‘Wozzeck’. During the 2026/27 season, she will appear at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in two operetta concerts and a lieder matinee, as well as in the role of the Second Lady (The Magic Flute) and, once again, as Yü-Pei (Der Kreidekreis).

Guest engagements have taken her to, amongst others, the Hanover State Opera, the Komische Oper Berlin (Boulotte/Ritter Blaubart), the Bonn Theatre (Santuzza) and the Mannheim National Theatre (Olga/Eugene Onegin). At the Zurich Opera House, she appeared as Waltraute in Andreas Homoki’s new production of ‘Götterdämmerung’ – a production which has since been released on DVD.

She has won numerous prizes at prestigious competitions and has worked with conductors such as Adam Fischer, Gianandrea Noseda, Enoch zu Guttenberg, Charles Dutoit, Kent Nagano and Stefan Soltesz. She can be heard as Sieglinde and Waltraute (Götterdämmerung) on the highly acclaimed complete recording of Wagner’s ‘Der Ring des Nibelungen’ with the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Axel Kober.