Philipp Jekal, born in Dessau, received his first vocal training from Marianne Kaiser at the music school in his hometown. He studied voice with KS Prof. Roland Schubert at the University of Music and Theatre “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig, graduating with distinction in 2019 with a master’s degree in solo singing.

In 2015, as a scholarship recipient, the baritone studied at the Conservatory of Music in San Francisco under César Ulloa. He was a prizewinner at the 2014 Federal Singing Competition and was awarded the Advancement Prize of the Walter and Charlotte Hamel Foundation. He participated in master classes with KS Brigitte Fassbaender, Prof. Thomas Quasthoff, and Wolfram Rieger, and worked on song interpretation with Prof. Phillip Moll and Prof. Alexander Schmalcz. Additionally, the baritone was a scholarship holder and active participant in the Song Academy of the International Festival “Heidelberger Frühling 2014” under the direction of Thomas Hampson. His performances took him to the Munich Chamber Opera as Mr. Slender in Salieri’s Falstaff and in Dominik Wilgenbus’s opera pasticcio KASPAR HAUSER.

In 2016, the young baritone participated in the Accademia Teatro alla Scala and made his debut at La Scala in Milan as Speaker in Mozart’s DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE. Furthermore, in 2017, he was a scholarship recipient of the Richard Wagner Association Leipzig in Bayreuth.

At the Deutsche Oper Berlin, with which he has been affiliated since the 2017/2018 season, he has appeared in roles such as Hofkapellmeister in INTERMEZZO, Papageno in DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE, Dr. Falke in DIE FLEDERMAUS, Schaunard in LA BOHÈME, Fernando in FIDELIO, Melot in TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, Der Einäugige in DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN, Barone di Trombonok in IL VIAGGIO A REIMS, and Figaro in DER BARBIER VON SEVILLA. He has also prepared important roles in the Wagner repertoire, including serving as the rehearsal cover for Alberich in DAS RHEINGOLD for Stefan Herheim’s new “Ring Cycle” at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2021.

In 2022, he made his role debut at the Deutsche Oper as Sixtus Beckmesser in the new production of DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG directed by Jossi Wieler, Sergio Morabito, and Anna Viebrock. In the spring of 2023, he made his debut at the Ópera de Tenerife as Don Estoban in DER ZWERG.

His extensive concert repertoire includes major oratorios and numerous cantatas by J.S. Bach, as well as Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s The Creation, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.