Michael Schade

Michael Schade (born January 23, 1965) is a Canadian operatic tenor, who was born in Geneva and raised in Germany and Canada. He and his partner Dee McKee, and their eight children live in Oakville, Ontario, a city just outside Toronto, Canada. The family has a second home in Vienna, Austria. Schade attended St. Michael's Choir School in Toronto. Schade has performed at the Canadian Opera Company, Vienna Staatsoper, 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 Staatsoper, 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 Schwarzenberg in Vorarlberg, Austria.In March 2007, Schade and Adrianne Pieczonka were the first Canadians awarded the Austrian title of Kammersänger.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." Schade's recording of the St Matthew Passion (Teldec), conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance. From December 2011 until October 2013 Michael Schade was a Member of the Board of the European Academy of Music Theatre. In 2016, Schade was appointed as an officer in the Order of Canada.