The Slovenian mezzo-soprano Mateja Potočnik completed her master’s degree with distinction at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin in 2018, where she had previously earned her bachelor’s degree. She began her vocal studies with Prof. Mag. Dušanka Simonović and continued at the Carinthian State Conservatory in the class of Prof. Gabriel Lipuš, graduating with distinction in 2013. She received further artistic inspiration in masterclasses with Krassimira Stoyanova, Bernarda Fink, Thomas Quasthoff, Anne Schwanewilms and Martin Bruns, and through collaborations with Wolfram Rieger, Matthias Samuil and Karola Theill.

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Among her early achievements are winning the Austrian national competition Prima la Musica (2010), her debut at the Konzerthaus Klagenfurt with the Carinthian Symphony Orchestra (2011) and her appearance at the Berlin Philharmonie in Rossini’s Petite Messe solennelle (2015). At the Musica Sacra Festival, she performed Mozart’s Coronation Mass in the Klagenfurt Cathedral (2017) and returned in 2025 with Haydn’s Missa Sancti Hieronymi. As part of the Ljubljana Festival, she appeared in 2017 and 2022 in the “Young Promising Singers” series with a recital in the Knights’ Hall of Križanke.

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During her studies, she performed – at that time still as a soprano – roles such as Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), the Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel) and Ernestine (Salon Pitzelberger). She was awarded the Zois Scholarship and a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia for her outstanding artistic achievements.

In recent years, Potočnik has established herself particularly as a concert mezzo-soprano and as a dedicated interpreter of contemporary music. In 2023 she appeared as a soloist at Berlin’s Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church with the Berlin Chamber Orchestra. The same year she performed Nana Forte’s vocal cycle Povodni mož in Frankfurt. In 2024 she was the soloist in Tadeja Vulc’s cantatas Noetove noči and Razdvom and premiered Lojze Lebič’s new composition Srce – uganka živa.

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Another focus of her artistic work is the development of new concert formats. Since 2021 she has collaborated closely with the puppet theatre Teater Štrik (Tea Kovše & Yves Brägger). In 2024 they appeared at the international puppet festival Pesta Boneka in Yogyakarta (Indonesia). That same year, Potočnik created the musical storytelling project Deklica gre na pot (The Girl Sets Out on a Journey), aimed at bringing high-quality classical music closer to marginalized communities.

 

Since February 2024, Mateja Potočnik has been singing Professor at the Conservatory for Music and Ballet Ljubljana, and in 2024/25 she also taught as a substitute professor at the Conservatory for Music and Ballet Maribor.