Michael Kraus was born in Vienna. After finishing his vocal studies in Vienna and Munich he began his professional career at the opera houses in Aachen and Ulm in Germany and the Volksoper Wien. He has also made many guest appearances at international opera houses and festivals in Milan, Vienna, London, Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, San Francisco, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Salzburg and Glyndebourne, among others.

He has collaborated with conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Christian Thielemann, Kirill Petrenko, Ingo Metzmacher and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and directors such as Harry Kupfer, Stefan Herheim and Calixto Bieito.

Kraus recorded the role of Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Georg Solti, and has subsequently made numerous opera recordings, including recording the title role in Viktor Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis. Kraus is also much in demand as a concert and Lieder singer.