I explore the intersection of voice, identity, and artistic research, where sound becomes a medium for both expression and inquiry.
HANNAH OTTO is a German soprano, performer, musicologist and artistic researcher.
She is currently a member of the TONALi Bühnenakademie (a three-year stage academy) and works as a PhD Researcher and Lecturer at the Department of Music at Universität Siegen.
She completed her master's degree with a focus on artistic research and vocal studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, culminating in an interdisciplinary project developed in collaboration with the artist Luca Wielage. Intensive impulses for her approach to performance and artistic research came from her close work with artistic research professor and gestural performance artist/violinist Prof. Winnie Huang.
Her work explores the expressive and performative potential of the voice across chamber music settings and interdisciplinary projects, with a focus on contemporary music and particular attention to the democratization of artistic spaces and questions of accessibility and inclusivity. She has premiered and performed works with composers including Nathalie Brum, Ahmetcan Gökçeer, Carlie Schoonees, and Aline Sarah Müller, among others.
For me, the voice is more than a musical instrument. It is a site where the personal and collective converge, shaped by history, technology, and culture. This research directly shapes my artistic practice: I investigate how identity manifests and transforms through sound, from the performative dimensions of gender and vocality to the materiality of breath, text, and sonic presence.
Performances and premieres have taken her to venues and festivals such as Mozartfest Würzburg, Sommerblut Kulturfestival Köln, Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln, Beethoven-Haus Bonn, INMM Darmstadt, Musikfestival Bern, and Classica Seoul. Notable vocal projects include Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire with the Contemporary Sound Forum Seoul (March 2026) and Kate Soper’s Voices from the Killing Jar under the direction of Carlos Lopes (September 2026).
As a concert scholar of the MozartLabor (2024/25), she developed contemporary repertoire for soprano and guitar with guitarist Melani Skopljakovic, culminating in a performance in the Freispiel series at Mozartfest Würzburg in June 2025. Her ongoing artistic practice and research has been developed through key fellowships and residencies, including the Musik & Ästhetik scholarship, FARM 2024 (Fostering Artistic Research in Music) at the Orpheus Institut in Gent, and an Artist Residency at the European Academy of Music and Performing Arts Montepulciano (2025). Most recently, in August 2026, she participated in the residency at Haus für Musiker (Insel Hombroich), hosted by BRUTALISM Cologne, exploring sound as material and architecture as instrument. This project sparked an ongoing collaboration with artist Jacqueline Butzinger (computer music/violin/spatial audio).
In addition to her performance work, her research practice engages with questions of exile, memory, and resistance. She received the Best Paper Award from the GMM (German Society for Music Business and Music Culture Research) for a study on Chilean composer Leni Alexander. She is currently an editorial board member, author, and podcast host at musiktexte.online.