About
Vanessa Lanch is a soprano, collaborative artist, voice teacher and the Executive Director of MusikfürMusik gUG artist collective in Berlin, Germany.
She has performed at the Bayreuth Festival, the Flanders Opera, Opera Biel, the Snape Maltings Recital Hall (Britten Pears Young Artist Programme, United Kingdom), Vienna Moderne Festival (Austria), the Stratford Festival Theatre and Jeanne Lamon Hall (Canada), Theater MuTH (Vienna), and made her Konzerthaus Berlin debut as soprano soloist in Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass with the Konzerthaus Orchestra in September, 2024.
Her March, 2024 premier of the title role of Strauss’ Salome was reviewed as “phenomenal and highly cultivated.”
(KULTURA-EXTRA BERLIN - MusikfürMusik in Theater im Delphi, Berlin)
A young artist of the Bayreuth Festival Masterclass in Germany and semi-finalist of the Richard Wagner International Singing Competition at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Vanessa Lanch has established herself as a powerful and imaginative dramatic soprano whose artistry extends well beyond the stage. Praised for her expressive musicality and magnetic stage presence, she has performed leading Wagnerian and Strauss roles including Brünnhilde (Siegfried), Sieglinde (Die Walküre), Freia (Das Rheingold), Gutrune (Götterdämmerung), Senta (Der fliegende Holländer), Chrysothemis (Elektra), Ariadne/Primadonna (Ariadne auf Naxos), and the title role in Salome. She made her debut as Brünnhilde in Siegfried in May 2025 in Berlin’s Free Opera Scene, receiving praise for her commanding vocal and stage presence.
Alongside her interpretations of the German repertoire, Vanessa also receives acclaim for her interpretations of Puccini’s Turandot and Tosca.
In 2025, Vanessa co-created and starred as Lee Miller in the new multimedia opera-Lied-cabaret mash up project, Voices Between These Walls, which premiered with great success in September 2025 with her collective, MusikfürMusik gUG. Further performances are scheduled for January 2026.
In the 2025/2026 season, Vanessa returns to the music of Wagner in two major projects: as Senta in Der fliegende Holländer with the Stockholm Wagner Project and Opera Viva Chorus, and in a Wagner Duos concert series with tenor Kaine Hayward and pianist Suyeon Bang, exploring the music of Brünnhilde, Venus, Isolde, and Sieglinde.
Born in Toronto, Canada, and of German heritage, Vanessa studied at York University (BFA in Music and Theatre Production) before earning a Master’s in Music Performance (with Distinction) from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, and a Master’s in Opera Performance from the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität, Vienna. A laureate of the Flanders Opera Studio, Belgium, and former member of the Bayreuth Festival Chorus, she is also the recipient of the Tracey Chadwell Memorial Prize, a finalist in the Patricia Routledge English Song Competition, and third prize winner in the Canada Council’s Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition.
An artist of many disciplines, Vanessa is also an accomplished costume and set designer, hairstylist, and multimedia creator, known for integrating her own film projections and visual design into performances. Her work fuses operatic tradition with new media, reflecting a commitment to storytelling that is both visually and musically compelling.
As Founder and Executive Director of MusikfürMusik gUG (Berlin), Vanessa leads a collective devoted to musical excellence and innovative collaboration. MusikfürMusik develops and presents projects that unite tradition with experimentation, creating transformative performance experiences that inspire both artists and audiences.
To learn more, visit: www.musikfuermusik.com
Reviews
“First and foremost Vanessa Lanch in the title role! Her Salome glistens and gleams, her comprehensibility of the text, despite all the loudness, is phenomenal. She not only comes across as expressive, but also sounds highly cultivated. And all the Strauss and Wagner roles that will be available to her in the future could lead her to a world career; Senta, Elsa, Freia, Gutrune, Sieglinde, Brünnhilde... she's already got it.” ★★★★★
– Andre Sokolowski - Salome (R.Strauss) 13. März, 2024-
KULTURA-EXTRA
“…Vanessa Lanch as Brünnhilde completely stole the show in (her) favour. ★★★★“
– KULTURA EXTRA, BERLIN - Siegfried (Wagner)
Freie Oper Szene - 19. May, 2025
"Vanessa Lanch, a gorgously sung Sieglinde."
- Joseph So, Opera Canada, Toronto - Die Walküre (R. Wagner), February, 2020
"I found Die Walküre, in this version, the most satisfying of the four music dramas. It was not only well sung but also well acted, especially during the first act....I have seen Die Walküre more than a dozen times over the last 50 years but this was the most moving version I have seen....Vocally, they were outstanding and surely have a great operatic career ahead of them."
- Die Walküre, Barry Millman, Wagner News: Toronto Wagner Society, Canada,
March, 2020
"The quality of the singing...as in the other operas (she) appeared in was unexpectedly excellent. Vanessa Lanch was an impressive Gutrune."
- Edward Brain, Wagner News: The Toronto Wagner Society- Götterdämmerung (R. Wagner) March, 2020
“First and foremost Vanessa Lanch, who managed the double burden of the soprano and alto parts in an admirable manner. Her sustainable voice has a very beautiful timbre and her interpretation of the recitation parts was exemplary.”
- Frank Sydow, Bad Kreuznach Allgemeine Zeitung
(Mendolssohn´s Paulus)
“Above all, Vanessa Lanch's performances with her solo soprano and alto parts became the ideal cast in terms of exquisite beauty in pure vocal culture.”
- Reiner Henn, Wochenblatt Kirchheimbolanden, Germany
(Mendelssohn’s Paulus)
“Vanessa Lanch was chosen by the conductor for both the soprano and alto parts, and her darker timbre made this possible.”
- Thomas Behnke, Die Rheinpfalz (Mendelssohn’s Paulus)
“Vanessa Lanch, in the role of Agathe, enchanted with her supple, suggestive, moving and far-reaching luminous voice, that although highly capable of singing dramatically, remained gentle."
- Marie-Louise Funk Der Freischütz, Bad Kreuznach, Germany