Jolien De Gendt soprano

           In 2009 Jolien De Gendt obtained her Master’s diploma in singing from the Royal Conservatoire in Gent, where she trained with Gidon Saks, Marcos Pujol and Mireille Capelle. She was then selected for the postgraduate course at Flanders Operastudio (now International Opera Academy). 

She regularly takes part in masterclasses and receives coaching from Gidon Saks, Bart De Kegel and Nicolai Cock, among others. During the 2020 pandemic she took the chance to be coached by worldclass singers such as Kathryn Lewek, Lisette Oropesa and Jessica Pratt.

      During her studies, she performed such stage roles as: The Governess/The Turn of the Screw, Adele/Die Fledermaus, Belinda/Dido and Aeneas, Morgana/Alcina and Queen of the Night/Die Zauberflöte. For Lyrica Gent she won acclaim as the main role (Marguerite) in Karel Miry’s Bouchard d’Avesnes and as Blondchen in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail (both productions by Lyrica Gent). 

She recently sang the Queen of the Night/Die Zauberflöte in a production by CloseOpera and the role of Nadia in Léhar’s La veuve joyeuse with the Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Hervé Niquet (in Flagey and Concertgebouw Brugge). 

           She is much in demand as a concert soloist, with performances in Belgium and abroad. Besides opera arias, her repertoire includes the solo soprano part of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, Bach’s John and Matthew Passions, C.P.E. Bach’s Magnificat, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Mozart’s Requiem, Coronation Mass and Missa brevis in D, Händel’s Messiah, Donizetti’s Messa di gloria e credo, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle and Poulenc’s Stabat Mater. 

         Jolien De Gendt has sung solo parts in compositions by Joachim Brackx (the chamber opera La mort au bal masqué with Flanders Operastudio and the music theatre piece Maeterlinck with De Bijloke), Luca Francesconi (Sirenes with Flemish Radio Choir) and Natalie Dietterich (Choir Piece with the Ghent Singers). She has also taken part in a number of theatre productions, including at KOPERGIETERY and NTGent. 

           During the 2019-2020 season, she performed the role of Solveig/Peer Gynt (Grieg) at Concertgebouw Brugge with the Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Stéphane Denève, as well as the soprano solo in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at BOZAR in a production organised by international choral association A Chœur Joie. (postponed due to Covid-19 until September 2021).  

            Since 2018 she has been the project manager of her own singers’ collective, the Ghent Singers.