Songs & Arien / U.T.A. trifft Milan de Korte

ISLAND
Songs & Arias / U.T.A. Meets Milan de Korte
Host: Torsten Krug
Friday / September 18, 2026 / 7:30 p.m. (Doors open at 7:00 p.m.)
Admission: 20 / 10 / 7 (advance sales plus fees; at the B.O.)

Some are classical singers from the Wuppertal Opera ensemble; others are singer-songwriters or jazz musicians. “Songs & Arias” combines music and conversation into an evening unlike any other: arias meet songs, jazz meets art songs. Musical worlds come together on equal footing. Live, playful, and in dialogue with director, singer, and author Torsten Krug. In our sixteenth edition, singer-songwriter and loop virtuoso Uta Holst Ziegeler—known as U.T.A.—joins forces with the young Dutch tenor Milan de Korte. The bar is open. We listen.

U.T.A. is the powerful-voiced Rhineland singer-songwriter and loop virtuoso Uta Holst Ziegeler. For eight years, through countless concerts both large and small, and with four albums highly praised by the music press, she has been captivating audiences with her music—a blend of soul, funk, blues, country, folk, and Americana—and her exquisite songwriting. As a one-woman band, equipped with a western and electric guitar, a loop station, and percussion, she plays her way into the hearts of her audience. Her extraordinary voice and her songs move the mind, the soul, and the body.
U.T.A. performs exclusively songs she has composed and written herself, in English and German. She also performs alongside her husband, actor Axel Holst, in various formats, blending music and rhythm with spoken word in a way that is both thematic and emotionally resonant.
Her album *ON THE WING* was released to great acclaim in April of this year.

Dutch tenor Milan de Korte completed his bachelor’s degree in Classical Voice at the HKU Utrecht Conservatory in 2023, where he studied under Selma Harkink and continues to study. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree at the Dutch National Opera Academy, from which he will graduate in 2026.
Milan de Korte has gained experience on major opera stages, including as part of the ensemble in Willem Jeths’ *RITRATTO* at the Opera Forward Festival of the Dutch National Opera & Ballet, as well as in the chorus of Alexander Raskatov’s *ANIMAL FARM* at the Dutch National Opera & Ballet and at the Vienna State Opera.
As a soloist with the Dutch National Opera Academy, he sang the role of Iro (IL RITORNO D’ULISSE IN PATRIA). His other roles there include Lindoro (LA FEDELTÀ PREMIATA), Harlequin (DER KAISER VON ATLANTIS), and Bell in the European premiere of NIGHTTOWN by Benjamin Perry Wenzelberg.
In addition to his opera work, Milan de Korte is deeply committed to the art song and oratorio repertoire. He regularly collaborates with pianist Alexandre Lutz Garcia, with whom he shares a commitment to expressive depth and musical subtlety. He also participated in a theatrical adaptation of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s IDOMENEO in collaboration with the Fika Wind Quintet.
Starting in September 2026, Milan de Korte will join the ensemble of the Wuppertal Opera.

Featuring:
U.T.A.
Milan de Korte
T.B.A. / Piano
Torsten Krug / Host
Sarah Prinz and Elisabeth von Blumenthal / Set Design
Laura Knoll / Dramaturgy
 

An event presented by INSEL in cooperation with the Wuppertal Opera.