Slovenian mezzosoprano Barbara Kozelj has established herself as a charismatic and versatile soloist and musician. Her performances have brought her to the leading international stages and continue to captivate audiences around the world.
On the opera stage Barbara has distinguished herself in leading roles for houses including Leipzig, Essen, Bonn and Amsterdam. Her recent perfromances as Brangäne in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at Leipzig Oper, Judith in Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Penelope in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria with the Academy of Ancient Music in London’s Barbican Hall have brought her great critical acclaim.

She is also in great demand as a concert soloist. After her debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra and her Carnegie Hall debut performing Bach’s Matthew Passion her carreer has taken flight. Her voice has been described as “deep and dark”, “enchanting”, “gleaming with velvety legato”, “a beautifully calm demeanour combined with a deep expressivity” and her performances “piercingly beautiful”, “breathtaking” and “deeply expressive”.

Barbara’s versatility has excited the attention of many composerswho have been writing ofr her, and she has a strong affinity with Lieder, regularly performing recitals with Julius Drake and Thomas Beijer.

She has collaborated with conductors including Iván Fischer, Jaap van Zweden, Stefan Soltesz, Richard Egarr, Neeme Järvi, Jun Märkl, David Afkham, Paul McCreesh, Kenneth Montgomery, Reinbert de Leeuw, Antony Hermus, and with orchestras including Budapest Festival Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music, Gabrieli Consort and Players, Athen’s State Orchestra, Orquestra Simfonica de Barcelona, Orquesta y coro nacionales de Espagna, St Luke’s orchestra, Slovenian Philharmonic, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and most of the Dutch orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Highlights this season and beyond include Brangäne at Wagnerfest’22 at Leipzig Oper, Judith in Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle with the NJO in the Netherlands, Mélisande with Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra, Ligeti Requiem with Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de Espagna, Wesendonck Lieder with the Residentie Orkest The Hague, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Camerata RCO (members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra) at the Flanders Festival in Ghent, Magdelone in Nielsen’ Maskarade at Oper Leipzig, Mozart’s C-minor mass and Rossini’s Petite messe solenelle with Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne for the Aix-en-Provence Festival de Pâques, Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 with the Athens State Orchestra, Canteloube’s Songs of the Auvergne with PHION orchestra, and Martin’s In terra pax with The Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.