Ute Lemper

The career of Ute Lemper is vast and varied. She has made her mark on the stage, in films, in concert and as a unique recording artist. She has been universally praised for her interpretations of Berlin Cabaret Songs, the works of Kurt Weill and French chanson and for her portrayals on Broadway, in Paris and in London’s West End.

Her newest concert is Ultimo Tango, an entirely new show, presenting a journey through
the songs of Astor Piazzolla, the fabulous Argentinian composer of Tango, and the
words of the Poet Horacio Ferrer. Ute sings in the original Spanish and created
adaptations of these stories of love, abandonment, decadence and passion in Buenos
Aires, Berlin, Paris and New York, in French, German and English. She recently
completed a world tour with the original Astor Piazzolla Sextet from Buenos Aires.

Ute recently completed a concert series with the Jazz at Lincoln orchestra and Wynton
Marsalis, at Rose Hall in New York City, dedicated to the music of Kurt Weill.

Very different is Ute's other new creation, The Bukowski Project, a rather avant-garde,
adventurous collage in music and songs of the poetry of Charles Bukowski. This
homage to the poet was invented and largely composed by Ute herself with the
collaboration of her partner Todd Turkisher and her pianist Vana Gierig.

Ute was born in Munster, Germany and completed her studies at The Dance Academy in Cologne and the Max Reinhardt Seminary Drama School in Vienna.

Her professional debut on the musical stage was in the original Vienna production of Cats in the roles of Grizabella and Bombalurina. She went on to play Peter Pan in Peter Pan (Berlin) and Sally Bowles in Jerome Savary’s Cabaret (Paris) for which she received the Moliere Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She played Lola in The Blue Angel (Berlin) and Maurice Bejart created a ballet for her, La Mort Subite (Paris). Ute also appeared in many Weill Revues with the Pina Bausch Tanztheater, and she created the part of Velma Kelly in London’s production of CHICAGO in the West End, for which she was honored with the Laurence Olivier Award, and moved to the Broadway production after one year.

Ute Lemper’s solo concerts, which include Kurt Weill’s Recital, Illusions, City of Strangers and Berlin Cabaret Evening have been produced in prestigious venues throughout the world. Her symphony concerts include The Seven Deadly Sins, Songs from Kurt Weill, Songbook (Michael Nyman) and Songs from Piaf and Dietrich with the symphony orchestras of London, Israel, Boston, Hollywood, San Francisco, Berlin The Paris Radio Symphony Orchestra, The Illusions Orchestra (Bruno Fontaine) and the Michael Nyman Band (Michael Nyman). She also appeared in Folksongs with the Luciano Berio Orchestra (Luciano Berio) and with The Matrix Ensemble (Robert Ziegler) performing Berlin Cabaret Songs.

Her celebrated recordings for DECCA include Ute Lemper Sings Kurt Weill (Vols. I and II), Three Penny Opera, The Seven Deadly Sins, Mahogonny Songspiel, Prospero’s Books (Michael Nyman), Songbook (Michael Nyman/Paul Celan), Illusions (Piaf/Dietrich), City of Strangers (Prever/Sondheim) and Berlin Cabaret Songs (German and English versions). She was named Billboard Magazine’s Crossover Artist of the Year for 1993-1994. Her latest release on Decca are But One Day, (March, 2003), which features new arrangements of Weill, Brel, Piazolla, Heymann and Eisler songs, as well as the first recordings of her own compositions, for which she wrote both lyrics and music. In early 2000, Decca/Universal Music released Punishing Kiss, featuring new songs composed for her by Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Philip Glass, and Nick Cave. She has also recorded Crimes of the Heart, Life is a Cabaret and Ute Lemper Live for CBS Records and for POLYDOR, Espace Indecent, Nuits Etranges and She Has a Heart. Recently she recorded a Live album and a Live DVD at the Carlyle, one of New York’s hottest Cabaret stages. It was released worldwide on DRG/ Koch records and EDEL records in Europe.

All That Jazz/The Best of Ute Lemper, which features highlights from her illustrious career to date was released in 1998. It accompanied her playing Velma Kelly in the London production of Kander and Ebb’s Chicago for which she received the 1998 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. After nine months in London’s West End Ms. Lemper made her Broadway debut in September 1998. A major highlight of her eight months American engagement in Chicago was starring with Chita Rivera in the Las Vegas premiere in March 1999.

Her recent album, Between Yesterday and Tomorrow, consists entirely of self-penned
music and lyrics, and Ute enjoyed co-producing all of her songs together with her partner
Todd Turkisher

In film, her many credits include L’Autrichienne (Pierre Granier-Deferre), Prospero’s Books (Peter Greenaway), Moscow Parade (Ivan Dikhovichni), Pret a Porter (Robert Altman), Bogus (Norman Jewison) and the most recent releases, Combat de Fauves (Benoit Lamy), A River Made to Drown In (James Merendino) and Appetite (George Milton). She has appeared on television in Rage/Outrage, The Dreyfus Affair (Arte), Tales from the Crypt (HBO), Ute Lemper Sings Kurt Weill (Bravo), Illusions (Granada), Songbook (Volker Scholendorff), The Wall (Rogers Waters) and The Look of Love (Gillina Lynn).

Ms. Lemper currently lives in New York with her three children, Max, Stella and Julian.

• Bio
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• Last Tango Program Rider (Piano only)
• Last Tango Program Rider (Piano & Bandoneon)
• Last Tango Program Rider (Full Band)
• Bukowski Program Rider
• Pablo Neruda Program Rider
• Kurt Weill Program Rider (Piano only)
• Kurt Weill Program Rider (Piano & Bandoneon)
• Kurt Weill Program Rider (Full Band)
• Berthold Brecht Program Rider (Piano only)
• Berthold Brecht Program Rider (Piano & Bandoneon)
• Berthold Brecht Program Rider (Full Band)
• Lost Tango w/ Sextet Program Rider
• Vogler String Quartet Program Rider
• Ute Lemper with Orchestra
• Ute Lemper with Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra

 

• More High Res Publicity Photos and other media related materials
  

• Ute Lemper Programs One Sheet
• Neruda Project
• Paris Days, Berlin Nights
• The Bukowski Project
• Piazzolla Project 

• Ute Lemper Official Site
• Steinway & Sons
• Ute Lemper on Amazon