Karis Tucker grew up in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, as the child of American parents. She studied singing and acting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she was trained by Amy Johnson. She is currently being coached by the soprano Adina Nițescu.
The young mezzo-soprano gained her first stage experience in performances by the CCM Opera at her university. She sang the title role in Bizet's Carmen at Southern Opera and Musical Theatre and Gertrud in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, and covered the role of Mother Chen in Huang Ruo's American Soldier at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
Karis Tucker has participated in numerous competitions and has received multiple honors: she was the 2017 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions winner for Ohio and a recipient of the Seybold-Russell Award in the CCM Opera Scholarship Competition. She was also a finalist in the 2023 Belvedere Competition.
From 2019 to 2022, she was a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin ensemble, first as a scholarship holder of the Opera Foundation New York and then as a scholarship holder of the Förderkreis der Deutschen Oper, where she took on the roles of Hermia in Britten's “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” Flora in “La Traviata” and Floßhilde in “Das Rheingold” on the parking deck, among others. In 2021/22, Karis Tucker could be heard at the Deutsche Oper under the musical direction of Sir Donald Runnicles as Floßhilde in “Rheingold”, Rossweiße in “Die Walküre” as well as 2nd Norn and Wellgunde in “Götterdämmerung”. Other roles include the 2nd maid in “Elektra”, 2nd lady in “The Magic Flute” and the 3rd maid in Zemlinsky's “Der Zwerg”.
Karis Tucker made her debut in summer 2022 with great success as Thirza in Ethel Smyth's opera “The Wreckers” with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Robin Ticciati at the Glyndebourne Festival. The opera was also performed as a concertante performance at the BBC Proms in London and with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin at the Berlin Philharmonie.
Karis Tucker has been a member of the Deutsche Oper ensemble since the 2022/23 season and has appeared as Hänsel in “Hänsel und Gretel”, Orlofsky in “Die Fledermaus”, 2nd Lady in “Die Zauberflöte”, Mercédès in “Carmen”, Fenena in “Nabucco” and Adonella in Zandonai's “Francesca da Rimini” . She sang the mezzo-soprano solo in a performance of Verdi's Messa da Requiem with the Staatsballett Berlin. Her upcoming roles at the Deutsche Oper Berlin include Suzuki in Madama Butterfly and, in new productions, Smeton in Anna Bolena, Polina and the Governess in The Queen of Spades and Nancy T'ang in Nixon in China. She is a guest as Thirza in new productions of “The Wreckers” at the Staatstheater Meiningen and the Staatstheater Schwerin.