Starting with the 2026/27 season, German bass-baritone David Rother has been a member of the Opera Studio at the Opéra National de Lyon. This season, he can be heard as The Herald in Laurent Pelly’s new production of The Love for Three Oranges (Prokofiev), as well as in a concert version of the opera at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. He also appears as the First Soldier and Fifth Jew in Salome (Strauss), directed by Calixto Bieito, and as Don Apostolo Gazella in Lucrezia Borgia (Donizetti), staged by Tatjana Gürbaca, alongside an art song recital with pianist Cécile Restier.

During the 2025/26 season, Rother took on the roles of Mr. Roosevelt and the Chemist in the German premiere of The Bat Bomb! (Alexander R. Schweiß) at Theater Freiburg. He subsequently appeared as a guest at the Schlossfestspiele Ettlingen (Colline in La Bohème, Puccini) and the Volkstheater Rostock (Maik in Tschick, Ludger Vollmer). His early engagements included Theater Koblenz (The Herald and Farfarello in The Love for Three Oranges, Prokofiev), Théâtre Ledoux Besançon (Blansac in La scala di seta, Rossini) and Opera Factory Freiburg (Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia, Britten). Alongside his operatic work, the young bass-baritone is also active in the concert and art song repertoire.

David Rother completed his vocal studies at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg in the class of Prof. Markus Eiche, performing roles including Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte, Mozart) and Nick Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Britten) in conservatory productions. Masterclasses with Wilhelm Schwinghammer, Christa Mayer, Lars Woldt and Diana Damrau complemented his training.

Born in Herrenberg, Germany, he received his first musical training with the Aurelius Sängerknaben Calw. Early appearances as the First Boy in The Magic Flute (Mozart) took him to the Staatsoper Berlin, the Semperoper Dresden, the Opéra National de Paris and the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden – the latter in collaboration with Robert Carsen, Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker.