Rita-Lucia Schneider – mezzo-soprano

The versatile mezzo soprano Rita-Lucia Schneider started her international career in the season 2002-03 as Anita in the acclaimed Philippe Arlaud production of “West Side Story” at the Volksoper Wien, alternating in following seasons in the role of The Voice (“Somewhere”). After her guest engagement as Marthe in Gounod’s “Faust”, Ms Schneider became a member of the ensemble of the Eduard-von-Winterstein-Theater Annaberg (Germany) in 2003-04. Her roles there included Prince Orlofsky, Siébel (“Faust”), Zeitel (“Fiddler on the Roof”) and Florence (“Albert Herring”). In the summer months she appeared as guest singer at the Austrian Opernfestspiele Stift Melk, where she was heard as Maddalena in “Rigoletto”, and as Nicklausse/ La Muse in “Les Contes d’Hoffmann”, a dual role which she later performed to great acclaim at the Opera Stettin (Poland). In 2005-06 she debuted at the State Opera Gdansk (Poland) as Octavian, which very quickly became her signature role through performances in numerous theatres in Austria, Germany, France, Switzerland and Spain. Further guest engagements have brought her to Vienna’s Schlosstheater Schönbrunn as Dorabella, Theater an der Wien as Jade Boucher in Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking” and the Opernfestspiele St. Margarethen (Austria) as Isabella (“L’Italiana in Algeri”) and as Flora (“La Traviata”). She will return to St. Margarethen in the summer of 2010 as Zweite Dame (“Die Zauberflöte”).

The season 2008-09 saw her acclaimed debut at the Slovenian National Theater Maribor as Carmen under the baton of Karen Kamensek and under stage director Alessio Pizzech, and Dorabella (stage director: Guy Joosten). Later that season, she interpreted the role of Marquise de Berkenfield in “La Fille du Régiment” with Oper Klosterneuburg (Austria) and she sang her first Donna Elvira on tour through Japan.

Ms Schneider is also quite active in operetta. She sang Czipra in “Der Zigeunerbaron” with the Operettenfestspiele Bad Hall (Austria) and has enjoyed several successful outings as Prince Orlofsky, more recently at the Theater am Aegi in Hannover and the Schlossfestspiele Langenlois (Austria). In 2009 she sang Orest in Offenbach’s “La Belle Hélène” on tour through Germany, and she begins 2010 with the role of Czipra on tour through the Netherlands and Belgium.

As a concert singer Rita-Lucia Schneider frequently performs in Europe. She has sung under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst with the Orchestra St. Augustin (Haydn’s “Missa Sancti Nicolai”), with the Erzgebirgische Symphony Orchestra (Richard Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder), the Mödlinger Symphony Orchestra (Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder), the Tonkünstler-Orchestra (Haydn’s “Missa in tempore belli”), the Baroque Ensemble of the Wiener Symphoniker, the Orquestra Nacional do Porto, the Slovak Sinfonietta Žilina and many more.

Rita-Lucia Schneider was born in Vienna, where she studied ballet for seven years with the Royal British Dancing School. In 1985 she began singing lessons with Hana Janku, later with KS Walter Berry and Petra Chiba. She attended master classes led by Hilde Rössl-Majdan and Franz Lukasovsky.