biography

Born in Brno, Czech Republic, mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená studied voice and piano at the Brno Conservatory before continuing her training with Eva Blahová at Bratislava’s Academy of Performing Arts. Winner of several international competitions, she came to international prominence after taking first prize at the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg in 1995. In recognition of her services to French music, Kožená was appointed Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2003.
In 1999 she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, releasing a debut album of Bach arias on Archiv, followed by an acclaimed recording of Czech songs that won Gramophone’s Solo Vocal Award in 2001. She was subsequently named Gramophone Artist of the Year (2004) and has received numerous honours including the Echo Klassik, Record Academy Prize Tokyo and Diapason d'Or. Since 2017, Kožená has recorded for Pentatone, with a discography spanning Il Giardino dei sospiri with Václav Luks and Collegium 1704, the chamber album Soirée, Nostalgia with Yefim Bronfman, and L'extase with Mitsuko Uchida. In 2025, she released two deeply personal albums with Sir Simon Rattle and the Czech Philharmonic devoted to folk songs and music from her homeland.
Over three decades, Kožená has forged close artistic partnerships with many of the foremost conductors of our time, including Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Gustavo Dudamel, Bernard Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Daniel Harding, Mariss Jansons, Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Roger Norrington and Robin Ticciati. Equally acclaimed in recital, she has appeared with pianists such as Daniel Barenboim, Kirill Gerstein, András Schiff and Mitsuko Uchida at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and the Aldeburgh, Edinburgh and Salzburg Festivals. A passionate advocate of historically informed performance, she is a regular guest of ensembles including the Venice Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Il Giardino Armonico, Les Musiciens du Louvre, La Cetra Barockorchester Basel and Le Concert d'Astrée. Her orchestral engagements have brought collaborations with the Berlin, Vienna and Czech Philharmonics, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the Cleveland, Philadelphia and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestras.
On the opera stage, Kožená has appeared at many of the world's leading houses and festivals. Her repertoire ranges from Mozart roles including Zerlina, Cherubino, Dorabella and Idamante to Mélisande, Carmen, the Fox in The Cunning Little Vixen, Martinů's Juliette, Charpentier's Médée, Ottavia in L'incoronazione di Poppea, and the Waitress in Kaija Saariaho's Innocence. Highlights include appearances at the Salzburg Festival, Metropolitan Opera, Staatsoper Berlin, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence and Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu.
Celebrated for her affinity with Handel, she recently made her role debut in the title role of Alcina in a new production in Brno before taking the production on a major European tour with Les Musiciens du Louvre, culminating in a critically acclaimed recording released in 2024. In 2026 she added the title role of Ariodante to her repertoire on a six-city European tour with La Cetra Barockorchester Basel and Andrea Marcon.
Recitals remain central to Kožená's artistic life, with return appearances this season at Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie de Paris, Prague's Rudolfinum, Kammermusik Basel and the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest alongside Martha Argerich, Kirill Gerstein and Malcolm Martineau. She is Artist in Residence at the Dvořák Prague Festival, appearing in three contrasting programmes with piano, chamber orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic. Elsewhere, she collaborates with the Staatskapelle Dresden, London Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Duisburger Philharmoniker and Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg in the closing concert of Mozartwoche. Further highlights include her role debut as Agrippina with Les Accents on a six-city European tour, Bach's St Matthew Passion with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, gala performances celebrating the tenth anniversary of La Seine Musicale with the Insula Orchestra, and a return to the Staatsoper Berlin as Idamante in Idomeneo.
Beyond the stage, Magdalena is deeply committed to arts education through the Magdalena Kožená Endowment Fund, which for more than a decade has supported children and young people in their artistic development, helping to widen access to high quality arts education and opportunities for emerging talent.