Knut Schoch

The tenor KNUT SCHOCH is a soloist who has been well established on the international stage in the genres of oratorio, art song and opera for many years, with a particular focus on historical performance practice.

He has been active as a lecturer and professor in higher education for over 30 years, with posts in Hamburg and Bremen, amongst others; he was also a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University in Canberra and has taught courses at music universities in many countries across Europe, Asia, America and Australia.

Since being appointed to a professorship in voice at the Nuremberg University of Music in 2021, he has developed specialised programmes there in the fields of early music, art song and oratorio, and has overseen major concert and opera projects.

In addition to courses and Erasmus exchanges, he is also tirelessly dedicated to reviving lesser-known works and discovering forgotten gems, often with a gender-related focus. Last year, he was admitted to a PhD programme at the Nuremberg University of Music, which centres on the work of the composer Francesca Caccini.

Knut Schoch received his early musical training in the St Michaelis Boys’ Choir in Hamburg, studied at the Hamburg University of Music, and continues to take advanced lessons to this day – since 2005 with Margreet Honig.

Following an intensive engagement with so-called ‘early music’, through which he gained a distinguished reputation worldwide, he shifted and broadened the focus of his work as a historically informed singer with a deep understanding of performance practice to encompass the 20th and 21st centuries. Today, he is just as familiar with the musical language of the Baroque and Classical periods as he is with Romantic musical exuberance and the sensuality of the spoken word.

He has gained great international acclaim as a performer of the cantatas and oratorios of Bach (as the Evangelist), Handel and their contemporaries, with his refined, nuanced interpretation and clarity of diction repeatedly receiving high praise. He also devotes particular attention to art song, chamber music and Baroque and Classical opera: he has appeared on stages worldwide in roles by Monteverdi, Purcell, Keiser, Steffani, Telemann, Mozart and others.

As a soloist, he performs at major venues and is a sought-after guest at renowned festivals; his tours have taken him to almost every country in Europe, as well as to Asia, America and Australia. He has appeared in numerous radio and television productions and can be heard on over 100 CDs.