Tansel Akzeybek is Berlin-born and Izmir-bred, and for most guys from Izmir, being an opera tenor isn’t usually their first-choice career. Today, Tansel is back in his hometown of Berlin. He lives with his Japanese wife, Naomi, and is a member of the Komische Oper’s ensemble.
When Tansel was six years old, his parents moved back to Turkey after having been in Germany for 20 years. Tansel began singing early on — even if it was more pop songs than operas in order to impress the girls at school. Tansel had his first real singing lesson with a friend of his mother, who was a music teacher at a music school. The teacher realized it immediately, exclaiming, »You’re a tenor!«
Not long after this, Tansel performed in his first concert and soon after passed the entrance exam for the conservatory in Izmir. After a booking at the State Opera in Izmir, he was drawn back to Germany.
He completed his studies in Lübeck and took master classes with Lia Lantieri, Katia Ricciarelli and Ks. René Kollo. After stints in Dortmund and Bonn, Tansel came to the Komische Oper in Berlin, where he has been singing since 2012. He is happy to be living in both his old and new hometown. Currently, Tansel is singing the roles of Toni, in West Side Story, Lysander, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, along with many other roles.Tansel hopes that interaction between Turks and German-Turks will become more natural in German society and that’s exactly what we’re all about!
Credits
Video: Alessandro Rovere
Text: Roma Hering
