When you think about opera, you might think about antiquated costumes and sitting still for 3 hours—when in reality, opera is one of the most exciting art forms we get to enjoy.
Opera has thrilling storylines, breathtaking music and incredible acting.
German Mezzo-Soprano Cora Stolper is a young opera singer who’s passionate about reframing and dusting off the clichés of the seemingly stiff classical music world.
“Opera is like rock ’n roll,” says the awarded winner of the international singing competition Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg. “The stories that are being told are so universal, we just get to make them visible.”
Cora is equally at home with operatic repertoire, the art of song, musical theatre, and acting. She enjoys an experimental approach to opera and theatre and is always eager to explore new concert formats. Cora also creates, directs, and sings in her shows and projects while working as a mentor and coach for fellow business owners through her developed coaching method that combines performing arts, voice, embodiment, and human design.
In 2017–2018, Cora was part of the ensemble of Kammeroper Köln, where she performed as a soloist and actress all over Germany. Other 2018 highlights for Cora were her roles of Donna Elvira in A. Geugelins production of Don Giovanni, Alma in the World premiere of A Bad Man’s Life, and Musetta in La Bohème with the Mediterranean Opera Studio in Sicily.
Along with her achievements, Cora holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of the Arts Bremen in Germany and recently graduated with a Master of Music from the City University of New York.
Bending the traditional fields of working as an opera singer, Cora loves to collaborate with artists from other genres of music and was recently featured on the house music track “My Love” by Norwegian duo Wasserfall & Vaage on HMD Records.
In January 2020, she played the leading role of Margaret Fuller in Transcendent by C. Drobny and J. Richardson in Brooklyn.
Before Transcendent, Cora was an Alto soloist in Messiah by G.F. Haendel in Brooklyn, 2019 and has performed in Norway, Austria, Germany, Italy and the United States, including the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York.
Cora is passionate about making opera accessible for younger audiences and was the artistic director and soloist for children’s concerts at the German Kindergarten in Brooklyn. She also was a member of the Vocal Ensemble at Opera Frankfurt (voted Europe’s best opera house for several years in a row) in 2017.
Cora is currently working on a new show called Embodied, where she’ll explore the various ranges of human emotions, bringing together different genres of music and mediums of art. She’s also developing a new approach to classical art songs. The versatile performer is creating music videos for classical art songs that take place in the modern day, to make the underlying and universal message of these songs visible and open up the genre to a younger audience, through her directing and singing.
Art is essential. Art makes a difference. Art connects. Art inspires—that’s what Cora wants to make visible through her work.
She is venturing into new realms of performing, opera, theater, and expression and opening up spaces of inspiration, embodiment, and expansion.
To find out more about Cora and her journey in the world of opera, find her on Instagram.
