Gerd Kenda

The Austrian bass, Gerd Kenda, studied singing at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. He earned his diploma with distinction in 1986, and attended masterclasses led by Josef Mertin, Andrew Parrott and Norman Shetler. He was a finalist of the 1988 Bach competition in Leipzig and the 1990 Schubert competition in Graz.

A soloist in opera performances and many international festivals including Narcissus by Beat Furrer and Moses und Aaron by Arnold Schönberg (Opera Graz), Begehren by Beat Furrer at the Ruhrtriennale in Bochum, Antonio Caldara’s Dafne in Damtschach, I Hate Mozart and Benjamin Britten’s Death in Venice (Theater an der Wien), Georg Friedrich Haas’ Melancholia in Paris (world premiere) and Graz, Fama by Beat Furrer in Salzburg and Berlin, as well as steirischer herbst, Salzburg Festival, Styriarte, Festwochen der Alten Musik Innsbruck, Budapest Spring Festival, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Musikfestival Luzern, Tage für neue Musik Zürich and Salzburger Pfingstfestspiele.

 

Gerd Kenda often works with ensembles specialising in both early and contemporary music such as Ars Antiqua Austria, Cantus Graz, Clemencic Consort, Vokalensemble NOVA and Klangforum Wien.

 

Since 1987, he has been on the faculty of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz (voice and vocal pedagogics); he also leads elocution classes at the University of Graz and conducts many seminars for choirs in Austria, Slovenia and Denmark. He is the conductor of the Chor Pro Musica Graz and the artistic director of Chorakademie Kärnten.