Jie Zhang, who joined the Opera Studio in Thüringen in 2011/12, is appearing at Oper Frankfurt for the first time. Other roles during the 2012/13 season include Susanna in Khowanshchina and Marthe in Gounod’s Faust at the National Theatre in Weimar. This Chinese mezzo-soprano studies included periods at the Music High School in her home town of Tianjin, the Staatliche Hochschule for Music and the Performing Arts and the Opera School in Mannheim. In 2009 she received a prize from the „Città di Alcamo“ singing competition. After graduating in 2010 she continued studying singing Prof. J. Gleue and Prof. C. S. Osthoff in Mannheim and took part in a masterclass held by Prof. Rudolf Piernay in the Villa Musica in Mainz. Roles to date have included Marzelline (Le nozze di Figaro), Frau Reich/Mrs Rich (Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor/The Merry Wives of Windsor), Dorabella (Così fan tutte) and the title role in Carmen.