Voice

Parallel to her studies of Egyptology at the University of Montpellier (obtaining a Master's degree in 1989), Valerie Guillorit also obtained in the same year a First Prize of modern violin at CNR Montpellier. She then followed the teaching of Enrico Gatti in Baroque violin class in Toulouse for 2 years.

In 1991, she moved to the Netherlands where she received a First Lyrical Song Award (in 1997) in the class of Margreet Honig, and also followed the teaching of eminent professors such as Thomas Hampson, Elly Ameling, Carolyn Watkinson, Udo Reinemann and David Wilson Johnson.

Passionate about teaching and the special pedagogical approach of Margreet Honig, she became her assistant at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam from 2001 to 2004. She has been appointed singing teacher there from 2004 until 2017, from 2011 at the CNSMDP in Paris and from 2017 at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.

In 1997, after winning the prestigious Vriendenkrans Prize at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Jury Prize at the Lyric Art Competition in Clermont-Ferrand, she began an important solo career. She was regularly engaged under conductors such as Claus Peter Flor, Lev Markiz, Roy Goodman, Niklos Athinaeos, Jan Willem Vriend, Michel Tabachnik, and performed Benjamin Britten's Illuminations, Stravinsky's Puchinella, Villa Lobos's Bachianas Bresilieras nr. 5, Mozart's Requiem, Brahms's German Requiem, Franck's Seven Words of the Cross, Poulenc's Gloria, Handel's Messiah, Szymanovsky's Stabat Mater, Berlioz's Childhood of Christ, and J. S. Bach's Passions.

She performed at the opera in the Mozart roles of Susanna (Les Noces di Figaro) at the Opera Academy of Amsterdam, in the role of Bastienne (Bastien and Bastienne) at the Opera Academy of Amsterdam, in the role of Euridice (Orfeo and Euridice by Gluck) at the Opera Academy of Amsterdam, Delia (Fosca de Gomez) at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Zofia (Halka de Moniuszko) at the Tonhalle Zürich.
She was regularly involved in performing baroque repertoire and interpreted the roles of Drusilla (Incorronazione di Poppea of Monteverdi) at the Opera Academy Amsterdam), Belinda (Dido and Aeneas) Festival Vlissingen, Venus (King Arthur) of Purcell at the Theater of Amsterdam, Romilda (Xersès of Händel). She also played the title role in The Human Voice of Poulenc at the Theater of Apeldoorn.

She was a regular guest at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Tonhalle in Zürich, and festivals in Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, France and Switzerland.

Her attachment to the repertoire of French Melody (Debussy, Poulenc, Caplet, Ravel, Barraine, Cras, Jolivet) and Spanish Songs (Granados, Obradors, Sor, De Falla, Lorca, Turina, Rodrigo) led her to give many Recitals in the Netherlands, France, Switzerland and Italy, accompanied by pianists Paolo Giacometti, Irene Russo, Arthur Schoonewoerd, Frans van Ruth, Hans Adolfsen and guitarists Frédéric Zigante and Katona Twins. She also performs in chamber music with the Arriaga String Quartet.
She is a member of the Dutch Verso and Insomnio Ensembles dedicated to contemporary music (Le Marteau sans Maitre by Boulez at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam).

In 2008 she recorded with the organist Christine Kamp the works of Vierne for the label Festivo and in 2012 with the Ensemble Insomnio Le Marteau sans Maitre by Boulez for the label Encora.

Since many years she is giving masterclasses in France (Nice Summer Music Academy), Spain (Riuoms), Belgium (Udo Reinemann International Masterclass), Canada (Conservatory of Montreal), in Finland (Jyväskylä), Austria (Lübeck Choir Academie), Switzerland (Ins) and Germany (Hochschule Leipzig).
 

A short bio will follow soon.

After solid studies in organ (with Susan Landale and Odile Bailleux) and writing (Yvonne Desportes' class), Yves Sotin joined the CNSM in Paris to pursue studies in Music History (Yves Gérard's class), Analysis (Betsy Jolas' class) and Early Music (William Christie's class). In counterpoint to all this, he works on singing with Jeannine Collard (mezzo soprano of the Paris Opera), David Pollard (professor at Guildhall School), Richard Miller (professor at the University of Oberlin in the USA), Irène Joachim (French repertoire work including the role of Pelléas). Very quickly, and in parallel with his career as an organist and singer, Yves Sotin turned towards pedagogy (he holds the C.A. de Chant) and became passionate about the great vocal traditions (both those of the Baroque period and those that developed throughout the 19th century) and the vast repertoire related to them. At a very young age, he taught in renowned regional conservatories (Angers, Toulouse) and later at the CRR of St Maur des Fossés, as well as at the Maitrise de Notre Dame de Paris, and at the CRR of Paris, where he trained many singers, some of them very prominent.

In 2005, the Ministry of Culture entrusted him with the task of preparing singing teachers for the Board of Directors. In 2012, Yves Sotin was appointed singing teacher at the CNSM in Paris. He has led numerous singing masterclasses (Haute Ecole de GenèveNeuchâtel, Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, University of Angers, Lille, Poitiers, Salle de l'Institut d'Orléans, Centre Polyphonique de Bretagne...) During his entire career, Yves Sotin has been researching to increase pedagogy, in terms of phoniatry, speech and body disciplines and the history of the Bel Canto. He gives numerous conferences on topics such as vocal physiology, body postures and singing, the use of breath... He also gave a major lecture at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Genève on "Schubert's Song and German Romanticism".  In 2017, he gave a lecture at the Hector Berlioz Media Library of the CNSM in Paris on "Les Méthodes et Traités de Chant du Conservatoire de Paris au XIXe siècle". In 2018, he again took a course session in Geneva on "The art of castration and its extension into the Bel Canto of the 19th century."

Jan Vande Weghe studied at the Brussels Royal Conservatory of Music, the Leuven Lemmensinstituut and the Hochschule der Künste Berlin with André De Groote, Daniel Blumenthal, Frans Van Beveren and Hans Leygraf. He also participated in master-classes by György Sebök, Peter Feuchtwanger and Irwin Gage. In his activities as a soloist and in chamber music, he has performed at international festivals in Belgium France, The Netherlands, Jerusalem, Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina. He has performed as a concerto soloist with the ‘Brussels Philharmonic’, ‘I Fiamminghi’, the KCB Symphonic Orchestra, the Brussels Sinfonietta conducted by M. Tabachnik, R.Zolmann, D.Angus and M.Tilkin and in October 2003, he opened the season of the Flemish Symphonic Orchestra with a tour along the major Belgian concert halls as the soloist in Beethoven’s 5th piano concerto (“Emperor”).

He is a greatly demanded partner as well as a lied accompanist as in chamber music. He has accompanied singers from all over the world and regularly accompanies master-classes with celebrities as Sarah Walker, Tom Krause, Sir Thomas Allen, Jard Van Nes, Udo Reinemann, Alexander Oliver and Ann Murray. In 2000, he was invited by the International Competition Queen Elisabeth of Belgium to be an official accompanist for the Singing Competition. Subsequently he has been giving several recitals with the 3rd Prize-winner, the soprano Olga Pasichnyk. He also forms a regular piano duo with pianist Peter Vanhove.

The Festival of Flanders conferred on him the ‘Festival Award’, he was selected as a graduate of the Belgian Vocation Foundation and he was also awarded the ‘Maurice Lefranc’ prize. Currently he is attached as a professor to the Brussels Royal Conservatory, coaching and accompanying the singing department. He was also involved in the research programme with a study on the relation between text and music in Brahms’ Lieder. He has made several recordings for the Belgian Radio and Television Broadcasting and appears on several CD recordings, both as a soloist and as an accompanist. In 2004 the Belgian Radio Broadcasting ‘Klara’ devoted an entire prime time program to this pianist, performing in a live recital alternated by interviews, recordings and guest speakers.  He is also regularly invited as a jury member for music competitions or master exams, as well as a panel member for radio or television (Chopin’s birthday, Queen Elisabeth Competition etc.).

In 2006 his solo CD with the programme “L’Avant-guerre 1911-1914” (FUG 701) was released and has been warmly acclaimed by the international press.

Ilse Eerens is praised for her radiant voice, musical sensitivity and versatility. She enjoys an international opera and concert career with a repertoire ranging from Bach to works of the 21st century.

Ilse began her music training at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven and continued her studies with Jard van Nes at the Nieuwe Opera Academie in Amsterdam and The Hague. She won several prizes at singing competitions, including the International Vocalist Competition in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2004 and the ARD Musik Wettbewerb in Munich in 2006.

Ilse's recent engagements include:

• Her return to Munich Theatre as Sophie in Strauss' Rosenkavalier.
• Performing at the Salzburg Festival as 1st Lady in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.
• Roles at the Opéra de Lyon as Héro in Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédicte.
• Performances of Schubert's Messe in E-flat-Dur with the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks conducted by Riccardo Muti.
• Participation in Bach's St Matthew Passion with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.
• Bach cantatas and the St Matthew Passion with Ton Koopman at the Bachfest Leipzig.

Ilse Eerens performed several times at the Monnaie Theatre, where she performed roles such as:

• Oscar in Verdi's Un ballo in Maschera,
• Jemmy in Guillaume Tell by Rossini,
• Celia in Lucio Silla by Mozart,
• Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.

Besides her performances, Ilse is also active as a teacher of classical singing at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague.

French-Canadian critically-acclaimed mezzo-soprano Michèle Losier has been distinguishing herself on international opera stages with her rich voice, masterful musicality and stupendous stage presence for more than twenty years.

On stage, she is renowned for her mastery of the french repertoire (Werther, Les contes d’Hoffmann, Carmen, Béatrice et Bénédict, Benvenuto Cellini) as well as for her Mozart’s (Cosi fan tutte, Idomeneo, La Clemenza di Tito) and Richard Strauss’s roles (Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos).

She has performed in the world’s foremost opera houses, such as Opéra de Paris, Berlin Staatstoper, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatre del Liceu, La Scala di Milano, Bayerish Staatsoper, Opéra de Lyon, Opéra-Théâtre de Bordeaux, Dutch National Opera, Opéra de Montréal, Wiener Staatsoper, The royal theatre of La Monnaie, San Francisco Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Sydney Opera and the Salzburg and Glyndebourne festivals.

She has worked with prestigious conductors including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Alain Altinoglu, Mark Wiggleworth, Sir Mark Elder, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Andrew Davis, Emmanuel Krivine, Philippe Herreweghe, Kent Nagano, Bernard Labadie, Philippe Jordan, Daniele Gatti, Simone Young, Zubin Metha, Bertrand de Billy, Louis Langrée, Evelino Pido and Marc Minkowski.

In concert, her repertoire includes the major works of Berlioz, Beethoven, Chausson, Mahler and Ravel. She has collaborated with many prominent orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, La Chambre Philharmonique, L’Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Orchestra sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre Métropolitain of Montreal.

Michèle Losier is an alumni of McGill University and was also a member of the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, the Opéra de Montréal’s Atelier Lyrique and the Juilliard Opera Center in New York. She has been a finalist at the Metropolitan Opera National Council audition in 2005 and a laureate at the Queen Elisabeth International Competition in 2008, which led to a recital tour in Belgium and a recording of the Duparc’s Mélodies with pianist Daniel Blumenthal.

She can be heard on numerous CD and DVD productions, from studio as well as live performances.

She is a guest singing teacher at the Koninklijk Conservatorium of Antwerp and in September 2024 starts teaching as well at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel.