Biography
She grew up under sheltered circumstances with her adoptive parents; she never met her birth parents. She spent her first years in Germany as an aupair. She later graduated from a hotel management school. Kaufmann received training in classical singing at the Robert Schumann Music Institute in Düsseldorf. In parallel to her singing studies there, she had ballet training and acting lessons under the tutelage of John Strasberg and Clifford David. She achieved her career breakthrough in 1990 with the musical "Phantom of the Opera" alongside Peter Hofmann. She played the female lead role of "Christine" in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical in over 500 performances. In 1993 she was honored as the most successful German actress for her performance in "Phantom of the Opera" with the "Golden Europe" award from ARD and the "Golden Lion" from Radio Luxembourg. Two tours with Peter Hofmann followed in 1993 and 1999.
In 1997, Anna Maria Kaufmann conquered the stage of Vancouver's Grand Opera House with great success in the title role in "Mikado". In 1996, before the final of the European Football Championship, she performed the German national anthem in front of over 800 million television viewers. Her first solo album "Blame It On The Moon", which she recorded together with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London and her partners Thomas Hampson and Joey Tempest, was released in spring 1998. Part of this concept album is the official song of the DFB acoustic trademarks of the German national soccer team. With the role of "Violetta" in "La Traviata" she was the ideal cast for the productions at the Wiesbaden (1998 and 2000) and Mannheim (1999) state theaters. In March 2000 she interpreted the role of "Sally Bowles" in "Cabaret" in a new production directed by the artistic director at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden. In May 2001, Kaufmann sang the role of "Countess" in "Wiener Blut" in an ensuite production of the Alte Oper Frankfurt. In 2001, Kaufmann received triple platinum for 1.5 million CDs of "Phantom of the Opera" sold.
In March 2002, Kaufmann was awarded the "Classic Award" by Radio Regenbogen. A big Christmas tour took them through all major German cities and to London in December 2000. In the new production of "The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny" at the Bremen State Theater in February 2001, Anna Maria Kaufmann sang the role of "Jenny". She also premiered in Bremen in May 2001 in the role of "Lucia di Lammermoor". In July 2001 she performed with an Italian opera gala at the grand opening of the Rheingau Music Festival, accompanied by the WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln. Between tours she performed with the BBC Radio Concert Orchestra London, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Stuttgart Philharmonic, the NDR Radio Philharmonic Hannover, the Philharmonica Ungarica, the Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic, with Justus Franz and the Philharmonic of Nations in the South of France, the DSO Berlin under the direction of John Mauceri with duet partner Nicolai Gedda, the Frankfurter Sinfoniker and the WDR Rundfunkorchester Cologne.
In the spring of 2002 she went on tour with the Young Tenors in Germany with "Zauber der Musik". Since June 22, 2002, she has been delighting audiences on Germany's most beautiful open-air stages in the leading role of "Eva Perón" in the new open-air production of the successful musical "Evita" by Andrew Lloyd Webber. At the soccer game between Germany and Argentina on April 17, 2002, Anna Maria Kaufmann sang the German and Argentine national anthems. She also appeared in front of over a billion TV viewers before the World Cup semi-final between Germany and South Korea in Seoul. She also sang the German national anthem at several venues at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. In the same year she also took on German citizenship. In 2011, after 20 years, her collaboration with Universal Music ended, after which she moved to the classical music label "Solo Musica". The albums "It's a Good Day!" were released here in 2012 and 2015. and, with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, "Wiener Blut".
Anna Maria Kaufmann lives in Munich.
