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German Soprano Kerstin Randall , born Kerstin Podehl, attracted attention at an early age when, as a student at the Music Conservatory of the then East Berlin, she was awarded second prize at the International Antonin Dvorak Vocal Competition in Karlovy Vary, Chekoslovakia. In the same year she was admitted to the Opera Studio of the world renowned Komische Oper of Berlin where she was trained in the revered theater traditions of Walter Felsenstein. As a member of the Opera Studio she was cast on the main stage of the Komische Oper in such roles as Barbarina in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Amor in Gluck's Orpheus ed Euridice, and Fleurette in Walter Felsenstein's last existing production of Offenbach's rollicking comedy Ritter Blaubart. As Fleurette, Ms. Randall appeared on tour with the Komische Oper on such international stages as the Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London. Ms. Randall has also appeared as a guest artist in numerous European theaters. Before the fall of the "Berlin Wall" she was invited to sing the role of Iseut in Swiss composer Frank Martin's Le Vin Herbé at the International Musical Theater Festival in Bregenz, Austria. After her success in this role, she was reinvited the following year to sing the part of Euridice in Gluck's Orpheus ed Euridice in a highly successful production which also played in Budapest, Hungary. Later, she repeated this role with the Städtische Theater in Erfurt, Germany. Other guest appearances include Marzelline in Beethoven's Fidelio at the Staatstheater Schwerin, Titania in Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Opernhaus Leipzig and as Lauretta in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi in Freiberg. After successes as Die Rote Nachbarin in Udo Zimmermann's Die wundersame Schustersfrau and Zeitel in Fiddler on the Roof with the Städtische Theater in Chemnitz Ms. Randall was engaged as a member of the Chemnitz's ensemble. Since the 1992 reopening of the rennovated theater she has shown her enormous flexibility in a long list of opera, operetta and musical roles including Musetta in La Boheme, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Susanna in Marriage of Figaro, the First Lady in Magic Flute, Baronness in Wildschütz, Lisa in Countess Mariza, Bronislawa in Bettelstudent, Franziska Cagliari in Wiener Blut, Kurfürstin in Vogelhändler and Maria in West Side Story.
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