Swiss tenor Mauro Peter was born in Lucerne and studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich. In 2012, he won first prize and the audience prize at the International Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau and made his acclaimed recital debut at the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg with Schubert’s "Die schöne Müllerin." Since then, he has performed regularly in Schwarzenberg and Hohenems and has appeared as a guest artist at leading concert halls and opera houses such as Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Brucknerhaus in Linz, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, the Bavarian State Opera, the Opéra de Lyon, the Opéra national de Paris, the Royal Opera House in London, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Theater an der Wien, the Zurich Opera House, and the Salzburg Festival.
Highlights of recent seasons included his role debuts at the Musikverein für Steiermark (today's Musikverein Graz) as Eisenstein in a semi-staged version of Strauss’s "Die Fledermaus" and his first appearance as the Loge with Concerto Köln in a concert performance of Wagner’s "Rheingold" conducted by Kent Nagano. He has also performed in New Year’s Eve concerts at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden under the baton of Christian Thielemann, operetta concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst at the Musikverein in Vienna, and Bach’s "St. Matthew Passion" at the Concertgebouw and the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. On the opera stage, he made his role debuts as Max in Weber’s "Freischütz" at the Bregenz Festival and as the Prince in Prokofiev’s "The Love for Three Oranges" at the Semperoper in Dresden. At the Kioi Hall in Tokyo, he appeared in a semi-staged version of Mozart’s "Così fan tutte" under the musical direction of Trevor Pinnock, and at his home theater in Zurich, he sang the tenor role in a staged production of Mendelssohn’s "Elijah."
Highlights of the 2025/26 season included his role debut as Loge in Wagner’s "Rheingold" at the Cologne Opera under the baton of Marc Albrecht. He also sang Zender’s "Winterreise" in Christian Spuck’s ballet adaptation at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. Mauro Peter toured as Tamino in a semi-staged production of Mozart’s "The Magic Flute" with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen under the baton of Tarmo Peltokoski. He also performed this role at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in the summer of 2026. Mauro Peter will return to his home company, the Zurich Opera, in the 2026/27 season with John Adams’ "Doctor Atomic" and will once again appear as Loge in Wagner’s "Rheingold" with Concerto Köln and Kent Nagano.
On the concert stage, in addition to recitals at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, the Frankfurt Opera, and Wigmore Hall, Mauro Peter will also perform, among other works, Mendelssohn’s "Lobgesang" Symphony with the Dresden Philharmonic under Martin Lehmann; Schumann’s "Das Paradies und die Peri" under the direction of Antonello Manacorda in Strasbourg; with Handel’s "Messiah" under Masato Suzuki, Bach’s "St. Matthew Passion" with the Collegium Vocale Gent under Philippe Herreweghe, Mendelssohn’s "Walpurgisnacht" with the Munich Philharmonic under Andrés Orozco-Estrada, followed by Mahler’s "Lied von der Erde" in Bordeaux.
Mauro Peter is deeply committed to the art of the art song. With his diverse programs, he has made guest appearances at venues including the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Prinzregententheater in Munich, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Verbier Festival, the Lucerne Festival, the Salzburg Festival, and the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan. During the 2025/26 season, he enjoyed great success alongside Louise Alder and Joseph Middleton with Hugo Wolf’s "Italienisches Liederbuch" at London’s Wigmore Hall and the Musikverein in Vienna. In September 2026, they will perform this song cycle at the Frankfurt Opera.
Following a live recording of Schubert’s "Die schöne Müllerin" from Wigmore Hall, his debut album for Sony Classical was released in 2015, featuring several of Schubert’s settings of Goethe’s poems, followed by a recording of "Dichterliebe" and a selection of other Schumann songs in 2016. Recordings of songs by Gustav Mahler with pianist Joseph Middleton, as well as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony conducted by Antonello Manacorda, round out his discography.