ARTISTS 2023

Aurélie Bremond

Soprano  

Aurélie did her studies in France : Reims, Paris, Avignon, then she studied at HEMU (Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne) in Switzerland where she has just finished her Master with Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet.

She won the Second price in the Concours International Bellan (France) and 3rd price and Public price in the Concours International de Béziers (France).

She already had the opportunity to sing rolse such as: Philomèle in « Le roi l’a dit » by Delibes at the Opéra of Avignon, The Princesse Laoula in « L’étoile » by Chabrier at the Opéra of Avignon, Susanna in « Le Nozze di Figaro » by Mozart at the Théâtre of Pézenas and Despina in « Cosi fan tutte » by Mozart at the Opéra of Lausanne. Next October, she will be again be performing on the stage at the Opéra of Lausanne, singing Giannetta in « L’Elisir d’amore » by Donizetti.

 Luise Breyer-Aiton 

 Lyric-dramatic Soprano

The British/German soprano was a young artist at the Greek Opera Studio in 2017 and made her Donn’Anna debut at the Aegean Festival in Greece. She recently sung at Welsh National Opera, and  dang her debut as Rosalinde at the 2016 Trentino Music Festival, being a Young Artist with the Opera Performance Studio of the Music Academy International and gave her role debut as Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos in Berlin. This follows a successful season at Grange Park Opera covering Ellen Orford, in Jeremy Sams’s production of Britten’s Peter Grimes, conducted by Stephen Barlow. Also for Grange Park Opera, she sang in Anthony McDonald’s production of Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades, conducted by Gianluca Marciano.

Luise recently changed from lyric mezzo to soprano and is now working with the American dramatic Soprano Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet, in the past with the British mezzo-soprano Anne-Marie Owens, as well as Peter Nilsson, Phillip Thomas, Michael Pollock and Jonathan Ware and Barbara Bonney in Salzburg.

This season, Luise will make her debut in Geneva at the Grand Théâtre de Genève in Nabucco, Don Carlos  and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.


Prior, she covered & sang the roles of Flora and Annina in a Jonathan Miller production of Verdi’s La Traviata, conducted by Phillip Thomas, at Dorset Opera Festival. Luise gave her solo debut as Lay sister in Puccini’s Suor Angelica with the same company, and she made her Berlin debut, singing the role of Junge Robbe in the world premiere of Susanne Stelzenbach’s contemporary opera Die UnterwasserOper. 

Her heartfelt passion for performances has led to regular concert appearances in opera, oratorio and Lied across the UK and Germany. Luise has sung in master classes with, amongst others, Rosalinde Plowright, Barbara Bonney, Sir Jonathan Miller, Diana Montague, David Rendall, Jeanne-Michele Charbonnet, Anne-Marie Owens, Rosa Mannion, Gerd Uecker, John Streets, Ian Partridge, Linda Esther Gray.  She has a bachelor degree in Music (voice performance) and Modern Languages  from Cardiff University, Wales.

A  qualified massage therapies, hypnosis coach, she created and established the VoiceRelease Massage and Hypno Massage and regularly works with some of the world’s leading opera singers.


Luise is the founder, General & Artistic director of Indemini Festival, which as been a childhood dream of her, now in its 6th year! Dreaming big! More to come!

www.voicereleasemassage.com

Bertrand Bochud

Tenor

 At the age of eight, Bertrand Bochud started taking piano, singing and organ lessons at the organ at the Conservatoire de Fribourg. After obtaining his teaching diploma in 2004, for which he received the prize of the Max and Axelle Koch Foundation of Lucerne, he completed his training with a virtuosity diploma - excellent mention with congratulations from the jury - with Michel Brodard at the Musikhochschule in Lucerne. After his with Tiny Westendorp, he worked with the Italian tenor Mirko Guadagnini in Milan. Guadagnini in Milan. In the field of oratorio he sang Haydn's Creation, Mozart's Requiem Mozart's Requiem, Hermann Suter's Laudi, Dvorak's Requiem, Donizetti's Requiem and several and several Bach Passions. He is also very fond of recitals: his repertoire repertoire includes several German romantic song cycles: Schubert's Die Schöne Müllerin by Schubert or Dichterliebe by Schumann. In opera he has performed the role of Rodolphe in Puccini's La Bohème for the Association and Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Juan in the Opéra des Champs-Elysées production of the Opéra des Champs, recently he played the role of Balested in La Dame de La Mer by René Falquet.

Since the beginning of the 2010 academic year, he has been teaching singing at the Conservatoire de Lausanne. Passionate teaching, he was called in January 2014 to a new position as a voice voice pedagogue at the Haute Ecole de Théâtre de Suisse romande, "La Manufacture".

Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet 

Dramatic Soprano

Jeanne-Michèle has established herself as a leading force in the German and contemporary repertoires. Having begun her singing Italian and ‘spinto’ Russian roles, she has naturally progressed into the more dramatic German soprano – and more recently ‘Zwischenfach’ – repertoire. Her intense stage presence has been widely praised by critics, with the New York Times proclaiming her a ‘spine-chillingly powerful’ performer. Recent career highlights include the 2012 release as the title role in Strauss’ Elektra with the London Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Valery Gergiev; Isolde in Geneva (on DVD), Madrid, Teatro San Carlo, Naples, and Dallas; the title role of Ariane et Barbe-bleue in Barcelona (on DVD) and Dijon; Judith in Bluebeard’s Castle for Nantes, Angers, and Paris; Leonore in Fidelio at the Teatro San Carlo; Katerina Izmailova in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk for the Florence May Festival (on DVD) and Teatro Municipal de Santiago; Goneril in King Lear for Frankfurt, Elektra for Deutsche Oper Berlin, Edinburgh International Festival, and LSO under Maestro Valery Gergiev; and Cassandre in Les Troyens for Opéra National de Paris. In Europe, Charbonnet has appeared at major opera houses including the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona; La Monnaie, Brussels; Opéra National de Paris; Teatro Real, Madrid; Oper Frankfurt; Opéra National de Bordeaux; Deutsche Oper Berlin; Teatro Comunale di Firenze; Teatro La Fenice, Teatro San Carlo; Opéra National du Rhin; Bregenz Festival. Her major roles include Ortrud in Lohengrin (Frankfurt, Dallas Opera, and Teatro Municipal de Santiago); Kundry in Parsifal (Opéra National du Rhin, Zatertag Matinée, Amsterdam); Venus in Tannhäuser (Grand Théâtre de Genève, Théâtre du Capitole deToulouse); Sieglinde in Die Walküre (Metropolitan Opera, Teatro Real, Madrid, and Dallas Opera); Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen (Opéra National du Rhin, Teatro Real, Madrid), Kostelnicka in Jenufa (La Monnaie, Brussels), Senta in Der Fleigende Holländer (Teatro Comunale, Bologna, San Francisco Opera, Ópera Colorado, La Fenice). Her portrayal of Isolde was described in Opera magazine as ‘every inch the passionate Irish princess, at first a bundle of fury, then wholly possessed by the love potion. Her soprano smouldered hotly below, blazed thrillingly on high.’ In total Ms. Charbonnet has performed well over 75 lead roles. Charbonnet’s concert repertoire includes Schoenberg’s Erwartung with Jukka-Pekka Saraste in Cologne(CD), Royal BBC Orchestra Scotland with Matthias Pintscher, in Holland with Susanna Mälkki, and Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass with Pierre Boulez at the BBC Proms.

www.JeanneMicheleCharbonnet.com

Fabian Homburg

Baritone 

Dutch Bass-Baritone born and raised in Ede, the Netherlands.

Previous studies at Conservatorium Maastricht and Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Now studying at the Dutch National Opera Academy with Jeanne- Michele Charbonnet and Marcel Boone.

Performance credits include Verdi Rigoletto (Uschiere) at Opera Zuid, and concerts with repertoire by Bach, Händel, Haydn & Mozart in The Netherlands. Last year included a debut in Het Concertgebouw and TivoliVredenburg with the Nederlands Kamerorkest..

Awards include Jury & Audience Prize Music Awards Maastricht, Semi-finalist the

Opera Crown Tbilisi and Prinses Christina Concours.

DNOA roles include Krenek What price confidence (Edwin), Haydn L’isola disabitata (Enrico), Rossini La scala di seta (Germano) Mozart La finta giardiniera (Roberto/Nardo).

Hugo Kampschreur

Tenor

Hugo Kampschreur is a 26 year old tenor studying at the Dutch National Opera Academy. He recently started working with Jeanne-Michéle as his voice teacher after studying with Selma Harkink during his Bachelor at the Utrecht Conservatory. Hugo has enjoyed Masterclasses from among others Margreet Honig, Rebecca Rota, Floris Visser, Peter Kooij and Kirsten Schötteldreier.

In the 2022/2023 season Hugo will be seen as Belfiore in Finta Gardiniera from Mozart and Gernando in L’isola disabitata from Haydn both at the DNOA. In September 2023 Hugo will make his debut with the Nederlandse Reisopera as der Junge Mensch in Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane. Prior to starting at the conservatory Hugo was a competitive athlete spending more then 20 hours a week on the tenniscourt. Hugo is also certified sportsmasseur and personal trainer.

Lydia Opilik 

Mezzo Soprano

The mezzo-soprano Lydia Opilik, who grew up in Schwyz, first studied violin at the hslu Lucerne, where she graduated with a teaching diploma in 2007. She then studied singing at the zhdk Zurich with Lena Hauser and Lina Akerlund. In summer 2009 she finished her studies with a concert diploma. Afterwards Lydia Opilik studied in the class of Sasja Hunnego at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and was a member of the DNOA Basisklas. Lydia Opilik has already attended many renowned master classes, such as the IVAI Tel Aviv programme. She has had courses with Margreet Honig (Amsterdam), Ira Siff (New York), Emma Kirkby (GB), Mainard Kraak (Utrecht), Jeff Cohen (Paris), Rudolf Jansen (Amsterdam) and Bodil Gumoes (Copenhagen), among others. Lydia Opilik works as a freelance soprano and appears regularly as a soloist in secular and sacred concerts, operas and recitals. She is a member of various chamber music formations and forms a permanent song duo with the pianist Anna Bertogna. Furthermore, this year she is the winner of the Atelier Scholarship in New York of the cantons of Central Switzerland. In 2012 she was a finalist of the Grachtenfestivalconcours Amsterdam and in 2009 she was a laureate of the Förderpreis of the Friedl-Wald-Stiftung (Basel). Lydia Opilik is a prize-winner of the "International Othmar Schoeck Competition for Lied Duo" in Brunnen.

Cristina Pharo 

Coloratura Soprano 

Cristina Pharo is a British born soprano with a scientific background in pharmaceuticals; specialising particularly in the areas of antiretroviral research, multiple sclerosis and Class III Medical Devices.  

Cristina started singing approximately 15 years ago and is a lyric coloratura soprano.  She currently studies with Jeanne-Michele Charbonnet as well as at the In Opera Academy in Milan. Like many singers Cristina has not been able to perform during the Covid-19 pandemic, however, before that Cristina was the main soprano soloist with the Gavina Philarmonic in Voghera and had undertaken various roles such as Annina from La Traviata (Verdi) and Anna from Nabucco (Verdi) both at Teatro di Garlasco and Santuzza from Cavelleria Rusticana (Mascagni) (au plein air in Voghera) along with various Oratorio performances and other concerts. Cristina annually participates in the Indemini Festival and has attended this outstanding course from the first year it was introduced.  

Amanda Simms

Soprano 

 Amanda Simms, is a recent graduate of the Peabody Institute for her Graduate Performance Diploma where she is a recipient of the George Castelle Memorial Award and the Artistic Excellence Scholarship. Amanda will attend SongFest 2023 as a recipient of the 2023 Brown Loranger Fellowship Full Scholarship.

Most recently, Amanda was the Soprano Soloist in the Mozart Requiem with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra. She won Third Prize in the Partners for the Arts Competition and was a finalist in the Career Bridges Grant Award. In the 2022/23 season, Amanda also performed Cendrillon in Massenet’s Cendrillon with the Peabody Opera and won the Spirit of Camille award at the 2022 Camille Coloratura Awards. Also in 2022, she made her soloist debut with Bach in Baltimore.

In the 2021/22 season, Amanda Simms was a finalist in the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition and the Sylvia Green Vocal Competition, and a semi-finalist in the Gerda Lissner Art Song Competition. She performed Rhoda in Rhoda and the Fossil Hunt under direction of librettist Eric Einhorn, with the Peabody Opera in collaboration with the Maryland Science Center.

Lydia Späti

Soprano

The Swiss soprano Lydia Späti began her musical education at a young age at the Conservatory of Winterthur, where she completed a preliminary study program at the same time as obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Law. Her passion for music then led her to the Hauté Ecole de Musique in Lausanne, where she attained a Master's degree in classical singing in 2019. After her studies, she continued her vocal development in collaboration with Jeanne-Michele Charbonnet and changed her vocal register from mezzo to soprano.

The young artist recently sang her debut of Miss Jessel in B. Britten’s “The turn of the screw” at the 2023 Trentino Music Festival. For two seasons, Lydia was engaged as a soloist at the Opera of Lausanne in the „Atélier pour le Jeune Public“, a program for children (2019-2021). Within this framework, she interpreted various roles such as A. Dvorak’s Rusalka. At the Opera of Lausanne, she sang the role of Irene la de Pinto in Doña Francisquita (2020) and in October 2021 she interpreted the role of the Mère in the world premiere of the opera „Le petit Chaperon Rouge“ by the Swiss composer Guy-François Leuenberger.

Apart from opera, the young soprano is interested in the genre of lied and songs as well as operetta. Thus, she has already performed with various formations, ensembles and artists with her own programs. In May 2018 she won the Concours Mahler, a lied competition in Geneva.

Theodor Uggla 

Tenor

Swedish lyric tenor Theodor Uggla is currently studying at the Dutch National Opera Academy in Amsterdam, being generously supported by Geoff and Val Richards, after graduating with distinction from Royal College of Music, London where he was a “Their Serene Highnesses Dr Prince Donatus and Princess Heidi Von Hohenzollern” Scholar. Theodor was also one of the recipients of Anders Walls Confidencen-scholarship in 2019.

During the second year of studying his Bachelor in Performance at Malmö Academy of Music, the autumn of 2017, Theodor made his operatic debut at Wermland Opera where he sang the role of Nicolio in their production of Bohuslav Martinůs opera “The Greek Passion”. Since then he’s performed several main roles such as Tamino in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” and Dorvil in Rossini’s “La Scala di Seta” as well as sung parts in several sacred works, among them the Evangelist in S:t John’s Passion by J. S. Bach.

The summer of 2018 he was invited by the Swedish Royal Court to sing songs written by the Swedish Royal Family during the 200 year anniversary of the Swedish Royal Family in Pau (France).

Theodor will during the next year perform in 4 opera productions at Dutch National Opera Academy, and he also looks forward to other concert and oratorio work, something he enjoys greatly.

Theodor is represented by Svanholm Artists.

Cornelia Zink

Soprano

Cornelia Zink studied at the Mozarteum Salzburg, was subsequently engaged in the ensemble of the Cottbus State Theatre and since 2014 has been a repeated freelance guest at the Hamburg State Opera, the Gärtnerplatztheater Munich, Hanover State Opera, Braunschweig State Theatre, Komische Oper Berlin and Mannheim National Theatre, among others. Since the 21/22 season she has been engaged at the Mecklenburg State Theatre in Schwerin, where she will sing Agathe and Duchess in the coming season.

Important roles of her career so far are Lucia di Lammermoor, Gretel, Musetta, Cunegonde (Candide), Schöne Helena, Antonia(Hoffmann), Helmwige, Woglinde, Wellgunde and Violetta (Traviata). In addition to the classical repertoire, Cornelia Zink has already sung several world premieres, including the second opera by female composers: "Liliom" by Johanna Doderer at the Gärtnerplatztheater in Munich in 2016 and "Wölfe" by Helena Tulve at the Staatstheater Schwerin in 2022.

In addition to her concert activities, the complete CD recordings of Ziehrer's "Die drei Wünsche" (2008) and Zeller's "Der Obersteiger" (2009) were made at the Schönbrunn Palace Theatre in Vienna and a CD and DVD of "Der Bettelstudent" at the Mörbisch Lake Festival in 2013 and the DVD of "Der Vogelhändler" with Cornelia Zink in the leading female roles in 2017.

www.cornelia-zink.de

Peter Nilsson

Pianist

 is a vocal coach and Head of Musical Studies at Dutch National Opera Academy (Den Haag/Amsterdam), and a regular guest with the Broadcast Choir and the Netherlands Opera. He has worked closely with Yves Abel, Marc Albrecht, Daniele Callegari, Paolo Carignani, Riccardo Frizza, Hartmut Haenchen, Ingo Metzmacher, Yannick Nézet- Séguin, Julian Reynolds, Carlo Rizzi, and Mark Wigglesworth. 

Peter is also an active accompanist for vocal master-classes, including Roberta Alexander, Elly Ameling, Diane Forlano, Hartmut Haenchen, Jard van Nes, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Charlotte Margiono, Nelly Miricioiu, and both series of Masterclasses given by Dame Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh. Peter is also an active accompanist for vocal master-classes, including Roberta Alexander, Elly Ameling, Diane Forlano, Hartmut Haenchen, Jard van Nes, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Charlotte Margiono, Nelly Miricioiu, & both series of Masterclasses given by Dame Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh. 

Fernando Martín-Peñasco 

Pianist

graduated with distinction in classical piano from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, where he studied under Professor Peter Bithell (solo performance) and Pamela Lidiard (lied accompaniment). He then continued his répétiteur  studies with the Staatsoper Unter den Linden conductors Alexander Vitlin and David Robert Coleman at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, where he also took part in masterclasses with Sir Donald Runnicles and Alexander Merzyn. From season 2021/22 Fernando is a member of the Internationales Opernstudio – Opernhaus Zürich.