Genia Kühmeier will make her LA Opera debut as Micaela in Carmen (November 2008). She was born in Salzburg and initially studied music and vocal teaching at the Hochschule Mozarteum in Salzburg before continuing her studies in solo voice at the University for Music in Vienna as a student of Margarita Lilova and Marjana Lipovšek. Further coaching with both continues to take place on a regular basis.

In January 2002, Genia Kühmeier was awarded the first prize at the 8th International Mozart Competition in Salzburg which was the beginning for an international career in which she already worked with such conductors as William Christie, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Daniel Harding, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Manfred Honeck, Fabio Luisi, Kent Nagano, Sir Roger Norrington, Marc Minkowski, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Franz Welser-Möst and Christian Thielemann.

From 2003 to 2006, she was a member of the ensemble of the Vienna Staatsoper, where she received the Eberhard Waechter-Medaille for her interpretation of Inès in La Favorite. She further appeared in such roles as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, First Flower Maiden in Parsifal, Adina in L'Elisir d'Amore, First Maid in Daphne, Marzelline in Fidelio and her highly acclaimed Ilia in Idomeneo in a new production of the Vienna Staatsoper at the Theater an der Wien.

Genia Kühmeier made her long awaited debut as Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte in 2003, a role she also performed with great success in a new production at the Ruhr-Triennale under the baton of Marc Minkowski. In summer 2005 she made her highly acclaimed opera debut at the Salzburg Festival in the role of Pamina under the artistic direction of Riccardo Muti, where she also took part in a new production of Pierre Audi in 2006, again led by Riccardo Muti. In summer 2008 she will return to Salzburg with this role under the baton of Riccardo Muti.

Further highlights of her young career include her début at La Scala in Milan in December 2002 in the role of Diane in Iphigénie en Aulide under the baton of Riccardo Muti. She returned to La Scala in Milan for the reopening of the opera house in December 2004 as Asterio in Salieri's L'Europa Riconosciuta under the artistic direction of Riccardo Muti.

In January 2005 she sang the role of Ilia in a concert performance of Mozart's Idomeneo under the baton of Daniel Harding within the Mozart-Festival in Salzburg. In the same role Genia Kühmeier had an outstanding success in a new production of the Vienna State Opera at the Theater an der Wien one year later.

During the 2006/07 season Genia Kühmeier had several debuts such as at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in Mozart's La Finta Giardiniera and at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in Bizet's Carmen as well as the Bavarian State Opera in Munich in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. Performances at the Vienna State Opera include Idomeneo and L'Elisir d'Amore as well as a new production of Strauss' Arabella under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst. Besides some concerts with Christian Thielemann and Riccardo Muti she had her recital debut at the Vienna Musikverein.

Recent highlights further include concerts at the Vienna Musikverein, at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, RuhrTriennale, styriarte, Salzburg Festival as well as the Lucerne Festival. She performed the Concerto di Natale at the Scala di Milano, Mahler's Fourth Symphony with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Daniel Harding in Rome, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier in a gala concert on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the reopening of the Vienna State Opera after the 2nd world war under Christian Thielemann, Bruckner's Te Deum with the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Seiji Ozawa at the Vienna Musikverein and at the Vatican as well as concerts with the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra under Leopold Hager and a recital at the Mozarteum Salzburg.

During the 2007/08 season Genia Kühmeier has her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in the role of Pamina. With the same role she returns to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and she further appears at the Vienna State Opera, singing Micaela in Carmen and Paminain Die Zauberflöte. On the concert stage she can be heard with the WDR Sinfonie Orchester Köln and Semyon Bychkov with Lieder by Strauss in Cologne, Budapest, Vienna, Prague and Athens as well as with concerts of the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, conducted by Riccardo Muti and Mariss Jansons. Further engagements of the current season include concerts with Brahms' Requiem with the Vienna Philharmonic under Nikolaus Harnoncourt (to be recorded for CD), concerts with the Staatskapelle Dresden and Sir Colin Davis as well as Sir Charles Mackerras, Haydn's Creation with the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle at the Easter Festival in Salzburg, Haydn's The Seasons with the Concentus Musicus and Nikolaus Harnoncourt as well as her recital debut at the Wigmore Hall in London.