The main focus of Marlis Petersen’s repertoire is the field of classical coloratura and as an interpreter of contemporary music. She started her career as a member of the ensemble at Städtische Bühnen Nuremberg. From 1998 to 2003 she was engaged at Deutsche Oper am Rhein Dusseldorf. Marlis Petersen gave her debut at the Vienna State Opera with Lulu. This central role of her repertoire she also sang in Hamburg, at the Chicago Lyric Opera und in Athens. She is a regular guest at the most important opera houses worldwide, e.g. Opéra de Paris, state operas of Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Vienna, Met, Los Angeles Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera and at the Festivals of Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence. Recently, she had a sensational success in a new Lulu production at Bavarian State Opera, which she repeated at the Metropolitan Opera New York. In the concert field, the soprano has already worked with the greatest conductors worldwide such as Daniel Harding, Thomas Hengelbrock, Zubin Mehta, Kirill Petrenko, Simon Rattle, René Jacobs, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Trevor Pinnock. In January 2017 she had the honour to participate at the opening festival of the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg with a world creation of Jörg Widmann. In 2013, Marlis Petersen received the very first Austrian Music Theatre Award for her interpretation of the three female main roles in Les Contes d’Hoffmann at Theater an der Wien, and by the magazine Opernwelt she was elected “Singer of the year” for the third time.