Often praised for her rich and luscious timbre, South African-born contralto Freya Apffelstaedt represents a generation of promising young voices on the international opera and concert stage. Following her participation in the prestigious Young Singers Project of the Salzburg Festival in the summer of 2021, she joined the International Opera Studio of the Opernhaus Zürich. During her two years at the IOS, she appeared in roles such as Grimgerde in Die Walküre, Sœur Mathilde in Dialogues des Carmélites and Amastre in Handel’s Serse.

Recent notable engagements include Schwertleite in Die Walküre at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the same role at the Wiener Staatsoper, Mrs. Quickly in Verdi’s Falstaff at Theater Bielefeld, as well as 2nd Norn and Flosshilde in Götterdämmerung at Bühnen Bern. In the 2025/26 season she returns to the Teatro alla Scala and makes her house debut at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. She also returns to the Bayerische Staatsoper for the world premiere of Brett Dean’s Of One Blood, further expanding her contemporary repertoire.

Equally sought after in concert performances, her concert repertoire spans major oratorios from Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine and the sacred works of J.S. Bach to 20th-century compositions such as Luigi Nono’s Il canto sospeso. She has collaborated with renowned ensembles including the Zürcher Kammerorchester, the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the RSO Wien. In the upcoming season she will collaborate for the first time with the Zürcher Bachchor as well as with the Basler Münsterkantorei. In 2024, she was invited back to the Salzburger Festspiele for a concert.

Freya is a laureate of numerous competitions, including a Special Award at the DEBUT International Singing Competition (2020) and the 3rd Prize at the Federal Singing Competition of Germany (2020). Most recently, she was a finalist at the Tenor Viñas Contest in Barcelona (2023). She has been supported by several scholarships, including from the German State and the International Richard Wagner Society. She completed her studies in 2021 at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München under Prof. Lars Woldt and Prof. Daniela Sindram.

Last updated: 01/2026