Julian Prégardien

Julian Prégardien, a lyric tenor, demonstrates an unusually broad artistic scope that encompasses historically informed Baroque interpretations, conventional opera and choral repertoire, and distinctive chamber programs he himself conceives and assembles. Frequent song recitals and recognized teaching activities further define his professional profile.

Born in Frankfurt on July 12, 1984, he is the son of tenor Christoph Prégardien. His earliest musical training came through membership in the Limburg Cathedral Boys’ Choir, which his father helped establish. Julian’s vocal promise was recognized well before he commenced formal studies at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg in 2005; by that time he had already appeared with the historically oriented Collegium Vocale Gent and the Stuttgart Chamber Choir. His operatic debut occurred in 2007 at the Bavarian Theater Academy in Reinhard Keiser’s rarely staged Fredegunda. Upon completing his degree in 2009 he joined the ensemble of the Frankfurt Opera, where he performed Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, K. 620, and remained through the 2012–2013 season. His first solo album, the recital An die Geliebte, appeared on Myrios Classics in 2014.

Although he returned to the role of Tamino at the Berlin State Opera in 2019, Prégardien has devoted increasing attention to concert repertoire. He performed with the Ricercar Consort as early as 2005 and took part in a Bach cantata series at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw the following year. Engagements with major orchestras include the Munich Philharmonic, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, and, in 2019, the Cleveland Orchestra in Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 52 (“Lobgesang”). In addition to Myrios Classics he has recorded for Challenge Classics, Alpha, and CPO. For Alpha he released a 2018 account of Hans Zender’s orchestration of Schubert’s Die Winterreise, D. 911; the next year he collaborated with soprano Sandrine Piau on Alpha for Schumann’s Dichterliebe, Op. 48. In 2022 he appeared on Pygmalion’s recording of Bach’s Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244, and in 2023 he rejoined Piau on CPO for Mozart’s Die verstellte Gärtnerin, the German-language adaptation of La finta giardiniera. Since 2017 he has served on the faculty of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich.