The vocal department offers modern and complete training in all aspects of singing and prepares students for the demands of a career in lyrical art.

Whether it be as a soloist, choir conductor or teacher, the students gain in-depth knowledge from an international teaching staff on both courses, singing and specialist choral direction. Supported throughout in their individual artistic development, they perfect their musical, linguistic and stage-based skills, and also their capacity for interaction in the professional world. 

Numerous Masterclasses and seminars given by figures of great renown in the lyrical world reinforce this teaching approach and lead to in-depth insights into the profession. With this aim in mind, our students regularly take part in the concerts and opera productions that thrive throughout the Genevan basin. These performances are regularly put on in collaboration with the HEM’s other departments, such as the early music department, the orchestra conducting classes or the piano accompaniment classes.

Our students also have the chance to add an international element to this experience on the stage, via the European Opera Academy, an exchange programme that the vocal department is involved in, and that offers targeted training in various fields associated with lyrical art.

The vocal department fits into a deep-rooted Swiss choral tradition, and for that reason it also includes a class on choir conducting and numerous voice ensembles, such as the chamber choir. The chamber choir is an excellent choir that performs challenging programmes, a cappella or with an orchestra, in collaboration with prestigious partners like the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.

Furthermore, the vocal department has forged precious partnerships with renowned regional institutions such as the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève and Genevan baroque ensembles.  These partnerships give rise to productions that enable our students to sing as soloists or members of the choir. A long-running collaboration with the Gustav Mahler association enables our students to gain in-depth knowledge of the repertoire of the Lied within the framework of the Mahler competition.

The HEM’s Chamber Choir

Historically, the choral tradition has always had particular importance at the HEM and in Switzerland more generally. The HEM’s Chamber Choir is one of the school’s permanent groups. It offers students in the vocal department the opportunity to tackle a demanding choral repertoire, requiring proven technique and vocal quality.  This excellent choir performs a cappella or with a backing orchestra, in collaboration with prestigious partners such as the OSR. The repertoire of the HEM’s Chamber Choir ranges from Renaissance music to contemporary works.  The choir has collaborated on the creation of several works by modern-day composers.

The Chamber Choir is currently conducted by the Brazilian conductor Celso Antunes.

The HEM’s Choral Workshop

The HEM’s Choral Workshop is one of the school’s permanent groups, aimed at providing a hundred students from every subject area with the chance to be part of an ensemble. The students are mainly pianists, organists and guitarists, but may also be students in theoretical branches of study, from the Music and Movement course, and a number of specialist singers.

Forming part of the ‘artistic community’ projects that shape everyone involved in the musical life of the school, the Choral Workshop initiates autonomous artistic projects and also collaborates on major projects at the HEM and with external partners.

Choral workshops for leading a choir

The choir workshops are applied choirs for students taking the choir conducting class.  They are formed of students of singing, along with external singers who help to swell the numbers.   Each session makes it possible to work on a new repertoire, which ranges from Renaissance chants to modern-day music. The workshop choirs feature in several activities arranged by the vocal department, such as the regular lessons of the choral conducting class, a masterclass on choral conducting, the conducting students’ exams, the choral arrangement classes, etc. These workshop choirs represent precious opportunities for the students of conducting to be able to work with a professional-level choir, but also for the singers, who have the chance to perfect their choral practice and tackle the key works in the repertoire.

European Opera Academy (EOA)

The HEM’s vocal department forms part of an important exchange programme between eleven European musical institutions: the European Opera Academy (EOA). This programme defines itself as a hub for excellence and aims to offer the particularly advanced students of the partner schools the chance to take part in various modules at one of the schools concerned, as part of an Erasmus or Swiss Mobility Exchange programme.

Studies

Teachers of major disciplines

Professeur d'accompagnement au piano instrumental et vocal

--  Emmanuel Olivier rejoindra la HEM à la rentrée académique 2025-2026  -- Emmanuel Olivier se produit en soliste ainsi qu'avec de nombreux chanteurs et instrumentistes à l’Auditorium du Musée d’Orsay, à la BNF et à la Cité de la Musique de Paris, aux festivals de Montpellier et d’Aix, aux opéras de Lille, Toulouse et Tours, ainsi qu’en Europe et en Asie. Parallèlement, sa collaboration avec de grands chefs d’orchestre tels que Altinoglu, De Billy, Eschenbach, Eötvös, Gardiner, Haïm, Harding, Nelson, Roth, le conduit naturellement vers la direction d’ouvrages lyriques (Mozart, Strasnoy, Puccini, Hahn, Vaughan Williams...). Un long et fructueux compagnonnage avec Jean-Claude Malgoire l’amène à diriger La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy à de nombreuses reprises, dans des ouvrages de Gluck (avec Philippe Jarrousky), Mozart, Rossini, Poulenc ("La Voix humaine" avec Véronique Gens). Après ses études au CNSM de Paris, il y devient professeur assistant d’accompagnement vocal. Il donne à plusieurs reprises des master-classes sur le répertoire français au Conservatoire Central de Pékin, ainsi qu’à la Musikhochschule de Karlsruhe. Il intervient également à Royaumont, au CNSM de Lyon, à la Universität for Musik de Vienne, à l’Opéra Studio de l’Opéra du Rhin et au studio OperAvenir à Basel, ainsi qu'à l’Académie Européenne du Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. Sa discographie comprend "J'aurai voulu être une chanteuse", "Le cœur en forme de fraise" et Qu'as-tu fait de ta jeunesse" avec Carl Ghazarossian (Hortus‌), "Soir païen" avec Alexis Kossenko et Anna Reinhold (Aparté), ainsi que "French songs" de Lou Koster avec Vincent Lièvre-Picard (AR RE-SE).

Marius Brenciu

Professeur de chant

Marius Brenciu obtient son diplôme de maîtrise (1997) et un Master en Art Vocal (1998) à l’Université de Musique de Bucarest. Dans le cadre de la même institution il enseigne le chant entre 1997 - 2000. Il participe à de nombreux concours et gagne de nombreux prix dont le 1er Prix George Enescu en 1999, Concours Reine Elisabeth (2ème Prix et Prix pour la meilleure interprétation d'opéra) en 2000, 1er Prix et 4 prix spéciaux au Concours YCA à New-York et le Concours Cardiff Singer of The World (le Prix du lied et celui de Singer of the World) en 2001. Il a travaillé sous la direction de chefs prestigieux tels que Claudio Abbado, Seiji Ozawa, Lorin Maazel ou Zubin Mehta, pour ne citer qu’eux, et s'est produit avec de grands ensembles internationaux. Il a travaillé avec des metteurs-en-scène comme Franco Zeffirelli, Peter Stein, Nicolas Joel, Giancarlo del Monaco, Karl et Ursel Hermann entre autres. Marius Brenciu est membre de la Commission artistique du Concours Musical Reine Elisabeth - section chant (depuis 2004) et membre du Jury (édition 2011, 2014 et 2018). Il est invité régulièrement pour des masterclasses en Belgique, en France et aux États-Unis.

Heidi Brunner

Professor of Singing - Audition and Competition Preparation

Native of Lucerne (CH), Heidi Brunner studied singing, organ, and conducting in Lucerne, Basel, and Zurich. At the age of 17, she was already an organist and choir director before beginning her singing career at the age of 28. Her first engagements as an opera singer led her to Biel, where she debuted in the title role in Rossini's "La Cenerentola." She then took engagements in Basel, Innsbruck, and Dessau. She performed at the Komische Oper in Berlin (La Cenerentola and Charlotte in Werther, among others) before being engaged as a resident artist at the Staatsoper and the Volksoper and Theater an der Wien in Vienna from 1996 to 2008 (where she performed roles such as La Cenerentola, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Idamante in Idomeneo, Die Sekretärin in Der Konsul by G.C. Menotti, Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Zerlina and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Nicklausse in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Sesto, Anio and Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito, Adalgisa in Norma, and the title role in La Périchole). In 1998, she made her debut in Monteverdi's "L'Orfeo" at the Opernfestspiele in Munich and the Wiener Festwochen. She reprised the role of Idamante at the Klangbogen Festival at the Theater an der Wien and performed at venues such as the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, and the Salzburg Festival. She has appeared in recitals and concerts at venues such as the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Berlin, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Santiago de Compostela, Milan, Pesaro, Lyon, Paris, Lucerne, Zurich, Basel, Bern, Lisbon, Frankfurt, Bergen, Helsingborg, Turin, and Munich. Her repertoire expanded with roles in Schreker's "Irrelohe" and Schmidt's "Notre Dame" at the Volksoper in Vienna, Hindemith's "Mathis der Maler" at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, Schoenberg's "Erwartung" at the Komische Oper Berlin and at the Musikverein in Vienna. She made her debut in the roles of Brangäne in "Tristan und Isolde" at the Amsterdam Opera and the Liceu in Barcelona, Marie (Wozzeck) at the Staatsoper Hamburg, Vitellia (La Clemenza di Tito) and Marta (Tiefland) in Vienna, Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) and Madame Lidoine (Dialogues des Carmélites) at the Theater an der Wien, Kundry (Parsifal) at the Teatro Regio Turin, Giulietta (Les Contes d'Hoffmann) and the Mother in "Kullervo" by Aulis Sallinen at the Frankfurt Opera, and Sieglinde (Die Walküre) at the Staatsoper Hamburg. In 2015, she made her debut as Mère Marie (Dialogues des Carmélites). That same year, she sang the mezzo-soprano part in Verdi's Requiem in Vienna and performed "The Seven Deadly Sins" by Kurt Weill in the Forbidden City in Beijing. She has worked with renowned conductors such as Marco Armiliato, Ivor Bolton, Thüring Bräm, Bertrand de Billy, Alfred Eschwé, Lawrence Foster, Gabriele Ferro, Leopold Hager, Friedrich Haider, Thomas Hengelbrock, René Jacobs, Philippe Jordan, Alois Koch, Ingo Metzmacher, Franz Welser-Möst, Hervé Niquet, Arnold Oestmann, Kirill Petrenko, Markus Poschner, Helmuth Rilling, Peter Schneider, Marcello Viotti, Sebastian Weigle, Simone Young, and Alberto Zedda. Heidi Brunner has recorded numerous CDs, including "Jubilate Deo," "Te Deum" by De Lalande (ERATO), "Così fan tutte," "Don Giovanni," and "Le Nozze di Figaro" (SONY/BMG), excerpts from "Tristan und Isolde," and a solo album with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Since 2020, Heidi Brunner has been a Professor of Singing at the Haute école de musique de Genève, where she regularly gives masterclasses. Learn more about Heidi Brunner      

Marcin Habela

Professor of Voice

Dr. Marcin Habela, a baritone, vocal professor, and researcher, is particularly renowned for his versatility in repertoire, innovative pedagogy aligned with the latest voice science advancements, and his extensive international professional networks. Trained at the Conservatoire de Paris, he won several international prizes that paved the way for a prestigious career. He has performed over 80 roles spanning a vast repertoire (including Ford, Figaro, Sharpless, Oneguine...) on major stages such as Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, Warsaw, Athens, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Bremen, Frankfurt, Lausanne, Almaty, and Krakow. He has sung alongside notable artists like R. Alagna, J. van Dam, T. Hampson, K. Mattila, L. Oropesa, P. Petibon, K. Deshayes in productions conducted by S. Rattle, Ch. von Dohnanyi, J. Tate, E. Krivine, A. Pappano, and directed by A. Arias, S. Braunschweig, M. Hampe, A. Serban, Ph. Himmelman, and S. Poda. Passionate about contemporary music, he has premiered numerous works by 20th and 21st-century composers in prestigious settings such as Warsaw Autumn, Sacrum Profanum, and the Malta Festival with ensembles like 2E2M and Contrechamps. His concert repertoire ranges from Monteverdi to Britten, with recordings for Radio France, TSR, SBB, EMI, RAI, Espace 2, Virgin, RTS, and SevenStarsSystems. Critically acclaimed for his creation of Raoul Wallenberg in Kingsley and Kunze's opera "Raoul," he received the Grand Prix du Public for best performer at the Mezzo TV International Opera Competition in November 2008. In addition to his operatic career, since 2014, he has gained solid experience in musical and experimental theater, and performs concerts with jazz, musical comedy, and symphonic cabaret repertoires. A vocal professor at the Haute école de musique de Genève (HEM) since 2005, he was head of the vocal department from 2011 to 2022. He initiated the European Opera Academy (EOA) and established numerous institutional collaborations at the cantonal, national, and international levels. Active in professional circles, he serves on the juries of international singing competitions (Ada Sari, Szymanowski Competition, Mahler Competition, ARMEL, Geneva Competition...) and is a member of various artistic commissions (Tibor Varga Academy, Geneva International Competition, European Opera Academy, MAAKSS). A renowned vocal professor, he is regularly invited to give masterclasses across Europe (Tibor Varga Academy in Sion, Lugano, Stockholm, Warsaw, Porto, Gdansk, Frankfurt, Oslo, Antwerp, Bucharest, Krakow, Paris, Hamburg, Athens...) and internationally (Japan, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Australia, Russia, China...). With a PhD in arts, specializing in contemporary vocalities, he leads numerous research projects, including in vocal pedagogy (improvisation, national singing schools). He fosters prestigious international collaborations with institutions such as the University of the Arts Oslo, Kapodistrias University of Athens, CNSMDP, Kazakh National Conservatory in Almaty, Astana University of the Arts, UFCM Warsaw, the neuroscience faculty of UNIGE, the medical faculty of Lyon 2 University, and Maastricht Conservatory. Particularly attentive to his students' professional integration, he maintains a vast international network (opera studios, casting directors, artistic agencies...), with former students like Julien Behr, Marion Grange, Mélody Louledjian, and Diana Lamar performing on prestigious stages such as the MET in New York, Opéra de Paris, and Deutsche Oper in Berlin. He has also trained a generation of pedagogues (Anna Maske, Gabriella Cavasino, Fabrice Farina, Davide Autieri, Magali Pérol-Dumora...) currently teaching at prestigious Swiss institutions. Learn more about Marcin Habela

Réginald Le Reun

Chef de chant et Accompagnateur

Stephan Macleod

Professor of Voice

Stephan MacLeod is a singer and conductor. Born in Geneva, he is the founder and artistic director of Gli Angeli Genève, a vocal and instrumental ensemble specializing in 16th to 19th-century repertoires on period instruments. He conducts between 40 and 50 concerts annually worldwide, with an increasing number as a guest conductor with modern orchestras, particularly in the repertoire of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries. Concurrently, he continues his singing career and has been teaching at the Haute école de musique de Genève since 2023, after ten years of teaching at the Haute école de musique de Lausanne from 2013 to 2023. During the 2023/24 season, he leads Gli Angeli Genève in numerous projects, where he also sings the bass solo parts: Bach's St. Matthew Passion at the Basilica of Vézelay, Bach's B minor Mass at the Victoria Hall and on a Swiss tour, Bach's Magnificat at the Bruges Festival, as well as at Musiques en été in Geneva, the Besançon Festival, and in Alsace, numerous Bach cantatas as part of Gli Angeli Genève's complete cantata concert series, Handel's Messiah at the Victoria Hall and on tour, and Mozart's Requiem, alongside concertos and symphonies by Mozart and Haydn during the ensemble's annual Mozart-Haydn Festival, where he also sings the title role in Mendelssohn's Paulus under the baton of Leonardo Garcia Alarcón. He will conduct the OSR in March in a program blending Stravinsky with Machaut and Gesualdo, the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra in a symphonic program where he also sings two Mozart concert arias, the Oslo Baroque Orchestra in a Telemann-Bach program, and perform as a soloist at the Festival de la Chaise-Dieu, the Berlin Staatsoper Baroque Festival, and in Leipzig with the Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Thomanerchor. He will tour with Bach's Magnificat and the Nederlandse Bachvereniging in December and Bach's St. Matthew Passion with Philippe Herreweghe's Collegium Vocale Gent in March. He will sing Bach's other Passion in March in Hungary and continue recording the complete Wind Concertos by Mozart with Gli Angeli Genève. Recent highlights include performing and recording the previously unpublished symphonie concertante for two cellos and orchestra by Anton Reicha with Gli Angeli Genève and cellists Christophe Coin and Davit Melkonyan, conducting the Philharmonie Zuidnederland in Bach's St. Matthew Passion, another St. Matthew Passion at the KKL in Lucerne with Gli Angeli Genève, a recital of Mozart arias at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, several Lieder recitals with Kristian Bezuidenhout, performing and recording the complete flute concertos by Mozart (released in 2022), acclaimed recordings of Bach's St. Matthew Passion (2020), B minor Mass (2021), Cantatas for Bass (2022), and St. John Passion (2023), as well as a Josquin disc in 2023. In 2019, he received an ICMA award with Gli Angeli Genève in the category "Best Vocal Baroque Recording of the Year" for the CD Sacred Music of the 17th Century in Wroclaw (Claves). Stephan MacLeod studied violin and piano before turning to singing, initially studying at the Conservatoire de Genève, then with Kurt Moll at the Musikhochschule in Cologne, and finally with Gary Magby at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne. His singing career began during his studies in Germany with a fruitful collaboration with Reinhard Goebel and Musica Antiqua Köln. This opened the doors to the world of oratorio for him. Since then, he has sung on the world's most prestigious stages, under conductors such as Philippe Herreweghe, Jordi Savall, Frieder Bernius, Franz Brüggen, Masaaki Suzuki, Michel Corboz, Gustav Leonhardt, Christophe Coin, Konrad Junghänel, Hans-Christoph Rademann, Sigiswald Kuijken, Vaclav Luks, Philippe Pierlot, Helmut Rilling, Rudolf Lutz, Raphaël Pichon, Paul Van Nevel, and Jos Van Immerseel, as well as with Daniel Harding and Jesús López Cobos. He has also sung in opera productions at La Monnaie in Brussels, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Opéra National de Toulouse, Opéra de Nîmes, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Cologne. Since 2005, alongside his singing career, he has also devoted himself to conducting, founding Gli Angeli Genève, with which he records one or two albums a year. Stephan MacLeod's discography as a singer and conductor includes over 100 CDs, many of which have been critically acclaimed. From 2013 to 2023, he was a singing professor at the Haute école de musique de Lausanne, and since 2023, he has been at the Haute école de musique de Genève. He balances his career between teaching, his singing engagements, his ensemble, and the growing demand for him as a conductor, particularly for conducting Bach and Mozart. He regularly conducts musicians from the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Philharmonie Zuidnederland, Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Purcell Choir, and Orfeo Orchestra, among others. Learn more about Stephan Macleod

Andreas Ortwein

Professor of Sight-Reading (for Singers) - Professor of Chamber Music with Voice (NE)

Denis Rouger

Professeur de direction de chœur

Denis Rouger est reconnu pour la riche sonorité de ses ensembles et la finesse de son interprétation. Il a fait ses premiers pas musicaux au sein d’une famille parisienne de musiciens et a ensuite étudié au Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris ou il a remporté des premiers prix en harmonie, fugue et contrepoint. Pendant 20 ans, il a été professeur et chef de chœur à l’Université Paris-Sorbonne et pendant 10 ans il a assuré la direction des chœurs de la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris.  Il est maitre de chapelle honoraire de l’église de La Madeleine à Paris. En Allemagne, il a travaillé avec de nombreux ensembles et a ainsi été invité à diriger différents chœurs de radio, le Balthasar-Neumann-Chor, le Chœur Régional des Jeunes de Bade-Wurtemberg, ainsi que l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Stuttgart. Des concerts l’ont conduit en Italie, aux Pays-Bas, au Canada, en Russie, dans les Emirats Arabes Unis et en Suisse (Festival de Lucerne). Il donne des masterclasses en Suède, en Bulgarie, en France, en Allemagne et en Suisse. Depuis 2011, Denis Rouger est professeur de direction de chœur à la Musikhochschule (Haute école de musique) de Stuttgart. Le chœur de chambre de la Musikhochschule qu’il a créé à l’automne 2011 a remporté en 2014 le premier prix au Concours choral international de Mosbach (Allemagne). En dehors de son travail de chef de chœur, il compose et arrange le répertoire mélodique français et allemand pour chœur. Les CD "Kennst du das Land ..., ... wo die Zitronen blühn (Carus) et Rencontre – Begegnung" (Carus/SWR) qui présentent ces arrangements ont été salués par la critique. En 2025 sortira un disque avec les œuvres du compositeur contemporain Philippe Mazé en coopération avec la radio SWR et le label Coviello. En coopération avec les éditions Carus, il a publié le recueil Musique chorale française qui s’est vu décerner en 2019 le Prix allemand de la meilleure édition musicale ≪ Best Edition ≫.  En 2016, Denis Rouger a créé le figure humaine kammerchor (www.figurehumaine.de) avec lequel il se produit régulièrement en concert lors de festivals de renom. À partir de septembre 2024 il enseigne également à la Haute école de musique de Genève. On devrait faire faire un apprentissage à chaque futur chef de chœur auprès de Denis Rouger. […] Même dans le plus grand fortissimo, le geste de Rouger reste rond. Une „technique de battue anguleuse“ n’existe pas chez ce magicien du son. Le résultat est un jaillissement constant de sons, différencié de façon très variée. […]Peter Skobowsky, Rems-Zeitung

Susanne Schimmack

Professor of Voice

"Sensational!" "First class." "Impressive!" This is how the press describes the performances of Susanne Schimmack. When the German soprano Susanne Schimmack competed in the Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 1997, she was described as "the Rolls Royce of voices." "Susanne Schimmack's Cassandra dominates the entire performance with her noble phrasing, intelligent interpretation of the role, and excellent French diction" (Opéra). Since then, Susanne Schimmack has successfully sung around 90 opera roles, including Turandot, Kundry/Parsifal, Feldmarschallin/Rosenkavalier, Marta Tiefland, Ellen Orford/Peter Grimes, Cassandra/Les Troyens, and Carmen/Carmen. Her engagements have taken her to the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the National Czech Opera in Brno, the Staatstheater in Mainz, the Nationaltheater in Mannheim, Opera Pacific USA, Arizona Opera USA, the Pfalztheater in Kaiserslautern, the theaters of Dortmund, Frankfurt, Chemnitz, the Staatstheater in Kassel, Dessau, Lübeck, Ulm, Trier, Wuppertal, Gera, the Dresden Music Festival, the Budapest Spring Festival, the Festival d'Auvers-sur-Oise in France, the Bad Hersfeld Festival, and the broadcasting companies BBC, DR, ZDF, WDR, and NDR. Alongside Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna, she recorded a complete edition of Massenet's Manon under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano. Born in Witten, Germany, Ms. Schimmack received her artistic training in the United States at the University of California, Irvine. Masterclasses with Martin Katz, Marilyn Horne, Professor Ellen Müller-Preiss, and Ks. Christa Ludwig in New York complemented her studies. She further developed her vocal technique and transitioned from alto to dramatic soprano with Ks. Martha Dewal and Ks. Ileana Cotrubas in Vienna and David Jones in New York. She made her professional opera debut as Rossweisse/Walküre with Arizona Opera USA in 1991 and her German debut as Erda/Rheingold. Susanne Schimmack was the first soloist at the Dortmund Opera from 1993 to 1998 and at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen from 1998 to 2000. She has worked as an independent singer since 2000 and has collaborated with renowned conductors such as Antonio Pappano, Thomas Dausgaard, Michael Schønwandt, Frank Beermann, Giordano Bellincampi, Laurent Wagner, and directors Sir Peter Hall, John Dew, and Heinz Lukas-Kindermann. Susanne Schimmack's repertoire also includes oratorio and lieder, particularly the great song cycles of Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, and Richard Wagner. She is a laureate of several international competitions: the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, the International Wagnerian Voices Competition, and the International Singing Competition of Paris. She received the Jessye Norman Scholarship from the Orange County Philharmonic Society USA and the Bajazzo Prize from the Dortmund Opera for her outstanding artistic achievement. Learn more about Susanne Schimmack

Clémence Tilquin

Professor of Voice

After studying cello and singing at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève with François Guye and Danielle Borst, earning two Master's degrees with Distinction, Clémence Tilquin embarked on a dual career in Europe and Japan. As a laureate of the prestigious Leenaards Foundation, she decided in 2010 to fully dedicate herself to singing and further honed her skills in London, Oslo, Brussels, and Milan. Soon, engagements began pouring in. The young soprano made her debut at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie as Papagena and later joined the young troupe of the Grand Théâtre de Genève. In 2012, she performed as Adina in Donizetti's opera in Austria, appeared in "La Fille de Madame Angot" in Liège, and portrayed the Princess in Ravel's opera at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. She also played roles such as Poppea in Monteverdi's works under Leonardo Garcia-Alarcon, Drusilla in Monteverdi's opera and Elettra in Mozart's works at the Opéra de Montpellier, Elvira in Rossini's opera, Gabrielle in Offenbach's opera, Frasquita in Bizet's opera at the Opéra d'Avignon, Brigitte in Offenbach's opera at the Opéra de Nancy, Lucinde in Gounod's opera at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Lauretta in Puccini's opera, Fiordiligi in Mozart's opera, Fannì in Rossini's opera, and Alcina in Vivaldi's opera at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées. In concert, Clémence Tilquin has performed Neukomm's Requiem with Jean-Claude Malgoire, Pierrot Lunaire by Schönberg and Dallapiccola at the Musiekgebaw in Amsterdam, Stravinsky with the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris, Mendelssohn's Elias and Rossini's Stabat Mater with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Sturzenegger's Anakrôn, Gounod at the Palazetto Bru Zane in Venice, Mozart's Comtesse at the Opéra Royal de Versailles, Saint-Saëns's Ascanio at the Grand Théâtre de Genève (recording), and Saint-Saëns's Proserpine with the Bayerischen Rundfunk in Munich. She has performed under the baton of conductors such as John Nelson, James Loughran, Wolfgang Rihm, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Emmanuel Krivine, Michail Jurowski, and Gabòr Takacs (Cinderella by Franck Martin, recording). In 2019, she portrayed Vitellia in Mozart's "La Clémence de Titus," Berenice in Rossini's "L'Occasione fa il ladro" at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, and upcoming performances include Mozart conducted by François-Xavier Roth, Strauss's "Four Last Songs," the role of Fannì in Rossini's opera, and Beethoven's "Christ on the Mount of Olives" in Montreal. Learn more about Clémence Tilquin.

Nina Uhari

Head of Vocal Department - Professor of Piano Accompaniment - Chamber Music with Piano

Born in Finland, Nina Uhari pursued professional piano studies at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki under the guidance of Matti Raekallio and Eero Heinonen. She furthered her training in Baltimore, USA, with Julian Martin, and later in Paris with Bernard Ringeissen. Additionally, she studied accompaniment at the Conservatoire National de Région in Rueil-Malmaison. Following her studies, Nina Uhari worked as a conductor at CNIPAL (Centre National d'Insertion pour des Artistes Lyriques) in Marseille from 2003 to 2012, where she became the principal conductor in 2008. Concurrently, she was a member of the opera role class at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. In September 2012, Nina Uhari joined the HEM (Haute Ecole de Musique) in Geneva as a vocal coach for the singing classes at the Neuchâtel and Geneva sites. She has performed in recitals and opera productions in Finland and France, including at the MIDEM Festival, Chorégies d'Orange, Théâtre du Châtelet, Festival de Radio France et Montpellier, Festival d'Aix en Provence, and various French opera houses. Her international performances have taken her to Germany, Austria, Spain, Colombia, Togo, and the United States. She has been invited to accompany master classes with renowned artists such as Tom Krause, Yvonne Minton, Mady Mesplé, Regina Werner, and Janine Reiss. Learn more about Nina Uhari.

Andreas Wolf

Professor of Voice

A young baritone with a confident voice and clear diction, Andreas Wolf maintains a steady career, primarily in Europe. His voice flourishes in the 18th-century repertoire but also makes some beautiful forays into the Romantic and contemporary periods. He began his musical journey in 1994 at the music school in Wernigerode, where he also joined the Rundfunk-Jugendchor (Radio Youth Choir). In 2002, he received a scholarship to study at the University of Music in Detmold under Heiner Eckels. He attended masterclasses with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Andras Schiff, Christoph Prégardien, and Thomas Quasthoff, eager to understand the respective methods these great singers used to achieve such a high degree of excellence. In 2006, Andreas Wolf joined the European Academy of Aix-en-Provence, which allowed him to grow artistically and gain wider recognition. Since his debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2007 in Monteverdi's Orfeo (conducted by René Jacobs), Andreas Wolf has been regularly invited by operas and major concert halls, working with renowned conductors such as William Christie, Raphaël Pichon, Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Bertrand de Billy, and Sylvain Cambreling. Although Andreas Wolf excels in the baroque repertoire, he also performs Romantic works by Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Hugo Wolf; he also sang in Schoenberg's Moses and Aaron at the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Sylvain Cambreling. In 2017, he participated in the creation of the Requiem by Dutch composer Willem Jeths at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Andreas Wolf travels across Europe on tours, such as a recent one with Il Pomo d'Oro, accompanied by Franco Fagioli. His growing discography includes Handel's Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, conducted by Marcus Creed, which was a choice of France Musique. Learn more about Andreas Wolf.

Portrait d'Emmanuel Olivier
Photo portrait du ténor Marius Brenciu
Heidi Brunner
Marcin Habela
Le Reun_Reginald
Stephan Macleod
Andreas Ortwein
photo portrait de Denis Rouger au sein d'un choeur
Susanne Schimmack
Clémence Tilquin
Nina Uhari
Photo portrait d'Andreas Wolf
Teachers of minor disciplines

  • Accompagnement au piano - Discipline principale MA
  • Rosa Maria Allegretti
    Diction lyrique : coaching pratique
  • Niel Beardmore
    Diction lyrique : coaching pratique
  • Mark Biggins
    Éléments de direction de chœur (pour les chef-fe-s d'orchestre)
  • Florence Boissolle
    Étude de rôles
  • Florence Boissolle
    Étude de rôles avec un chanteur ou une chanteuse
  • Marius Brenciu
    Chant - Discipline principale BA , Chant - Discipline principale MA
  • Heidi Brunner
    Préparation aux auditions et concours pour chanteurs et chanteuses, Chant - Discipline principale BA
  • Claudine Charnay
    Pose de voix
  • Alina Delgadillo Espinoza
    Pose de voix
  • Inês Flores Brasil Gomes Borges
    Pose de voix
  • Jean Gautier-Pignonblanc
    Atelier choral
  • Marcin Habela
    Chant - Discipline principale BA , Chant - Discipline principale MA
  • Juliette Journaux
    Coaching vocal
  • Réginald Le Reun
    Coaching vocal
  • Agnes Lörincz
    Chœur de chambre
  • Stephan Macleod
    Chant - Discipline principale BA , Chant - Discipline principale MA
  • Christina Mareske
    Physiologie de la voix
  • Marc Mayoraz
    Scène théâtre
  • Ioulia Medvedeva
    Pose de voix
  • Sacha Michon
    Diction lyrique : cours théorique, Diction lyrique : coaching pratique, Chant comme discipline secondaire
  • Florence Millon Krattenmacher
    Diction lyrique : coaching pratique
  • Sylvain Muster
    Didactique instrumentale (chant), Didactique instrumentale ou vocale
  • Andreas Ortwein
    Lecture à vue (pour les chanteurs et chanteuses)
  • Susanne Schimmack
    Chant - Discipline principale BA , Chant - Discipline principale MA
  • Clémence Tilquin
    Chant - Discipline principale BA , Chant - Discipline principale MA
  • Nina Uhari
    Musique de chambre avec piano, Accompagnement au piano - Discipline principale MA, Chef-fe de chant - Discipline principale MA , Stage pratique (MA Direction de choeur), Stages d'accompagnement (MA Accompagnement), Stages d'observation du métier de chant dans une maison d'opéra (MA Accompagnement Option Chef-fe de chant), Grand ensemble, Stages d’observation et/ou pratiques selon offre (BA direction de choeur), Musique de chambre (pratique musicale collective), Masterclasses, Séminaires spécifiques
  • Andreas Wolf
    Chant - Discipline principale BA , Chant - Discipline principale MA
Accompanists

  • Accompagnement au piano, Accompagnement vocal
  • Juliette Journaux
    Accompagnement vocal, Accompagnement au piano
  • Agnes Lörincz
    Accompagnement vocal, Accompagnement au piano
  • Ioulia Medvedeva
    Accompagnement vocal, Accompagnement au piano
  • Laurie-Agnes Pecoud
    Accompagnement au piano, Accompagnement vocal
  • Thibaut Trouche
    Accompagnement vocal, Accompagnement au piano
  • Kristina Yorgova
    Accompagnement vocal, Accompagnement au piano

Research projects

Events

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