PETRA EHRISMANN

Petra Ehrismann was born in Switzerland. After secondary school she began studying flute at the Musikhochschule Winterthur-Zürich, where she graduated with distinction in 1996. She took an active part in the fields of both orchestra and chamber music, and for nine years was engaged as flute teacher at the Jugendmusikschule Winterthur.

In addition she had for some considerable time also been developing her second instrument , the voice. She started taking singing lessons and worked for six years as an assistant with a children's and youth choir, as well as singing in various professional choirs (including the Basler Madrigalisten and Schweizer Kammerchor) and appearing regularly as a soloist.

In 2001 she started studying singing with Paula de Wit at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Later she studied with Pierre Mak, graduating in June 2006. She has taken part in various masterclasses, and since 2006 has had regular lessons with Margreet Honig. Nowadays she is also occasionally coached by Sarah Castle in Manchester.

She is one of the core singers in Cappella Amsterdam and regularly performs with other ensembles, such as the Amsterdam Baroque Choir,
the Nederlands Kamerkoor and the VocaalLAB Nederland. She is also a member of the vocal quartet Quatre Bouches, set up in 2005.

As a soloist Petra Ehrismann has appeared in The Netherlands in various oratoria, such as Bach's St. Matthew Passion, Christmas Oratorio,B-minor Mass and sundry cantatas, Mozart's Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah and Handel's Messiah. In January 2005 she made her debut in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, in the Missa Brevis by Kodaly.

In March 2008 she could be heard in the production Knekelman en de terroristen by Theater De Plaats in Arnhem, and in April 2009 in the opera Dichtertje by Harke Jan van der Meulen, a production staged by Opera op straat (Opera in the streets.)