Valentin Ruckebier

Born in Wuppertal in 1997, bass Valentin Ruckebier studied singing with Prof. Konrad Jarnot at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf. During his studies, he sang various opera roles; he also appears regularly as a lieder and oratorio singer and in vocal ensembles, devoting himself increasingly to contemporary music. He is a scholarship holder of the German National Academic Foundation, received the Ria Fresen Foundation Award and was a finalist in the Walter and Charlotte Hamel Foundation Singing Competition in 2019. He also won 1st prize in the German National Singing Competition in 2022 and was honored in the SWR Young Opera Stars competition in 2024. Ruckebier is also active as a composer (studied in Düsseldorf with Prof. Manfred Trojahn and Prof. Oliver Schneller). His works have won prizes at numerous international competitions and are regularly premiered by renowned performers and ensembles. In 2021, his opera “Die Flucht nach Ägypten” was performed at the Landestheater Linz, the Teatro Comunale di Modena and the Serbian National Theatre Novi Sad. Ruckebier was a member of the opera studio of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein from 2022 to 2024, where his roles included The High Priest in Massenet's “Hérodiade”, Hortensius in Donizetti's “La Fille du régiment”, 2. The second man in armor in Mozart's “The Magic Flute”, Alessio in Bellini's “La sonnambula”, Notary in Donizetti's “Don Pasquale”, Fedya in Bock's “Anatevka”, Saretsky in Tchaikovsky's “Eugene Onegin” on stage. Ruckebier has been a member of the ensemble since the 2024/25 season and will be seen this season as Montano in Verdi's “Otello”, 2nd Man in Armor, Masetto in Mozart's “Don Giovanni”, Steward/Guardian/Sergeant in Shostakovich's “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk”, Sagrestano in Puccini's “Tosca”, Poet in Donizetti's “Prima la Mamma!” and Saretzkij, among others.