The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance announces that Christine Goerke will join the Department of Voice & Opera as an assistant professor in August 2026. Goerke is an internationally acclaimed, two-time Grammy Award-winning soprano who has appeared on many of the world’s leading stages.
“The Department of Voice & Opera is delighted to add dramatic soprano Christine Goerke to our faculty,” said Stephen West, professor and chair of the Department of Voice & Opera. “In a long and illustrious career, Ms. Goerke has appeared with virtually every major opera house and symphony orchestra in the world. Ms. Goerke, who describes herself as a ‘dramatic soprano and soccer mom…not necessarily in that order,’ has strong connections to the Detroit and Ann Arbor area, and we’ve been fortunate to have her share her expertise with us in appearances and master classes. We now wholeheartedly welcome her as a world-renowned voice professor.”
Goerke has performed at such storied opera houses as the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, and the Bayreuth Festival. She is particularly recognized for her portrayals of Wagner’s Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen, as well as for her interpretations of Elektra and Turandot.
On the concert stage, Goerke has collaborated with conductors including the late Seiji Ozawa, the late Robert Shaw, the late Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Mark Elder, Stéphane Denève, the late Kurt Masur, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Semyon Bychkov, and Andris Nelsons. She has performed with orchestras including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the Houston Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Goerke is a passionate advocate for new work and contemporary opera. In the 2025-26 season, she will return to the Metropolitan Opera for the world premiere of Lincoln in the Bardo, a new opera by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek, based on the novel by George Saunders.
Her recent projects include a recording of Puccini’s Turandot conducted by Christopher Tin, as well as her performance as Turandot in Detroit’s Classic Opera Series at Music Hall, a project that brought together an international cast and orchestra in a newly reduced orchestration of Puccini’s score.
Beyond her performing career, Goerke is increasingly active as an artistic leader and mentor. She serves as artistic producer of Detroit’s Classic Opera Series and previously served as associate artistic director at Detroit Opera, where she led a comprehensive redesign of the company’s Resident Artist Program.
“I’m so very grateful to Dean Gier and the leadership at SMTD for the opportunity to join such an extraordinary faculty,” Goerke said. “Michigan has truly become home for me, and I’m excited to work alongside these remarkable colleagues while helping the next generation of singers discover their voices, explore the power of the human voice to connect us, and build meaningful lives in this art form.”
Goerke regularly presents master classes and coaches young singers at conservatories, festivals, and training programs across the US. She has worked with students and young artists at Wolf Trap Opera, the Aspen Music Festival and School, Music Academy of the West, Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the Eastman School of Music, Michigan State University College of Music, SMTD, the young artist programs of Houston Grand Opera and Florida Grand Opera, the Glimmerglass Festival, and Washington National Opera.
In addition to her teaching and mentoring, Goerke serves on the boards of several arts organizations, including the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Boston Lyric Opera, and the William E. Schmidt Foundation (Schmidt Vocal Arts), which supports high school and undergraduate singers across North America. She also serves as vice president of the board of Audition Air, a nonprofit whose aim is to provide emerging performing artists with equitable access to professional auditions by funding air travel across the contiguous U.S. Goerke received a BA from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.