About us
The Kölner Vokalsolisten (Cologne Vocal Soloists) are a six-part ensemble dedicated primarily to the vocal chamber music of the 20th and 21st centuries. They thereby set a focus that is unique for the Cologne region. The ensemble, founded in 2007 on the occasion of the performance of Luciano Berio's "Canticum novissimi testamenti," performed for the first time on May 3rd of that year at the MusikTriennale Köln under the direction of Marcus Creed.
After the MusikTriennale, performances followed at the festival Acht Brücken: Music for Cologne. The ensemble was also represented at festivals such as SchönesWochenende (Düsseldorf), the Mittelrheinfestival, the Cologne Early Music Festival and the Festa Paschalia. In 2015, the Kölner Vokalsolisten undertook their first major foreign tour to the Eilat Chamber Music Festival in Israel.
Their performance of Ernst Krenek's 80-minute a cappella work "Lamentatio Jeremiae" attracted much attention.
Classics such as György Ligeti's "Aventures", "Passaggio" and "Canticum" by Luciano Berio or "Rothko Chapel" by Morton Feldman form part of the ensemble's core repertoire. The Kölner Vokalsolisten collaborate closely with a number of composers and have performed many world premieres. A continuous artistic cooperation connects them with the composer and conductor Michael Ostrzyga.
The Kölner Vokalsolisten perform a wide range of vocal music dating from Guillaume de Machaut's Messe de Nostre Dame. Since 2014, they have presented their a cappella art in their own monthly lunchtime concert series ("Kölner Vokalsolisten am Mittag") at the Dominican Church of St. Andreas in Cologne. On the 24th of June 2017 a concert celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Cologne Vocal Soloists took place here. A concert to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the lunchtime concert series is planned for 25th June 2024.
The Kölner Vokalsolisten have performed with Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Musikfabrik and Ensemble Modern under the direction of conductors such as Pablo Heras-Casado, Enno Poppe, Duncan Ward and Philipp Ahmann. Radio recordings and interviews by the WDR (West German Radio) document the ensemble's work.​
The two sopranos Natasha Goldberg and Theresa Klose joined the ensemble in 2021. Their participation has increased the proportion of early music in the repertoire.
The Ensemble
Natasha Goldberg, Soprano
At the age of 12, English soprano Natasha Goldberg became the youngest finalist in the BBC "Choirgirl of the Year" national competition in her home country. She studied German and French at the University of Cambridge, graduating with a starred First in 2005, and was a Choral Scholar of Trinity College under Stephen Layton. In 2010, she completed her PhD in Philosophy of Science on the topic of metaphor and passed the Diploma of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music with Distinction. In 2013 she completed the excellence program "Baroque Vocal" at the Hochschule für Musik Mainz.
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Solo engagements have taken Natasha Goldberg to the Berlin Philharmonie, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Mozartsaal Donaueschingen and the Staatsthater Mainz. Since 2012 she has been a core member of both Chorwerk Ruhr and the Gaechinger Cantorey (Bachakademie Stuttgart). She sings with the SWR and NDR radio ensembles, Vocalconsort Berlin and Schola Heidelberg, and is on the books for such choirs as Tenebrae, Polyphony, the Norske Solistkor, the Netherlands Radio Choir and Collegium Vocale Gent.
Theresa Klose, Soprano
Theresa Klose, born in Bonn in 1995, studied singing with Prof. Kai Wessel at the Cologne University of Music and Dance after graduating in school music and German language and literature, completing her studies in 2020 with top marks. During this time she gained valuable experience in ensemble singing with the Chamber Choir of the Academy of Music (Marcus Creed) and the Cologne Chamber Choir (Peter Neumann). She is now continuing her education with Prof. Thilo Dahlmann at the Academy of Music in Frankfurt. Concert tours have taken her to England, France, Italy and Norway, among other places.
Theresa has sung on numerous concert and opera stages in Germany, working with the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, the Cologne Baroque Orchestra and members of the Gürzenich Orchestra, among others. She has been a voice coach for the cathedral choirs at Cologne Cathedral since 2017.
Katharina Georg, Alto
Born into a family of musicians, Katharina Georg began violin and piano lessons at the age of eight. After graduating from secondary school, she studied music and Italian to become a teacher and later studied vocal pedagogy at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. Following her studies, she sang with several renowned ensembles such as the SWR Vokalensemble, the WDR Rundfunkchor, ChorWerkRuhr and the Opera Chorus of Bonn, which led her to numerous international concert tours.
In addition to her engagements as a singer, Katharina has also been active as a voice and piano teacher for many years. She has performed several concert programs with the Cologne Vocal Soloists since 2016 and can draw on a broad spectrum of a cappella literature.
Leonhard Reso, Tenor
Born in Dresden in 1984, Leonhard Reso grew up in a family of musicians. His musical and vocal training began when he joined the Dresdner Kreuzchor. After completing his Bachelor's degree in The Hague in 2012, he studied voice at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf, where he was also active in the vocal soloist ensemble. In the summer of 2014, he graduated with a Master of Music degree with excellent results.
Leonhard Reso attended master classes with Prof. Anthony Spiri, Prof. Berthold Schmid, Prof. Alexander Schmalcz, GMD Matthias Foremny and Simone Kermes, among others. In August 2013 he received the sponsorship award of the International Saxon Singers Academy. In 2012 he founded the duo Plectrum with the Spanish guitarist Rocio Lopez, heard on WDR3 in November 2013 with a live performance of songs by Dowland and Britten.
Leonhard Reso performed with Camerata Kilkenny at the Kilkenny Arts Festival in 2011. His repertoire includes Bach's oratorios, Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Creation and Mendelssohn's Elijah, as well as Mozart's masses and song cycles by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, Mahler and Britten.
Fabian Hemmelmann, Baritone
After studying voice with Thomas Quasthoff (Detmold) and Klesie Kelly (Cologne), baritone Fabian Hemmelmann devoted himself primarily to Lied, new music and a cappella singing. He performed works by Schönberg and Berio at the Lucerne Festival in 2006 and 2009 under Pierre Boulez and sang Schumann's Dichterliebe at the Humboldt Concert Hall in Caracas, Venezuela in 2006, with his pianist Lara Jones at the renowned Cologne concert series ImZentrumLied in 2010, and was the soloist in Brahms' German Requiem with the Spiritus Chamber Choir in Calgary (Canada) in 2012.
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Ensemble work with vocal soloists, with its equality of voices, is for Fabian a supreme discipline among all artistic projects.
Christian Walter, Bass
Bass Christian Walter was born in Hamm (Westphalia). He studied music and English as a teacher in Dortmund and subsequently vocal pedagogy at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf in the classes of Christian Schotenröhr and Werner Lechte. Further studies followed with Lia Montoya-Palmen. This was followed by engagements at the Städtische Bühnen in Münster, Dortmund and Frankfurt.​
Christian's solo repertoire ranges from early music to contemporary works. The specific demands of contemporary opera literature make him a sought-after ensemble singer in this genre. He participated with ChorWerk Ruhr in Heiner Goebbels' production of Louis Andriessen's "De Materie" in New York (2016) and at the Stadttheater Dortmund in the highly acclaimed performance of Philip Glass' "Einstein on the Beach" (2017). He is a regular guest in various professional choirs and collaborates with a number of renowned conductors. This work is documented in numerous CD recordings and radio broadcasts. In addition to his performing commitments, Christian teaches singing at the TU Dortmund University.