Australian mezzo-soprano Indyana Schneider was recently described as ‘outstanding’ in the Guardian and ‘a fabulous young mezzo, the voice full of crimson depth and character’ in Opera Magazine. She studied a BA in Music at Magdalen College, Oxford University and a Masters in Opera at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hanover, Germany. She was a member of the International Opera Studio of the Opernhaus Zürich from 2023-2025.
Recent highlights include her performance as Zita in Gianni Schicchi with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Sir Bryn Terfel in the title role. Indyana covered the Komponist in Garsington Opera´s production of Ariadne auf Naxos, for which she won their Helen Clarke Award. She sang Femme Grecque in Iphigénie en Tauride and Hermia in A Midsummer Night´s Dream at the Zurich Opera, and returned to the Sydney Opera House to sing Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte and to cover Christophe Dumaux as Orpheo in Gluck´s Orpheo ed Euridice.
A dazzling whirwind of creative ideas
Opera Studio at Zurich Opera
At the Opernhaus Zürich, she could be heard in two world premieres – as Martina in Wir pfeifen auf den Gurkenkönig (Penderbayne) and as Aouda in Jonathan Dove´s new opera In 80 Tagen um die Welt. She also sang Königin in a dramatised Elias directed by Andreas Homoki, and Marchesa Melibea in Il Viaggio a Reims and was covering Komponist (Ariadne auf Naxos); Stefano (Roméo et Juliette), Page (Salome), and Nicklausse (Les Contes d´Hoffmann).
Music and Literature
Indyana has sung in masterclasses with: Sir Antonio Pappano, Brigitte Fassbaender, Dame Emma Kirkby, Stephen Langridge, Katie Mitchell, Andreas Scholl, James Conlon, and Dame Ann Murray.
When not singing, Indyana writes novels with Scribner / Simon & Schuster and enjoys martial arts and dancing.
