Cora Schmeiser is a versatile vocalist. Her voice moves effortlessly between medieval, baroque, classical and contemporary styles. During her performances she uses her sophisticated voice and virtuosity with expressive contrasts and subtle mimicking to create an intimate atmosphere that captivates the listener. Theatrical but completely natural.

Cora got her first musical and creative impulses while growing up. She experienced the joy of making music together through a year-long membership with the Landesjugendchor Rheinland-Pfalz. This led her to studying music in Frankfurt am Main and The Hague at Sea. Cora studied 'Classical Singing' at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague with Lenie van der Heuvel, Wout Oosterkamp and Gerda van Zelm. There she discovered and explored her special interest for early and medieval music, as well as contemporary music and drama. She took up courses and master classes for 'Modern Music and Improvisation' by Ton Hartsuiker, Inge Fröhlich, Greetje Bijma, Isabelle Ganz, Barbara Hannigan, Claron McFadden, the Neue Vokalsolisten Stuttgart and the Nederlands Vocaal Laboratorium. At the Akademie für berufliche und musisch-kulturelle Weiterbildung, Fulda, she specialized in 'Music of the Middle Ages / Early music of the higher classes'.

She makes solo performances, but also collaborates/-ted with theater makers like Hotel Modern, Van Reek & Ten Bosch, Theatre Adhoc, Alida Neslo, David Prins and Elisabeth Bas; with visual artists like Maarten van Gent, Simone Ten Bosch, Arnold Schalks, Susanne Kriemann, Constantin Jaxy, Tanja Smit, artist group Observatorium and Toine Horvers; with poets like Peter Swanborn, Froukje van der Ploeg, Alexis de Roode and Willem Thies; with ensembles like the Nederlands Vocaal Laboratorium, Wire Griot, the Rosa Ensemble, Radio Kootwijk Live, the POW-ensemble, ensemble Nu:n, the ASKO chamber choir, Coolhaven and with composers like Ron Ford, Boudewijn Tarenskeen, Nicoleta Chatzoupoulou, Johan van Kreij, Daniël Hamburger, Hanneke Vos, Rita Knuisting Neven, Richard Craig, Anne La Berge, David Dramm, Aliona Yurtsevich, Lukas Simonis, Maurice van Loon, Falk Hübner, Giuliano Bracci and Kate Moore.

Since its founding in 2004, she is a regular member of the Cologne Frauenschola Ars Choralis Coeln, a choral group conducted by Maria Jonas, that is specialized in the interpretation and performance of music by important medieval composers like Hildegard von Bingen and Anna von Köln.

From 2011 on, Cora, the guitarist, composer and sound artist Falk Zenker from Weimar and the Berlin based saxophonist and composer Gert Anklam tour under the name Nu:n Vokal through Germany, Austria and Denmark. N:un Vokal performed in different settings, in numerous concert series and festivals in many important medieval churches.

Lucia Mense, Cora Schmeiser and Dietmar Bonnen ran into each other in November 2012 during a sound workshop by Ars Choralis Coeln in the Cologne Kolumba Museum. They soon found out that they shared a range of musical preferences. That same year they founded the LUNYALA trio.

Ensemble COLUSCA, featuring Cora Schmeiser, Lucia Mense and Susanne Ansorg, is fascinated by the "verdigris from the Middle Ages". By rubbing it off, they manage to expose concealed musical treasures. The trio treats the patina with voice, flute and fiddle, and brings into the light texts that appear almost dadaistic. As proven specialists in early European music, the three musicians succeed to keep their interpretations fresh and up to date.

She currently teaches 'Classical Singing' at the Rotterdam SKVR-music school and works as a coach for the German language at both the 'Groot Omroepkoor' in Hilversum and ‘De Nederlandse Opera' in Amsterdam. Since 2016 she teaches at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and Codarts in Rotterdam (since 2021).

Cora Schmeiser, photo © Florian Cramer

photo © Florian Cramer

 

Cora Schmeiser, Time travel of a trobairitz, Klondike River, Schuppen 1, Bremen, photo © Arnold Schalks

 

Cora Schmeiser, Marc Lewon, Time travel of a trobairitz, Berkel Enschot, photo © Arnold Schalks

 

Cora Schmeiser, Reinier van Houdt, Bij gebrek aan conversatie, Rotterdam, photo © Arnold Schalks

 

Cora Schmeiser, An Anna Blume, Kurt Schwitters, Museum de Pont, Tilburg, photo © Arnold Schalks

 

Cora Schmeiser, Aliona Yurtsevich, Viaggio Interiore, [Awakening of Alice], Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Amsterdam,  photo © Co Broerse

 

Cora Schmeiser, Frauenschola Ars Choralis Coeln, Maria Jonas