Lea Qin Messmer was born in China in 1977. She studied singing at Shandong Music University from 1997 to 2001 and graduated with a Bachelor of Music.
In 2002, her path led her to the Hamburg Conservatory, where she began postgraduate studies with Prof. Jeanette Scovotti. Just one year later, she moved to the Würzburg University of Music in the singing class of Prof. Cheryl Studer, and later to Prof. Leandra Overmann.
In 2006 she successfully completed her studies with a diploma in concert and music theater.
Lea Qin studied Cultural Management at the Steinbeis Transfer Institute ISW Business School Freiburg from October 2015 to September 2016 .
Since 2015, she has been deputy chairwoman of the Messmer Foundation. From 2025, she will take over the management of the Kunsthalle Messmer in Riegel as successor to the founder Jürgen Messmer. She has also been a member of the Kiwanis Club Emmendingen-Tara since 2024 .
While still a student, Lea Qin made guest appearances at the Hanover State Opera, where she performed under the musical direction of Konrad Junghänel and Johannes Harneit. She worked there with renowned directors such as Peter Konwitschny and Kazuko Watanabe.
She appeared at the Edinburgh International Festival with the Hanover production Al gran sole carico d’amore by Luigi Nono.
She sang at the opera studio of the Würzburg University of Music:
She made a guest appearance in the 2006/2007 season:
From 2007 to 2010, Lea Qin was a permanent member of the ensemble at the Stadttheater Bern. Her roles there included the following:
In addition to her permanent engagements, Lea Qin has made guest appearances in a number of other venues:
Lea Qin has been active at Theater Freiburg since the 2011/2012 season, from 2012/2013 as a permanent member of the ensemble. Her roles there include
On November 12, 2012, Lea Qin celebrated a great success as Dalila in the concert performance of Samson et Dalila with the East Bohemian State Philharmonic Orchestra Hradec Králové under Thomas Frank in the Protestant Market Church in Wiesbaden.
In February 2014, she made a guest appearance as Dorabella in Così fan tutte at the Singapore Lyric Opera.
The mezzo-soprano is also in demand as a lieder, concert and oratorio singer. Her repertoire includes works by Bach, Handel, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Rossini, Dvořák, Verdi and others.
She regularly performs in major concert halls and churches in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, the Czech Republic and China.
Highlights:
Future performances (2014-2016, also under Thomas J. Frank):
