This Belgian baritone studied at the Brussels Conservatory and the Geneva University of Music, and trained at CNIPAL and the Opera Studio Zurich.

His recent engagements include the role of Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore, produced by "Opera Bergen" (Norway); Wagner in Faust ; Don Pedro de Hinoyosa in La Périchole and Albert (Werther), all three at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège. He also made his debut as Guglielmo in Puccini’s Le Villi at Operazuid Maastricht and as David in Mascagni’s L’Amico Fritz at the OpusOpéra Festival alongside the Symphony Orchestra of the Opera Nice Côte d’Azur.

In the near future, Ivan Thirion will appear as Marcello in La Bohème at the Alden-Biesen Summer Opera Festival and as Taddeo in L’Italiana in Algeri at the OpusOpera Festival in Nice. Following this, he will appear as Ramiro in L'Heure espagnole and as Captain Jones in the world premiere of Andrea Battistoni's Zombie Opera, both at the Opéra royal de Wallonie Liège.

In early 2027, he will once again perform the role of Joseph in Franz Schreker's Der Schmied von Gent at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen.

Also noteworthy: his participation at Victoria Hall Geneva, as Calabazas in the concert performance and CD-recording led by M° Guillaume Tourniaire baton, of the rarely performed opera La sorcière (The Witch) by the French composer Camille Erlanger (1863-1919).

Ivan Thirion got lavish praise as interpreter of Roderick Usher in The Fall of the House of Usher (Debussy/Van Parys), Joseph in Der Schmied von Gent, Schreker), The Officer in The penal colony, by Philip Glass) – the latter three performed at the Flanders Opera. Same success as Golaud in Impressions de Pelléas (Debussy/Constant), Sparck in (Fantasio, Offenbach), Belcore in L'Elisir d'Amore, Ping in Turandot, Knecht & Wirt in Firebird  (Prokofiev), Oronte in Médée (M. A. Charpentier), the Count of Toulouse in Jerusalem (Verdi) Grimbald & 3rd Man in King Arthur (Purcell) ... to namejust a few.

In concert, the artist performed with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor Jac van Steen at Vredenburg Utrecht and the Elisabeth Hall Antwerp, for the performance of 'The War', the rarely performed magnum opus by the Belgian composer Peter Benoit. He is also a sought-after soloist in Brahms' ein Deutsches Requiem, Berlioz' L'Enfant du Christ, Fauré's Requiem ... and the song cycles of Mahler, Ravel, or Ibert.

The artist has since sung under renowned conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Paolo Arrivabeni, Kazushi Ono, Fabio Luisi, Marco Armiliato, Massino Zanetti, John Fiore, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, Daniele Rustioni, Donato Renzetti, Daniel Oren, François-Xavier Roth, Giampaolo Bisanti ... and has worked under directors such as Klaus Guth, Andreas Homoki, Giancarlo del Monaco, Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera, David Pountney, Benedict Andrews, Barrie Kosky, Marcial di Fonzo Bo, Waut Koeken, Damiano Michieletto, Simon Stone, Tom Goossens ...

Génération Opéra (GO)

Ivan Thirion's election by Génération Opéra (GO) for the so called "Promotion 2022", including twelf of the most promising singers within the French speaking territories worldwide. A real present with the key to plenty concerts and recitals over the past two years. Awards and achievements

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.

CV UPDATE : Season 2026-2027 (April 2026). Please contact the Agency to receive the most recent version of the artist's biography.