BIOGRAPHY
Austrian-Brazilian soprano and actress, Maria Cecilia Baumegger, grew up in São Paulo, Brazil. She originally wanted to be a singer-songwriter and started voice lessons at 16 with a focus on popular music. However, she soon switched to classical singing after a teacher introduced her to Richard Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” and his concept of Gesamtkunstwerk.
This discovery led her to pursue singing and acting, leading her first to receive her Associate of Arts Degree with a concentration in drama (Senac São Paulo), and then to obtain her Bachelor's Degree in Music (FAMOSP).
Maria Cecilia is an alumna of the Escola de Música do Estado de São Paulo’s opera studio, where some of her main stage roles included Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), 3rd Lady (Die Zauberflöte). Her concert and scenes repertoire with the Opera Studio included selections from "Tosca", "Tannhäuser", "Die Walküre", "Lohengrin", "Die Rosenkavalier", and "Fidelio".
R. Wagner: "Hojotoho!" (Die Walküre)
Recorded: May 2025
*For sound, please click on the video
R. Wagner: "Helle Wehr! Heilige Waffe!" (Götterdämmerung)
Recorded: May 2025
*For sound, please click on the video
While still in Brazil, she studied with KS Eliane Coelho. Maria Cecilia participated in master classes led by several notable artists, including KS Deborah Polaski, KS Linda Watson, Karlheinz Hanser, Beverly Blankenship, Wolfgang Dosch, Saskia Kuhlmann, Bo Skovhus, Gregory Kunde and Karoline Gruber.
In September 2023, Maria Cecilia made her role debut in the title role of "Ariadne auf Naxos" with Opernfest Berlin, under the direction of Marcin Łakomicki and maestro Matthew Toogood. And in January 2024, she joined the New York Dramatic Voices to sing Kundry in Act II of Wagner's "Parsifal", under the direction of Laura Alley and maestro Matthew Lobaugh.
Maria Cecilia is under Darrell Babidge's tutelage (Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Program/ Aix-en-Provence), studies repertoire with Ulrich Stærk (Royal Danish Academy of Music), and acting at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute.