Mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink received the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art in Vienna on Tuesday. The singer, who was born in Buenos Aires of Slovenian parents, was presented with the award by Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel.
Fink studied solo singing at the renowned Higher Institute for Art in Buenos Aires, Teatro Colon. Her path onto the world stages was paved by her winning first prize at the New Lyrical Voices competition in 1985.
She has performed with many famous orchestras including the Vienna, Berlin and London Philharmonics, and under many leading conductors such as Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Valery Gergyev, Sir Colin Davis, Hans Graf and Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
Her repertoire spans works from the old masters to those of contemporary composers. In 2002 she received the Preseren Fund Award for her solo part in Bach's Christmas Oratory in Ljubljana and for her series of Isaac Posch concerts in Brezice.
Fink's rendition of the Christmas Oratory was said to be "exceptional, full of depth, and emotional charge".
Fink currently lives in the southern Austrian province of Carinthia and is married to Austrian Ambassador to Slovenia Valentin Inzko, who is a member of the Slovenian minority in Carinthia
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