Born in 1998 into a musical family, German soprano Marlene Metzger discovered her passion for opera early on through ten formative years in the children’s choir of the Komische Oper Berlin. She went on to study voice at the Berlin University of the Arts and completed her Master’s degree at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in 2023. Even as a student, her interpretation of Pamina drew attention for its “beautiful musicality, beautiful phrasing, impeccable diction and a certain intensity in the singing” (a-a.art) — qualities that continue to define her artistry today.
A finalist in the 2020 Bundeswettbewerb Gesang and in the 2024 Neue Stimmen, Marlene Metzger combines technical finesse, stylistic intelligence, and a deep instinct for theatrical storytelling.
Since 2023, she has been a member of the Young Artist Program at the Royal Danish Opera, where she has taken on a wide range of roles. She made her debut as Servilia in La clemenza di Tito, in a production directed by Jetske Mijnssen conducted by Hossein Pishkar and Marie Jacquot. In Die Zauberflöte, she appeared as the First Lady in the acclaimed production of Barrie Kosky under the baton of Eivind Gullberg Jensen, and in 2024 she sang Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos, directed by Katie Mitchell under Giedrė Šlekytė. That same season included roles as Suor Dolcina in Il trittico directed by Damiano Michieletto conducted by Marie Jacquot and Tebaldo in Don Carlo in a production by Davide Livermore under Jordan de Souza. She also covered Merab in Handel’s Saul, as well as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro. In May 2025, she sang Ottone in Vivaldi’s Griselda, earning international attention. OperaWire praised her “fresh, bright, youthful voice… with considerable versatility,” calling her performance “a remarkable display.”
She has appeared at the Lucerne Festival, the Rheingau Musik Festival, the Bremen Music Festival, and the Theater Lübeck, in roles including Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) and Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel). In 2022, she created the leading role in Frank Schwemmer’s opera Atlantis Code, composed especially for her and premiered at the Philharmonie Luxembourg. Her portrayal of Servilia brought her to the Hamburgische Staatsoper under the baton of Adam Fischer and to the Tiroler Landestheater.
In the summer of 2025, she was selected to join the prestigious Young Singers Project of the Salzburger Festspiele, where she performed D’Artagnan in Sebastian Schwab’s opera Musketiere! (directed by David Bösch, condcucted by Yura Yang), and appeared in several major concert settings including the YSP Final Concert under Carlo Benedetto Cimento at the Haus für Mozart. Her time in Salzburg also included masterclasses with Julian Prégardien, Stéphanie d’Oustrac, Christof Loy, and Malcolm Martineau, alongside extensive vocal and repertoire coaching, audition training, and physical and mindfulness work tailored to singers.
In the 2025/26 season, she opens with a Liederabend for the Danish Song Society in Copenhagen, followed by her portrayal of Hannchen in Eduard Künneke’s Der Vetter aus Dingsda at Theater Osnabrück. The production, directed by Christian Thausing and conducted by Benjamin Huth, runs from November 2025 through March 2026, including guest performances in Wolfsburg and Coesfeld. She will also participate in the Neue Stimmen Masterclass and Concert with Elīna Garanča, and perform in New Year’s Concerts across Denmark.
(2025/26_Use this CV exclusively.)
