MEZZO SOPRANO
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Artistic Director & Luxury Brand Ambassador
Friederike Krum is an award-winning German Mezzo Soprano based in London, acclaimed for her vocal versatility. Her private and public concerts take her all across the globe leaving her audiences mesmerised by her exceptional variety of repertoire, from classical to contemporary, as well as her ability to switch her voice from a fully classical mezzo soprano to a mellow, smooth voice that allows her to sing jazz, musical and famous crossover songs.
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She has performed alongside some of the world’s leading opera and crossover stars including Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Montserrat Caballé, Neil Shicoff, Agnes Baltsa & Russell Watson. 2020 she was asked by Nile Rodgers to perform alongside Sir Rod Stewart, Robbie Williams, Tony Bennett & Katherine Jenkins at a Christmas concert which was streamed globally.
She trained at the prestigious college for Music in Hamburg with Professor Ingrid Kremling and later worked privately with Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Friederike has received several prestigious awards and TV documentaries about her life and career have been aired.
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​Friederike did record a charity single with platinum-selling UK classical crossover star, Russell Watson which they performed together at the Royal Albert Hall in 2018 to standing ovations and Friederike returned to the Royal Albert Hall in 2020 & 2021. She also starred with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Cristian Mandeal at Cadogan Hall in 2018 where she sang the 'Vocalise' by Rachmaninoff & 'The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs' by Górecki.
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​Her talent for opera, crossover and jazz has seen her perform for TV audiences of millions and some of the world’s biggest venues and leading orchestras. A favourite of Royals and dignitaries, Friederike has become the ‘Voice of Reconciliation’ as a German soprano chosen to sing regularly for the British Forces as well as German Forces. In November 2018 she has been performing at the official classical WW1 Centenary Remembrance concert at the Cathedral of Berlin. On request of the German Forces she performed at the NATO camp in Afghanistan in 2014. Her clients & audiences include many top brands and companies across Europe as well as political leaders such as former Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. She was asked to sing the National Anthem in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal and HRH the Prince of Wales.
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With Prince Alexander zu Schaumburg-Lippe and the EuropaChorAkademie, Friederike toured Germany with a unique "Classic meets Jazz” programme and both joined Prince Hohenzollern for a concert at the 'Prinzenregententheater' in Munich where they triumphed in front of a sold out house.
Despite a busy concert schedule and as mother to two now grown children, Friederike always makes time to support charities close to her heart. She was appointed 'Ambassador of the Scralet's Appeal' of the famous Chelsea Pensioners at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, was “The Voice” of Children in Crisis and when the José Carreras Leukaemia Foundation asked her to support them she was delighted to perform alongside her friend Plácido Domingo Jr. at the prestigious José Carreras TV Gala.
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Her charity Christmas single with Italian actor Bruno Maccallini' 'Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' made No 1 in the German Classic charts. Friederike and Bruno have taken their audiences by storm with their two shows ' All About Amore' & 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' entertaining their audiences with much loved songs, humour and anecdotes.
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THE STORY OF MY GERSHWIN ALBUM
It’s been quite a journey. During a career that has lasted over three decades and taken her from her native Germany to London, Friederike Krum has learned from the best, sang with the best and deployed her extraordinary mezzo-soprano in the service of Opera, Jazz, classical Lied and Musicals.
Now, on her 2nd Gerswhin album 'Somebody Loves Me', with her own unique and experienced vocals she explores the timeless music of George and Ira Gershwin, stripped back to just her voice and the piano of Ronnie Scott’s Artistic Director, James Pearson.
“Why Gershwin?” she smiles. “Why not? George and Ira Gershwin’s music has followed me all my life since I heard the song 'Somebody Loves Me' at school when I was 11 - it was love at first listen. Gershwin has the same effect on people like ABBA: everybody loves the songs from young to old. Gershwin’s music reflects the desire for romance and the understanding that all we really want to do is to love and be loved.
For Friederike, the improv aspect of Jazz as a contrast to the more structured nature of classical music has always been vitally important, allowing her to feel and interpret the songs. Without sheet music, but with Friederike co-producing, arrangements were worked out as she and James Pearson recorded.
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On the album, Friederike strips down the best loved Gershwin love songs to just voice and piano plus the occasional clarinet, played by Ed Barker and those songs soar in the purest and most intimate of settings. “All we really worked on was finding a suitable key and I explained to James the feel I wanted for the songs and album overall and after that we made it up from there,” she purrs. “It was a magical process.” “I had a clear vision of how the album should sound which was smooth, mellow and intimate, which is why I chose not to use my classical voice but a more mellow, warmer register. Luckily with James at my side it was easy as we understand each other when it comes to music almost without words and feel the music of Gershwin in the same way”
”With its smoothness, its unified feel and those spectacular, emotion-drenched vocals, the album nods to Friederike’s heroes: Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and the deeper side of Doris Day, but it shines new light through an old window. It is unmistakeable, uniquely Friederike Krum.
But to understand her musical destination now, you need to take a step back. Proficient on piano and cello as a child, the daughter of a Hamburg pharmaceutical factory director and music loving mother, she studied singing under Prof Ingrid Kremling and later worked privately with the legendary and legendarily fierce Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, widely regarded as the greatest soprano of the 20th Century.
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After a successful career in Germany, where she sang alongside Plácido Domingo, Agnes Baltsa and Neil Shicoff, she moved to London in 1999 and got married.
In Britain, she enjoyed motherhood while continuing her career in a new country.
“I’ve enjoyed being a mum from the first moment but I would lie if I said it wasn’t at times a tough change from feeling the thrill and joy of singing for a sold out concert hall, to tidying up playrooms that seemed messy again fifteen minutes later. “Before my kids were born, I had been singing, performing and travelling extensively but I never had the desire to be famous and known everywhere by everyone. It was always about the music.” "I willingly made the transition from being on stage myself to watching my kids on stage instead in school plays. They actually performed in the Royal Albert Hall first and trust me, they still enjoy rubbing that one in.
