Mezzo-soprano, alto
Biography:
The Swiss contralto Catherine Ricus, born in Liestal as the daughter of the composer Klaus Huber, studied singing at the Basel Music Academy, with Jolanda Magnoni in Rome, in the opera class of the Saarbrücken University of Music and at Indiana University Bloomington (USA) with Gloria Davy (scholarship from the Dr. Bodo Sponholz- Foundation, endowment).
For three years she was a member of the ensemble at the Frankfurt Chamber Opera, where she sang leading roles in early Handel, Haydn, Mozart and Rossini operas. Guest engagements have taken her to Florence (“Acis und Galatea”), the Theater Bremen, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden (“Parsifal”) and the Staatsoper Stuttgart, where she performed the world premiere of the opera “Mond Schatten”.
was heard by Younghi Pagh-Paan as Antigone. With musicians from the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie she sang the “Kindertotenlieder” by G. Mahler and the “Wesendoncklieder” by R. Wagner. For years, Katharina Rikus has also devoted herself intensively to new and contemporary music.
She performs with works such as A.Schönberg's “Pierrot lunaire”, L. Berio's “Folk Songs”, P. Boulez's “Le Marteau sans Maître”, G. Crumb's “Ancient Voices” or K. Huber's “The Soul Must Rise from the Mount”. throughout Europe with numerous new music ensembles and sings at international festivals for contemporary music. She has also premiered a number of works written for her.
Her artistic career led to collaborations with well-known artists such as Kent Nagano, Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Lucas Vis and the Arditti Quartet.
Katharina Rikus is a prizewinner of the Swiss Association of Music Artists. She has been teaching since 1997
at the University of the Arts in Bremen, where she lives with her family.
Albums:
…à l'âme de descendre de sa monture et aller sur ses pieds de soie… / Metanoia:
43rd International Summer Course for New Music Darmstadt 2006:
