Magdalena Kožená began her musical training at the Conservatory of her native Brno in 1987 and continued her studies with Eva Bláhová at the Bratislava Academy of Performing Arts (1991-95). Her professional career was launched with several international awards, including a first prize at the Salzburg Mozart Competition in 1995. After initial engagements at the Brno Opera House, she joined the ensemble of the Vienna Volksoper in 1996. Since 1997 she has been a freelance artist, making guest appearances at the most eminent international festivals and theaters. Among other roles, she sang Nerone in Monteverdi's Poppea under Marc Minkowski at the Vienna Festival and Debussy's Mélisande under Bernard Haitink in Paris. She also performed Gluck's Orphée with John Eliot Gardiner at the Châtelet, Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Nikolaus Harnoncourt at the 2002 Salzburg Festival, and Idamante with Roger Norrington in summer 2006, likewise at the Salzburg Festival. James Levine conducted her Met début as Cherubino in Figaro, and Simon Rattle her Glyndebourne début in Mozart's Idomeneo. One year later, in 2004, she again sang under Rattle at the Salzburg Easter Festival in Mozart's Così fan tutte. She was heard as Rossini's Cenerentola at London's Royal Opera House in the 2007/08 season. A much sought-after lied singer, Magdalena Kožená gives recitals on a regular basis with pianists of the stature of Daniel Barenboim, Yefim Bronfman, Malcolm Martineau, András Schiff, and Mitsuko Uchida. Her concert appearances have brought her together with eminent early-music ensembles and great international orchestras. She has won the Echo Klassik Award twice and the Gramophone Award three times and was made a Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2003.