Born in Belgium in 1990, the young baritone Ivan Thirion was accepted into the Royal Conservatory in Brussels at the age of 17, where he studied under the Belgian baritone Marcel Vanaud. After completing a Bachelor degree in Brussels, he joined the Geneva University of Music where he obtained his Master with Professor Gilles Cachemaille. He made his operatic debut at the Royal Opera House (ORW) of Wallonie Liège as Papageno in Zauberflöte, which led to various reinvitations : Ogre in Auber's La Forêt Bleue, Gazella in Lucrezia Borgia, Tomaso in Un Ballo in Maschera, Marcello in La Bohème. But also in recent years the artist appeared in Liège as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor - next to Annick Massis in the title role and Celso Albelo -, as Lord Cecil in Maria Stuarda and Don Carlo di Vargas in La Forza del Destino (the latter as cover).

The current season 2023/2024 will see Ivan Thirion appearing among others as Fiorello (Barbiere di Siviglia) and Dancaire (Carmen) at ORW Liège and as Ramiro (L'heure espagnole) and Chat & L'horloge (L'enfant et les Sortilèges) in both the opera houses of Avignon and Tours. Furthermore he will embark for the opera house of Lyon to sing Somarone (Béatrice et Bénédict, Berlioz). Subsequently he will participate in Geneva in a significant concert performance and CD-recording under the baton of Guillaume Tourniaire of La sorcière (The Witch) by the French composer Camille Erlanger (1863-1919). A rarely performed "musical drama" in which Ivan will sing the role of Calabazas.

Recent engagements

Also recent engagements included Somarone, now at Genova's Teatro Carlo Felice (house debut), Matteo in the premiere of the French version of Christian Jost's opera Reise der Hoffnung (Voyage vers l'espoir - an opera after Xavier Koller's drama movie) at Grand Théâtre Genève and in the dual role of Messenger & 2nd Sailor in Nicolaï Rimski Korsakov's Tale of Tsar Saltan at Opera national du Rhin Strasbourg (also a house debut). To finish off the season he sang under the baton of Marcus Bosch, his very first Rodrigo, Marchese di Posa in a new production of Don Carlo at the Heidenheim Opera Festival 2023.

Further on, upon invitation of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the artist participated under Jac van Steen in the rarely performed Magnum Opus "De Oorlog" (The War) by the Belgian composer Peter Benoit, at both Vredenburg Utrecht and the Queen Elisabeth Hall Antwerp.

Noteworthy are his first Rigoletto – versions for young audiences - coproduced by the opera house of Rouen and the Paris Théâtre des Champs Elysées ; his house debut at the Opera house of Cologne as Somarone in a new production of Béatrice et Bénédict under the baton of the renowned French conductor François-Xavier Roth and his role debut as Nardo/Roberto in Mozart's La Finta giardiniera at Théâtre des Martyres, Brussels.

Flexibility

The artist's repertoire reflects not only his flexibility but also testify to his curiosity. He's equally at home in the most divers styles and roles : be it Golaud in Impressions de Pelléas (Debussy/Constant), Joseph (Der Schmied von Gent, Schreker), Sparck (Fantasio, Offenbach), Belcore (L'Elisir d'Amore), Ping (Turandot), Knecht & Wirt (The fiery angel , Prokofiev), Oronte (Médée, M. A. Charpentier), the Count of Toulouse (Jérusalem, Verdi), Grimbald and 3rd Man (King Arthur) or The Officer (In the penal colony, Glass). For the artist's complete repertoire, please click on folowing link > http://www.arien-artists.com/arien_artists_thirion_repertoire.html.

Streaming time

During the corona pandemic streamings, made possible by the Flanders Opera, enabled IvanThirion to present himself to a large public in his debut as Roderick Usher in The fall of the house of Usher (Debussy/Van Parys) as in the role of Albert (Werther). The year of living locked up though, finished in beauty thanks to the invitation by the Aix-en-Provence Festival to take part in Tristan und Isole (as Steuermann) under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle.

Ivan Thirion's election by Génération Opéra (GO) amongst the so called "Promotion 2022", including twelf of the most promising singers within the French speaking territories worldwide.

July 2013 Ivan Thirion was awarded with the "Wil Keune Prize for a young singer with real potential" at the 32th edition of the "Hans Gabor Belvédère Competition" (Amsterdam edition). The same year he won the 2nd Prize at the 6th edition of the St Petersburg Opera Competiton. He is also finalist of the 26th "Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers" at the Houston Grand Opera (2014).

During that time, Ivan Thirion was also chosen to join the prestigious Young Singers Project (edition of Summer 2015) initiated by the renowned Salzburg Festival. Within that framework he has appeared as Bartolo in a reduced version of Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Festival, sung with the Mozarteum Orchestra and taken part in a tour to China, including peformances at the Shangai Grand Theatre, the Beijing National Opera, the Xi’an Concert Hall …

Eventually he has been chosen for the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition 2017, being the first Belgian to reach the final rounds since 30 years.

From 2011 to 2013 Ivan Thirion was affiliated with CNIPAL the so called Opera Studio of Marseille, where he appeared in many concerts and opera productions. The latter in collaboration with other French theatres that proved fruitful afterwards such as the Opera Houses of Montpellier (where he sung his first Figaro (Nozze di Figaro), Marseille and Avignon where he sang Frank (Die Fledermaus) and Maharadja(L’amour masqué), next to Toulon, Nancy, Limoges and Bordeaux. Making himself a name Ivan Thirion was invited by the Festival of Radio France to participate in Benjamin Godard's La Vivandière. Subsequently he joined the International opera studio of the Zurich Opera House, where he was cast as Ping (Turandot), Lakai (Ariadne auf Naxos), Bello (La Fanciulla del West), Rodomonte in Haydn’s Orlando Paladino and Coryphée (Le Comte Ory) next to Cecilia Bartoli ...

Whilst trained and breaking through Ivan Thirion has repeatedly sung under conductors as Fabio Luisi, Marco Armiliato, William Christie, Kazushi Ono, John Fiore, Paolo Arrivabeni and Leonardo Garcia Alarcon ... and worked toghether with stage directors such as David Pountney, Giancarlo del Monaco, Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera, Andreas Homoki, Philippe Sireuil, Claus Guth, Marcial di Fonzo Bo, Waut Koeken, Simon Stone …

CV UPDATE : September 2023. Please contact the Agency to receive the most recent version of the artist's biography (or to get the short version).