Zachariah Njoroge Kariithi was born in 1987 in Nairobi, Kenya. He started his musical training at the age of 12 by taking private piano lessons. He later joined the Kenya Conservatoire of Music, where under the guidance of his teacher, Gachigi Kungu, continued his piano playing and also started taking voice lessons.After two years he successfully completed the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music exams in voice and piano, which he passed with distinction and with merit, respectively. He later went on to represent Kenya in the World Youth Choir session in the summer of 2008.
Zachariah is a winner of several competitions. Zachariah is currently part of the International Opera Studio at the Hamburg State Opera.
In 2024 he returned to Hamburg and sang Le Dancaïre in Carmen.
Since the 2019/2020 season Zachariah Kariithi has been a member of the opera ensemble of Staatstheater Braunschweig and has already appeared there as Valentin (Faust), Ben (The Telephone), Marcello (La Bohème) and Eugen Onegin.
He sang in Rusalka, Papageno In Zauberflöte as well as in the title role of the world premiere of Wie dem Herrn Mockinpott das Leiden ausgetrieben wird.
Season 2017/18 saw him reprise the role Schaunard in La Bohème at the Staatsoper Hamburg.
2016/17 his roles at the Staatsoper Hamburg include: 2. Rolle in Immer Weiter, Il Commissario imperiale in Madame Butterfly, Un Officier in Dialogues de Carmélites, Moralès in Carmen, un Capitaine Grec in Les Troyens, Schaunard in La Bohème, der 2. Priester in Die Zauberflöte, the title role in Orpheus, Happy in LA Fanciulla del West, Ein Steuermann in Tristan und Isolde and Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Seviglia.
In 2015 he sang Un Sergenete degli arcieri from Manon Lescaut, Moralès in Carmen, Harašta in The Cunning Little Vixen and un Capitaine Grec in Les Troyens at the Staatsoper Hamburg.
Zachariah was a student and scholarship recipient at the Buchmann Mehta School of Music in the Tel Aviv University, Israel, and was part of the Adler Buchmann International Program for Outstanding Foreign Students since 2008.
He was under the guidance of Prof. Tamar Rachum.
Zachariah took part in all major School of Music productions, in which he played major roles, including Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte (Mozart),Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas (Purcell),L’horloge comtoise in L’enfant et les sortileges(Ravel),Baron Zeta in Die lustige witwe(Lehar),Don Giovanni in the main part of Giovanni (Mozart). The father in Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck).
Zachariah has taken part in important master-classes in Europe among which were ones with the famed accompanists Prof. Charles Spencer and Prof. Ulf Baestlein in which he won the 1st price-Nordfriesischen Liedpreis.
Zachariah won the 3rd price in the 7th Hilde Zadek International competition in Vienna.
Zachariah has also won the 3rd and 1st price in the Annual Buchmann Mehta School of Music competition in consecutive years.
He is also a Master’s graduate student from the Hochshule für Musik und Theater Hamburg 2013-2015. His voice teacher was Prof. Carolyn James.
Zachariah performed with the Buchmann Mehta School of Music Symphony Orchestra as a soloist under the direction of Maestro Zubin Mehta.
He, under the baton of Prof. Zeev Dorman, performed as a soloist in the famed Carnegie hall in New York. He also performed with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra and the Haifa Symphony Orchestra in several programs.
Zachariah was also a scholarship recipient from the Hermann und Milena Ebel Stipendium 2014-2015 and the Hamel stiftung Hannover 2015-2016.
Zachariah has taken part in important masterclasses in Europe that involved working with great artists such as Willy Decker, Bo Skovhus, Edda Moser, Renate Behle, Charles Spencer, Verena Keller and Ulf Baestlein.
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