Christian Germaine
Tenor & Conductor
Christian Germaine was born in Mannheim, Germany. There he studied clarinet and saxophone with Professor Hans Pfeifer and voice privately with Wilhelm Roser. At the world-renowned Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, USA, he obtained a Master of Music in Conducting. His teachers were Donald Neuen, David Effron, and Dr. Timothy Koch. Masterclasses with Roger Norrington and Helmuth Rilling, as well as guest student work with Daniel Barenboim in Berlin, completed his studies in conducting. He later concluded his vocal studies with Dr. Eva Würl and Mami Teraoka, followed by acting lessons and stage work with Robert Simma in Vienna. Christian Germaine was awarded a scholarship to Bayreuth by the Richard Wagner Society of Mannheim. He is fluent in English and has acceptable knowledge of French and Italian.
Christian Germaine's dark dramatic tenor voice and his musical and acting flexibility combine with a rounded, warmhearted, and recognizable timbre. Christian Germaine's vocal flexibility lends itself to a diverse range of roles, such as Arturo in Donizetti's Lucia Di Lammermoor, the Witch in Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel, Monostatos and Erster Geharnischter in Mozart's Magic Flute, Cecco in Haydn's Il mondo della luna, Herr Fluth (tenor version) in Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor, Siegmund in Wagner's Die Walküre, and Aegisth in Strauss' Elektra.
Further roles in his repertoire in the operetta genre are Eisenstein in Strauss' Die Fledermaus, Graf Tassilo in Kalman's Gräfin Mariza, and Edwin in Die Casardasfürstin.
The Lied-repertoire of the Baroque era to the Romantic period and the Musica Leggera genre complete his repertoire.
As a conductor, Christian Germaine inspires with his cosmopolitan and holistically educated personality. Excellent stick technique, physical expression, and experience as an instrumentalist and singer make him a conductor of intense charisma and impact.
Christian Germaine has extensive experience as a choral conductor in all musical genres ranging from A Cappella choral works to oratorios, such as Haydn’sThe Creation and The Seasons and Brahms’ Nänie. Preparing opera choruses is as natural to him as conducting sacred choir music at the St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna.
Christian Germaine was Chief Conductor of the Victorian Concert Orchestra in Australia, which had a musical focus on opera arias, waltzes, polkas, musicals, and regular accompaniment for several singers. For several years, he was Musical Director of Melbourne City Opera, where he prepared the choirs, orchestras, and soloists, and conducted all opera and operetta productions during his tenure.
His position as Musical Director of the Melbourne Rainbow Band led him to perform in the areas of light music, film music, musicals, and Jazz arrangements for symphonic wind bands. His conducting activities also include guest engagements to the Symphony Orchestra of Kislovodsk, Russia, and the Philharmonie Budweis, Czech Republic. At the Royal Academy of Music in London, he conducted works for orchestra and soloists by Michael Easton.
