Olivia Vermeulen

Olivia Vermeulen

MEZZOSOPRÁN

Mezzosoprano Olivia Vermeulen has in recent years established herself as a versatile soloist on major international stages.

In April 2016 she will give her debut at the Berlin state opera under the baton of René Jacobs, singing a leading role in the opera Amor vien dal destino of Agostino Steffani. Other plans for 2016 will, among others, include Scenes from Faust (Schumann) with the London Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding and a tour with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer, performing Mozart's Magic Flute in New York (Lincoln Center), London, Amsterdam and Berlin.

In 2015 she gave her debut as Annio in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito under Christopher Moulds in Moscow. In Japan she performed in J. S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion under Masaaki Suzuki and participated in a CD recording of Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor, also with Bach Collegium Japan and Masaaki Suzuki.

In the 2013/14 season Olivia Vermeulen sang the part of Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro under Jonathan Cohen in a production by the Festival Aix-en-Provence at the opera of Dijon. At the Händel-Festspiele Karlsruhe and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam she received much acclaim for her performances as Almirena in Handel’s opera Rinaldo with the Lautten Compagney Berlin. Together with this ensemble she also recorded a solo CD of Italian Baroque arias, which will be released by Sony/BMG.

In 2012 she was acclaimed by critics and audiences alike for her Amsterdam Concertgebouw debut with the Radio Kamer Filharmonie under Michael Schønwandt. Another successful debut followed in 2013 at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, as Smeraldine in Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges, conducted by Tomáš Netopil.

The mezzo soprano appears regularly at international festivals (Opera Festival Munich, Musikfest Berlin, Handelfestspiele Halle) and on major concert stages, under Philippe Herreweghe, Iván Fischer, Helmuth Rilling, Marek Janowski, Peter Eötvös, Andrea Marcon, Franz Brüggen, Andrew Parrott, Reinhard Goebel, Michael Schønwandt, Andreas Spering, Alessandro de Marchi, Konrad Junghänel and Lothar Zagrosek.

Olivia Vermeulen launched her operatic career as a member of the Studio of Berlin’s Komische Oper from 2008 to 2010, where she appeared in such leading Mozart roles as Cherubino (directed by Barrie Kosky) and Zerlina. At the opening of the 2010/11 season at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow she took the role of L’Enfant in a concert performance of Ravel’s opera L’Enfant e les Sortilèges, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. Other leading parts in her repertoire include Ariodante in Ariodante, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Ramiro in La finta giardiniera, Idamante in Idomeneo and the title role in La Cenerentola.

Olivia Vermeulen studied singing in Detmold with Mechtild Böhme, completing her training with Julie Kaufmann at the University of the Arts in Berlin. She supplemented her studies with song classes under Wolfram Rieger and Axel Bauni and master classes with Andreas Scholl, Thomas Quasthoff, René Jacobs, Irwin Gage and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Currently she is coached by Magreet Honig.

In 2008 the rising star won the prestigious international 'La Voce' song competition held by publicservice broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk. The versatile singer’s artistry is documented on numerous broadcast and CD recordings.