About
A wide-ranging repertoire from the music of the Seicento through Baroque oratorios and operas, 19th- and 20th-century art songs, up to contemporary opera reflects the young singer’s diverse interests. World premieres and his own artistic projects are just as important to him as collaborations with leading ensembles of the European Baroque music scene. Particularly valued for his acting skills, he is praised by the media for his «gently blossoming» (SZ, 24.03.25) and «dazzling» (OPER! magazine, 23.03.25) countertenor voice.
Following his professional debut at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin as Michael in G. F. Haas’s chamber opera Thomas (2023), the subsequent seasons saw Elmar Hauser make a number of important role and house debuts: He took on the role of Ruggiero to great acclaim in the highly praised new production of Handel’s «Alcina» (2025) at Oper Frankfurt, directed by Johannes Erath and conducted by Julia Jones. That same year, this role took him to the Ravenna Festival, where he appeared on stage with the Accademia Bizantina under Ottavio Dantone, not only in «Alcina» but also as Medoro in Handel’s «Orlando». In 2026 followed his debut at the Wiener Musikverein with Olga Neuwirth’s piece «Hommage à Klaus Nomi» alongside the Wiener Symphoniker and chief conductor Petr Popelka. With the Kammerakademie Potsdam under the baton of Johanna Soller, he sang the role of Tamasse in J. C. Bach’s «Zanaida» (2026). For Bühnen Bern, he performed the roles of Sorceress / Spirit in the new production of Purcell’s «Dido and Aeneas» (2024) and returned to the Prinzregententheater in Munich in the role of Angel 1 / The Boy in George Benjamin’s «Written on Skin» (2025). The Swiss-born singer performed at the Zurich Opera House in the children’s opera «A Midsummer Night’s Dream» (2024 & 25) and appeared as Hanno Buddenbrook in the world premiere of Ludger Vollmer’s «Buddenbrooks» (2024) at the Theater Kiel. As an understudy at the Bavarian State Opera, he covered the roles of Orlofsky under Vladimir Jurowski and directed by Barrie Kosky in the new production of «Die Fledermaus» (2024), as well as Guildenstern in Brett Dean’s «Hamlet» (2023). In addition to concert performances with ensembles specialising in historical performance practice such as the Accademia di Monaco, Cardinal Complex, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra and La Fontaine, he appeared with the Lautten Compagney Berlin in the title role of the new production «Der Teufel im Lift» (2023) at the Neuköllner Oper.
Elmar Hauser switched from tenor to countertenor while studying at the Winterthur Conservatory with David Thorner and Jane Thorner-Mengedoht. He completed his bachelor's degree with distinction at the Zurich University of the Arts with Werner Güra and then went on to complete his master's degree at the Bavarian Theatre Academy August Everding in the singing classes of Christiane Iven and Sabine Lahm. Masterclasses with Topi Lehtipuu, Ulrich Messthaler, Nicola Beller Carbone, Terry Wey and Kai Wessel accompanied his training. He was a scholarship holder of the Friedl Wald Foundation, the Johann Adolph Hasse Society Munich and the Yehudi Menuhin «Live Music Now» Munich e.V. In the summer of 2024, he won first prize at the Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino «CLIP». In 2026, he took second place in the «Euro-Baroque Song Contest» with the Lautten Compagney. Also in 2026, he was nominated for the fourth year running by the magazine «Opernwelt» as Young Artist of the Year.
His own artistic projects include, for example, an interdisciplinary music theatre project exploring environmental issues with the OTTER OTTER OTTER collective (2020), his current song programmes «Histoires naturelles», «Pilgrimage», «Fra dolci catene» and «DREI», as well as two opera productions conceived in collaboration with Simon Berger and the Theater zur Waage Elgg: «Händel kurz vor Dienstschluss – Opern im Archivkarton» and «Backhendlsalat» (the latter in collaboration with Tamara Obermayr). Furthermore, he has already appeared as Orfeo in «Orfeo ed Euridice» (2019), in the title roles of Handel’s «Ariodante» (2022) and F. Cavalli’s «Il Giasone» (2022), and as Prince Kürtchen in the children’s opera «Die Gänsemagd» (2022) by Iris Ter Schiphorst. At the Prinzregententheater in Munich, he sang the role of Achilles in W. A. Schultz’s «Achill unter den Mädchen» (2023) with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester.