Biography
Born in Munich, bass Thomas Stimmel began his musical career as a member of the Tölz Boys’ Choir. He studied voice at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München with Marilyn Schmiege and Donald Sulzen, and at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin with Thomas Quasthoff and Wolfram Rieger. Masterclasses with artists such as Thomas Hampson provided further important impulses.
He made his opera debut in 2009 at Munich’s Prinzregententheater in Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso under Michael Hofstetter. Further engagements have taken him to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, the Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile, the Vorarlberger Landestheater Bregenz, Theater Gießen, styriarte Graz and Maribor, among others.
Alongside his work in opera, Thomas Stimmel is a sought-after concert and lied singer. He performs regularly with leading orchestras and distinguished conductors, among them Philippe Herreweghe, Jordi Savall, Christina Pluhar, David Afkham, Helmuth Rilling, Andrew Manze, Enrico Onofri, Hartmut Haenchen, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Frieder Bernius, Keri-Lynn Wilson, Peter Dijkstra, Rubén Dubrovsky and Jörg-Peter Weigle. A formative artistic partnership connected him with the conductor and composer George Alexander Albrecht (1935–2021). From 2015 onwards he took part in several world premieres of Albrecht’s works, including the Vier Buchenwald-Gesänge (Four Buchenwald Songs) at the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp, and the Requiem für Syrien (Requiem for Syria) at the Dresden Music Festival 2018 with the Dresdner Philharmonie under Michael Sanderling. His repertoire ranges from the Baroque through the Classical and Romantic periods to contemporary works.
Numerous concert programmes and recordings document his work, among them Roots // Wurzeln , Schubert’s Schwanengesang and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio under Jordi Savall on Alia Vox. Through his media house .stichpunkt Media he also realises his own productions, ranging from CD recordings and documentary films to interdisciplinary projects.
Thomas Stimmel lives near Salzburg. His photography studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, in the class of Dieter Rehm, form the artistic foundation of his work as a documentary photographer, filmmaker and writer – in his work, music, image and language come together as a unified form of expression.
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Biography as PDF (English) Vita als PDF (Deutsch)
Two pages: biography and engagements. As of September 2026.
Engagements – a selection
- 2009 — Opera debut: Vivaldi, Orlando furioso (Astolfo), Prinzregententheater Munich, Hofkapelle München, cond. Michael Hofstetter
- 2009 — Puccini, La Bohème (Benoît / Alcindoro), Prinzregententheater Munich, Bavarian Radio Orchestra, cond. Ulf Schirmer
- 2010 — Wilfried Hiller, Der Sohn des Zimmermanns (Apostle), world premiere at Würzburg Cathedral, live radio broadcast
- 2010 — Tchaikovsky, Iolanta (Bertrand), Prinzregententheater Munich, Bavarian Radio Orchestra, cond. Keri-Lynn Wilson
- 2011 — Péter Eötvös, Tri Sestri (Anfisa), Staatsoper Unter den Linden at the Schillertheater Berlin, Staatskapelle Berlin, cond. Julien Salemkour
- 2011 — Lera Auerbach, The Blind (Male 6), Konzerthaus Berlin
- 2011 — Debut at the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz with Bach’s St Matthew Passion
- 2012 — Joseph Schuster, Il marito indolente, Tage Alter Musik Regensburg
- 2012 — Joseph Weigl, Il sacrifizio, Haydnsaal at Esterházy Palace, Eisenstadt
- 2012 — Debut in the Great Hall of the Berlin Philharmonie with Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, cond. Jörg-Peter Weigle
- 2013 — Brahms, Liebesliederwalzer with Helmut Deutsch, Cully Classique festival, live recording by Swiss Radio
- 2013 — Brahms, Die schöne Magelone with Thomas Quasthoff (narration)
- 2013–2015 — Song recitals in Finland and at the Icelandic Chamber Music Festival, Reykjavík
- 2014 — Dvořák, Stabat Mater, Berlin Philharmonie
- 2014 — Dvořák, Stabat Mater with the Philharmonia Pomorska, Bydgoszcz
- 2014 — Bach, St John Passion, Konzerthaus Berlin am Gendarmenmarkt
- 2014 — Richard Strauss, Daphne (Third Shepherd), Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, cond. Hartmut Haenchen
- 2014–2015 — Tour and concerts as bass soloist with Philippe Herreweghe, including Bach’s St Matthew Passion
- 2015 — Mendelssohn, St Paul (title role), Müpa Budapest, Collegium Vocale Gent, cond. Philippe Herreweghe
- 2015 — World premiere of George Alexander Albrecht’s Vier Buchenwald-Gesänge, Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, Staatskapelle Weimar, televised by MDR
- 2015 — Bach, Christmas Oratorio, as bass soloist with Helmuth Rilling
- 2016 — Kurt Weill, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile
- 2017 — Wagner, Das Rheingold (Fafner), SNG Maribor — the work’s first Slovenian production, five performances
- 2017 — Mendelssohn, Die erste Walpurgisnacht, Orquesta Nacional de España, cond. David Afkham
- 2017 — Mozart, Requiem, Orquesta Sinfónica RTVE, cond. Miguel Ángel Gómez-Martínez
- 2017 — Mozart, The Magic Flute (Sarastro), Rota das Artes festival, Lisbon
- 2017–2018 — Richard Strauss, Ariadne auf Naxos (Truffaldin), Theater Gießen, cond. Michael Hofstetter
- 2018 — Verdi, La forza del destino (Marchese di Calatrava), Theater Gießen, cond. Michael Hofstetter
- 2018 — Beethoven, Fidelio (Rocco), styriarte Graz, cond. Andrés Orozco-Estrada
- 2018 — Handel, Saul (title role), Birnau Basilica, Birnauer Kantorei and L’arpa festante, cond. Thomas Gropper
- 2018 — World premiere of George Alexander Albrecht’s Requiem für Syrien, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Dresdner Philharmonie, cond. Michael Sanderling
- 2018 — Zemlinsky, Symphonische Gesänge, Theater Gießen, cond. Rubén Dubrovsky
- 2018 — styriarte concert with the Grazer Hofkapelle, cond. Michael Hell
- 2018 — Song recording with Julia Sophie Wagner and Eric Schneider in cooperation with Deutschlandfunk
- 2019 — Beethoven, Fidelio (Don Fernando / Minister), Vorarlberger Landestheater Bregenz, Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg, cond. Karsten Januschke — ten performances
- 2019 — Mendelssohn, Elijah, cond. Frieder Bernius, live recording by Bavarian Radio
- 2019 — Brahms, Schicksalslied and Ein deutsches Requiem, Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonie, Berliner Singakademie and Chamber Orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin, cond. Achim Zimmermann — first subscription concert of the season
- 2019 — Bach, St John Passion (Vox Christi), Chapelle royale du Château de Versailles and closing concert of the Festival de Pâques Deauville, La Chapelle Harmonique, cond. Valentin Tournet
- 2019 — Debut at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Nederlandse Bachvereniging, cond. Philippe Herreweghe
- 2019 — Bach, Christmas Oratorio, Palau de la Música Catalana Barcelona, cond. Jordi Savall — CD on Alia Vox
- 2019/2020 — Bach, St John Passion, tour of Spain and France, cond. Jordi Savall
- 2019/2020 — Orchestral songs by Schubert and Mahler, Festival de Pâques, Deauville
- 2020 — Mozart, La clemenza di Tito (Publio), Vorarlberger Landestheater Bregenz, cond. Karsten Januschke — ten performances
- from 2020 — Bach, St Matthew Passion with the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, cond. Peter Dijkstra
- from 2020 — Bach, St Matthew Passion, tour with the Noord Nederlands Orkest, cond. Peter Dijkstra
- 2021 — Bach, Mass in B minor, L’Auditori Barcelona, and Monteverdi’s Vespers at styriarte, cond. Jordi Savall
- 2022 — Handel, Jephtha (Zebul), Vorarlberger Landestheater Bregenz, cond. Heinz Ferlesch — nine performances
- 2022 — Monteverdi, Lamento della Ninfa, ceremony opening the new foyers of the Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg, L’Arpeggiata, cond. Christina Pluhar
- 2023 — Bach, St Matthew Passion, De Doelen Rotterdam, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Peter Dijkstra
- 2025 — Mozart, Requiem in the version by Howard Arman, Austrian premiere, Mondsee Basilica, cond. Howard Arman
- 2026 — Bach, St Matthew Passion with philharmonie zuidnederland, cond. Enrico Onofri
- 2027 — Verdi, Messa da Requiem, Konzerthaus am Schloss Kiel, Kiel Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Will Humburg
A selection from 2009 to the present; updated continuously.