Michael Schade

Michael Schade (born 23 January 1965) is a Canadian operatic tenor, who was born in Geneva and raised in Germany and Canada. He and his wife Dee McKee, and their youngest child live in Vienna, Austria; the rest of the family lives in Canada. Life and career Schade attended St. Michael's Choir School in Toronto, then the Faculty of Music in the University of Western Ontario and on to the Curtis Institute of Music for his master's degree. Schade has performed at the Canadian Opera Company, Vienna State Opera, Salzburg Festival, Metropolitan Opera, Washington Opera, Opéra National de Paris, San Francisco Opera, Hamburg State Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Los Angeles Opera. At the Vienna State Opera, Schade has appeared in Daphne, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Die Zauberflöte, Arabella, Il barbiere di Siviglia, L'elisir d'amore, Die schweigsame Frau and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. He is a regular guest of the world-famous Lied-festival Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, Austria. In 2005, he performed in Carl Nielsen's Maskarade in the Royal Opera, London's premiere of David Pountney's production. Schade's discography includes a recording of "Die schöne Müllerin" with pianist Malcolm Martineau (CBC Records) which funds and supports leukaemia research, a performance of the role of Ralph Rackstraw in Sir Charles Mackerras's CD of H.M.S. Pinafore, and Daphne (Decca). He made his first solo recording – Of Ladies and Love – Songs of Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt, Ravel, Fauré, and Richard Strauss—for Hyperion; BBC Music Magazine gave it a 5-star review, saying, "He sings Strauss's 'Cäcilie', and a wonderfully hushed 'Zueignung' as though he and Martineau were the first to discover their ecstasy."