Sophie Koch

Sophie Koch (born 1969) is a French operatic mezzo-soprano who made an international career, performing Rosina in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Royal Opera House, the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss at the Semperoper in Dresden, and Charlotte in Massenet's Werther at the Paris Opera, among others. The title role of Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss became her signature role. She has also performed in concert and recital, and made recordings.

Koch was born in Versailles. Her family is from Alsace-Lorraine, and her great-grandfather was German. Koch became interested in music at an early age. She started playing the piano at the age of 7, studied it for 15 years and also sang in a choir. She began performing in operas at age 11.

After obtaining the baccalaureate, she prepared for a DEUG in literature, communication and language sciences, then hypokhâgne. Following her failure at the audition to join the Sorbonne choir, and her meeting with Christa Ludwig, she became motivated to sing. At the age of 21, she entered Jane Berbié's class at the Conservatoire de Paris, from which she earned a First Prize diploma. She also won first prize in the International Vocal Competition ´s-Hertogenbosch in 1994 and was awarded the Christel-Goltz Prize by the Semperoper in Dresden in 2001. Her mastery of the Italian and English languages is precious to her, although she sings mainly in French and German.