Anna Maria Kaufmann

She grew up under sheltered circumstances with her adoptive parents; she never met her birth parents. She spent her first years in Germany as an aupair. She later graduated from a hotel management school. Kaufmann received training in classical singing at the Robert Schumann Music Institute in Düsseldorf. In parallel to her singing studies there, she had ballet training and acting lessons under the tutelage of John Strasberg and Clifford David. She achieved her career breakthrough in 1990 with the musical "Phantom of the Opera" alongside Peter Hofmann. She played the female lead role of "Christine" in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical in over 500 performances. In 1993 she was honored as the most successful German actress for her performance in "Phantom of the Opera" with the "Golden Europe" award from ARD and the "Golden Lion" from Radio Luxembourg. Two tours with Peter Hofmann followed in 1993 and 1999. In 1997, Anna Maria Kaufmann conquered the stage of Vancouver's Grand Opera House w