Baritone Eike Wilm Schulte passed away on Oct. 31 at the age of 86.

Schulte was born in Plettenberg on Oct. 13, 1939. He went on to study voice at the Musikhochschule Köln and later at the Mozarteum.

In 1966, Schulte made his professional debut at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein as Sid in Britten’s “Albert Herring.” He went on to become a member of the Theater Bielefeld where he took on roles in “Die Fledermaus,” “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg,” “Zar und Zimmermann,” “Così fan tutte,” “Die Zauberflöte,” and “La Traviata,” among others. Here, he also performed in the German premiere of Gottfried von Einem’s “Der Besuch der alten Dame.” In 1969, he sang in the world premiere of Giselher Klebe’s “Das Märchen von der schönen Lilie” at the Schwetzingen Festival in the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen. Schulte went on the work at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden and the Bayerische Staatsoper for  more than fifty years. He performing 119 roles.

Schulte appeared at major opera houses internationally, regularly at the Bayreuth Festival for twelve years and at the Metropolitan Opera. He also made appearances in Brussels, Paris, London, Milan, Venice, and Barcelona. 

In 2008, Schulte received the Goethe-Plakette des Landes Hessen, the highest award of the Hessian Ministry for Science and the Arts. He was granted the title Kammersänger by the Hessisches Staatstheater in 2010, as the first recipient of the honour in Hesse.