Reinet Behncke
The South African-Argentine soprano Reinet Behncke studied opera in the United States at the University of Colorado at Boulder before moving to Vienna. She recently graduated from the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien where she received her Master of Arts in Lied and Oratorio, studying with KS Birgid Steinberger, KS Angelika Kirchschlager, and Carolyn Hague, as well as studying voice with Michele Friedman, and early and Baroque music with Nicholas Parle and Reinhard Führer. During her studies, she also participated in masterclasses with Helmuth Deutsch and Julius Drake. Her interpretation of Lied has led to performances throughout the world, including at the Grand Théâtre de Calais, the Colorado MahlerFest, and the Musikfest Stuttgart with Hilko Dumno, as well as a successful collaboration as a Lied Duo with Anna An, pianist.
Reinet was a winner of the ORF's prestigious Fidelio-Wettbewerb in both 2016 and 2017, and was additionally a semi-finalist of the Heinrich Strecker Crossover Competition of Bühne Baden, as well as a semi-finalist of the Internationaler Gesangswettbewerb CantateBach, both in 2019.
Reinet began her career in the United States, making her debut as Josephine with Loveland Opera Theatre. She then spent two years in New York City where she sang Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro) and Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) with New York Lyric Opera, as well as Brigitta (Iolanta) with New Opera NYC, and the Brautjunger (Der Freischütz) with Utopia Opera. Her other operatic credits include Mozart’s Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte) and Prima Novizia (Suor Angelica), among others.
An avid interpreter of the works of J.S. Bach, Miss Behncke performed "Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal", BWV 146, under the direction of Helmuth Rilling at the Musikfest Stuttgart. She was additionally a young artist at the Internationale Bach Akademie Stuttgart in 2017, where she studied with Dorothee Mields, Peter Harvey, and Jos van Veldhoven. Her church and oratorio repertoire also includes Bach’s Magnificat and numerous cantatas, Vesperae solennes de confessore, Exsultate Jubilate, and Krönungsmesse by Mozart, Die Tageszeiten by Telemann, Die sieben Worte Jesu Christi am Kreuz by Schütz, and Szűz Mária Mise by László Dobszay in its Austrian premiere. She appears as a soloist with the Solisten des Wiener KammerOrchesters, Wiener Kaiserquartett, and Harmonia Ensemble Wien.