Slovenian mezzo-soprano Barbara Kozelj has established herself as a charismatic, versatile soloist and outstanding musician. She has performed on some of the most important stages worldwide, and she continues to enrapture audiences around the globe. On the opera stage, Barbara has distinguished herself in leading roles in houses such as Leipzig, Essen, Bonn and Amsterdam. She is in great demand as a concert soloist. Her career took flight after debuting with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and at Carnegie Hall, and her performances continue to receive significant critical acclaim. Her versatility has impressed numerous composers. She feels particularly drawn to Lied and regularly performs with Julius Drake and Thomas Beijer.
Barbara has collaborated with some of the world's finest conductors and orchestras, such as Iván Fischer, Jaap van Zweden, Stefan Soltesz, Richard Egarr, Kenneth Montgomery and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Essner Philharmoniker, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Gabrieli Consort and Players, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and with most of the Dutch orchestras.
The high points of her performances during the past and coming seasons include Mélisande in Debussy's Pélleas et Melisande and Octavian in Richard Strauss' Rosenkavalier, both with the Taiwan National Orchestra and Jun Märkl, standing in as Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde at the Maestranza with in Seville with Henrik Nánási and Brangäne in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the Leipzig/Wagner Opera22, Judith in Bartok's "Bluebeard's Castle" and Berg's Sieben frühe Lieder with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, both conducted by Antony Hermus, Ligeti's Requiem with the National Orchestra and Choir of Spain with David Afkham, Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with the RCO Camerata (members of the Concertgebouw Orchestra) and Mozart's Mass in C minor at the Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival.