KRISTIN OKERLUND studied at the University of Illinois and at the Conservatoire in Vienna. She is a prizewinner of several piano competitions and has given concerts with several orchestras. She has performed around the world as a soloist, in chamber music concerts and as an accompanist. Since 1993, she is employed by the Wiener Staatsoper and in 1992 received a teaching position and from 2000 her own correpetition class at the Vienna Conservatory. She has given concerts, among others, with Beczala, C. Álvarez, Berry, Botha, Weikl, Ramey, Shicoff, Zednik, Gruberova, Kirchschlager and I. Raimondi, Chamber Music concerts with Werner Hink, the Solo clarinettist Roger Salander and the „EnsembleWien-Petersburg“. She is the recipient of the “Golden Needle” of the Friends of the Wiener Staatsoper - in recognition of her reliable support of numerous events.