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Soprano Rachel Harnisch became known early in her career as one of Switzerland's top Mozart specialists. In the 2010s she has increasingly turned to contemporary repertory, often giving premieres of new works, and she is one of the most versatile sopranos on the contemporary scene anywhere.

Harnisch was born August 1, 1973, in the Valais German-speaking town of Brig in the Swiss Alps. She studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany, with Beata Heuer-Christen as her teacher, and in 2000 made her debut as Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte in Bern, Switzerland, soon reprising the role at the Zurich Opera under conductor Franz Welser-Möst. Pamina has been an important role in Harnisch's career: she sang the role in a Paris production at the Bastille Opera in an innovative version by Robert Wilson, and again at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2007. She has also appeared as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro at the Verona Opera. Harnisch has appeared in other houses as far afield as Santiago, Chile. Her repertory since the late 2000s decade has stretched from Monteverdi to Kaija Saariaho, whose L'amour de loin she sang (as Clemence) at Antwerp and Ghent in 2009. Appearing in French as well as Italian repertory, Harnisch sang in 2012 in the world premiere of the completion of Donizetti's unfinished Le duc d'Albe. Increasingly often in the 2010s, she has sung contemporary music in concert, including Luigi Nono's Prometeo Suite and Michael Tippett's A Child of Our Time. She has also sung major oratorio and mass repertory, as well as Debussy's Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien and the Symphony No. 4 in G major of Mahler. She is also a frequent recitalist. Many of Harnisch's performances have been released on recordings, including 2018's live performance of the world premiere of German composer Aribert Reimann's L'invisible, on the Oehms label. ~ James Manheim

Conductor Donald Runnicles has been equally active in opera and concert music in Europe and the U.S. He has amassed a large recording catalog with the various major ensembles he has led.

Runnicles was born on November 16, 1954, in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father was a furniture supply company director who also played the organ and directed a choir. Runnicles attended George Heriot's School in Edinburgh and then moved to George Watson's College, which offered music courses. He studied music at the University of Edinburgh and St. John's College, Cambridge, going on for further studies at the London Opera Centre. He worked as a vocal coach in Mannheim, Germany, and became Generalmusikdirector of the city of Freiburg, Germany, in 1989. Runnicles soaked up the German operatic tradition, and he worked mostly as an opera conductor for the first years of his career. In 1990, he conducted Wagner's Ring Cycle with the San Francisco Opera, and two years later, he was appointed the company's music director. He remained in that post through 2009 and has remained active as a guest conductor. Runnicles made his recording debut in 1994 with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, leading Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel; that album appeared on the Teldec label, and Runnicles was associated with that label for many years.

After the turn of the century, Runnicles was active increasingly often as a conductor of instrumental music. From 2001 to 2007, he was the principal conductor of the Orchestra of St. Luke's in New York. From 2009 to 2016, Runnicles served as the chief conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He became the principal guest conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 2001, continuing to hold that position as of the early 2020s through the tenures of several music directors. Runnicles became the music director of the Grand Teton Music Festival in Colorado in 2005, and he continued to hold that position as of the early 2020s as well. In 2007, Runnicles was appointed Generalmusikdirektor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, assuming the podium in 2009; his contract there has been extended through 2027. Runnicles has a large recording catalog, much of it made with the above-named groups. In addition to Telarc, he has recorded for major labels such as Decca, Hyperion, and Sony Classical. He moved to Reference Recordings in 2023, leading the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra in support of pianist Garrick Ohlsson in the complete piano concertos of Beethoven. ~ James Manheim