Since his debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, in 2006, Jonas Kaufmann has become one of the top stars of classical music. Following engagements in Saarbrücken, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Milan, he became a member of the Zurich Opera House in 2001. From there he launched his international career, with performances at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Paris Opéra, at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and at La Scala, Milan, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Berlin and Vienna State Operas and the Bayreuth and Salzburg Festivals.
Jonas Kaufmann is as internationally renowned in Italian and French repertory as he is in German roles. He has sung the title roles of Verdi’s Otello in London, Munich and Naples, Massenet’s Werther in Paris, Vienna and New York, and Wagner’s Lohengrin at Bayreuth, La Scala, Milan, and in Paris and Melbourne.
Since September 2024, Jonas Kaufmann has been the artistic director of the Tyrolean Festival Erl.
In the 2024/25 season he honoured the 100th anniversary of Puccini’s death with a major concert tour. This was followed in 2025 by performances of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci at the Vienna State Opera and a new production of Pagliacci at the Bavarian State Opera. He sang the title role of Parsifal at the Tyrolean Festival Erl and undertook a major concert tour throughout Asia. Following his acclaimed Liebeslieder tour with Diana Damrau and Helmut Deutsch in 2022, in early 2025 the trio began a new tour of Lieder by Strauss and Mahler.
With Helmut Deutsch — with whom he has worked since his student days in Munich — he enjoys a thriving partnership both in the recording studio and in numerous concerts.
He is an exclusive recording artist with Sony Music. The diversity of his repertory is reflected in his extensive discography, which covers opera, song, operetta and other genres.
His performances and recordings have received numerous awards and prizes, including eight ECHO and OPUS Klassik awards, and honours such as ‘Singer of the Year’ from specialist magazines such as Opernwelt, Diapason and Musical America.
Jonas Kaufmann holds the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, received the Federal Cross of Merit in 2016 and is a member of the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art. In 2022 he was appointed Austrian Kammersänger and in 2024 he was awarded the Ordre de la Légion d’honneur.
