Estonian soprano Mirjam Mesak is a current member of the Bayerische Staatsoper ensemble, where she has left an indelible impression in roles from Iolanta to Musetta. In September 2022, she portrayed the leading role in Axel Ranisch’s film “Orphea in Love” which premiered at the Bavarian State Opera – proving that the soprano possesses not only an “outstanding voice” (Crescendo) but is also a skilled actress. The film was subsequently released in cinemas throughout Germany.

 

The 2025/26 season marks several exciting debuts for Mirjam Mesak at the Bayerische Staatsoper. She adds to her repertoire the role of Adele in the Barrie Kosky production of Die Fledermaus, as well as the role of Marzelline in Fidelio. She is extremely excited to be part of the world premiere of Brett Deans new opera Of One Blood, staged by Claus Guth and led by Vladimir Jurowski. Mirjam will also be returning to the role of Mimi at Theater Vanemuine in Estonia. On concert stages she will be joining the Orchestre National Rhône d’Auvergne and conductor Thomas Zehetmair for a concert in the Philharmonie Berlin. She will also be returning to Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with Warsaw Philharmonic Orcestra and conductor Vasily Petrenko.

 

Last season, Mirjam Mesak made her house debut at the Semperoper in Dresden as Ännchen (Der Freischütz), a role to which she will return to at the Bayerische Staatsoper in season 25/26. She also made her role debut as Mimi (La bohème) at the Theatre Vanemuine in Estonia, which she will keep performing in season 25/26.  With the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, she sang Freia in a new production of Das Rheingold, Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Juliette (Die tote Stadt), and 1st Sprite (Rusalka), among other roles. Additionally, she performed Beethoven Symphony No. 9 at the Konzerthaus Berlin in New Year’s concerts of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski, as well as with the Flanders Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of conductor Kristiina Poska. Mirjam appeared as soloist in Symphony No. 2 (Mahler) with the Oldenburg State Orchestra conducted by Hendrik Vestmann, and joined the Prague Philharmonia and Rastislav Štúr in a Summer Gala concert.

 

In Estonia, Mirjam appears regularly with the Estonian National Opera, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra. In the recent seasons, she appeared as a soloist in Symphony No.2 (Mahler) with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra under maestro Neeme Järvi and performed Berg’s 7 Frühe Lieder with Estonian Festival Orchestra under maestro Paavo Järvi. Commemorating the 150th anniversary of Rudolf Tobias, the first Estonian professional composer and organist, she has recorded his Oratorio "Joonas" with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Tõnu Kaljuste to be released under Ondine Records in November 2025.

 

Her portrayal of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta with the Bayerische Staatsorchester conducted by Alevtina Ioffe earned Mirjam unanimous critical acclaim for her ability to bring an ‘unbelievable amount of depth’ to the character (Bachtrack) and can also be found on DVD.

 

Mirjam Mesak is a graduate of Guildhall School of Music & Drama (First Class Honours) where she studied under the tutelage of Prof. Rudolf Piernay. She has performed as a soloist in several of London’s renowned concert halls such as the Barbican Hall, Milton Court Concert Hall (including as part of the LSO’s ‘This is Rattle’ festival), Wigmore Hall and Royal Festival Hall.

 

In 2019 she was awarded with the Bavarian Art Prize in the section of Performing Arts (Bayerische Kunstförderpreis in Der Sparte Darstellende Kunst) and in 2024 with the Annual Award from the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

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©  2025