Born in Bayreuth, Ralf Lukas studied at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin, was a member of the Studio of the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and won the first prize at the International Vocal Competition in s’ Hertogenbosch (Netherlands). As a member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper Berlin till 2002, he sang major roles such as Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Leporello (Don Giovanni) and Beckmesser (Die Meistersinger), working with world renowned conductors.

Ralf Lukas made acclaimed débuts in 1999 as Wotan (Das Rheingold) at the Städtische Bühnen Münster and at the Salzburg Easter Festival as Melot (Tristan und Isolde) with the Berliner Philharmonic conducted by Claudio Abbado, going on to sing the same role at the Salzburg Festival under Lorin Maazel. He sang Wolfram (Tannhäuser) at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, returning two years later as Beckmesser, and made his début as Amfortas (Parsifal) at the Staatstheater Kassel. At the Staatstheater Wiesbaden, he gained great acclaim as Wotan (Das Rheingold; Die Walküre) as well as Wanderer (Siegfried). He sang his first Donner at the 2006 Bayreuth Festival, returning in 2007 as Gunther and 2008 as Donner.

Also a renowned concert singer, Ralf Lukas appears in Berlin, Brussels, Hamburg, Madrid, Munich, Paris, Rome, São Paulo and Vienna, and at leading festivals such as Montpellier, Lucerne, Rheingau and Schleswig-Holstein, as well as the BBC Proms. He regularly records for television and radio, as well as on CD. Releases include Fortner Lieder on Orfeo; Die schöne Magelone on Concerto Bayreuth; Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ (King Herodes) and Benvenuto Cellini (Pope Clément) under Sir Roger Norrington on Hänssler and Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder under Michael Gielen. His recording of Schoeck’s Cantata Op 49 under Mario Venzago was awarded the Diapason d’Or, and Liszt’s Christus under Roman Kofman received an ECHO.