Soprano Kathrin Lorenzen was born in Flensburg in 1994 and grew up on a farm in northern Germany, which
has been run by her family for five generations.
She began her musical studies with a Bachelor’s degree in Church music at the University of Music and Theatre
“Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig, followed by vocal and organ studies at the University of Music in
Saarbrücken with Professor Ruth Ziesak. While singing in choirs and ensembles such as German National Youth
Choir, Kammerchor Stuttgarter and World Youth Choir, Kathrin soon realized that the voice would become her
primary musical path, which was reinforced by a number of scholarships and awards
.
In August 2021, Kathrin moved to Stockholm for a permanent position in the Swedish Radio Choir and began a
master’s degree in classical singing at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm with Professor Bo Rosenkull. It
wasn’t long before her powerful artistic expression and vocal qualities attracted attention and her solo career
gained momentum with successes in a few competitions. In 2023, she won the first prize and the audience
award at the 12th International Telemann Competition in Magdeburg. In January 2024, she won Sweden’s
“Solistpriset” (“The Soloist Prize”), as the first singer in 16 years to be chosen among instrumentalists of all
kinds. In June same year, she participated in the prestigious Mirjam Helin Vocal Competition in Helsinki, where
she was awarded second prize and the audience prize from Finnish television YLE.
Kathrin is now a sought-after concert singer and chamber musician, and in recent seasons has appeared as a
soloist with orchestras such as the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra,
Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin and Musica Vitae. She has sung in major concert
halls, including Berlin Philharmonie, Stockholm’s Konserthuset and the Slovenian Philharmonic, but at the same
time she greatly enjoys performing in church settings or on intimate chamber music stages. She was invited to
the Bachfest Leipzig, Telemann Festtage in Magdeburg, and numerous chamber music festivals throughout
Europe, including those in Joroinen (Finland), St. Quirin (France), Østerbro (Denmark) and Båstad (Sweden). She
has also collaborated with conductors such as Klaus Mäkelä, Sir John Rutter, Gábor Tákács-Nagy, Frieder
Bernius, and Aliisa Neige Barrière.
In the current season 2025/26, Kathrin will return as a soloist to the major Swedish concert halls, performing L.-
E. Larsson’s “Förklädd Gud” with Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, G. Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and Thomas
Jennefelt’s “Musik till en stad” with Malmö Symphony Orchestra, F. Mendelssohn’s “Lobgesang” with Västerås
Sinfonietta and W.A. Mozart’s Requiem at Stockholm’s Berwaldhallen under the baton of Maxim
Emelyanychev. International engagements include a tour with the International Bach Academy and HansChristoph Rademann, a concert performance of G. Ligeti’s “Le Grand Macabre” with the Finnish Radio
Symphony Orchestra at Musiikkitalo in Helsinki, concerts with The Mahler Players in Scotland, and F.
Mendelssohn’s oratorio “Paulus” with Musikpodium Stuttgart.
Her strong interest and passion for chamber music was demonstrated for example in A. Schoenberg’s second
string quartet with Quatuor Diotima from France; and with the Messiaen Quartet Copenhagen she was able to
premiere Britta Byström’s “The Conference of the Birds” in the summer of 2025, a work that the composer
dedicated to Kathrin and which was immediately nominated for “Musikförläggarnas Pris”, the prize of the
Swedish music publishers.
Together with pianist Oskar Ekberg she forms Duo Lorenzen-Ekberg, a lied-duo that has already garnered
considerable attention thanks to its exceptional programming, personal interpretations, and innovative
approach to the traditional art song form. The duo is winner of 2024’s Dorothy Irving Prize. They performed in
chamber music societies throughout Sweden and toured in Germany. In 2026 the duo is invited to perform the
opening concert at the Lemi Music Festival in Finland. Duo Lorenzen-Ekberg has a close collaboration with
filmmaker David Tarrodi, Stiftelsen Musikkulturens främjande (a foundation and music archive dedicated to
promoting Swedish musical culture), and the record label dB Productions.
