MEDIA

Education

Originally from Belgium, the young mezzo-soprano/contralto Lotte Verstaen, began her musical education at the music academy of her hometown Tielt with soprano Catherine Vandevelde. In September 2019, she obtained the Master’s degree of Singing with the highest distinction at the LUCA School of Arts/Campus Lemmens in Louvain (also with Catherine Vandevelde). Subsequently she followed master classes with Maarten Koningsberger, Yann Beuron, Karine Deshayes, Daniela Musca, Roger Vignoles, Audrey Hyland, Rosemary Joshua, Alexander Vassiliev, Lisette Oropesa and George Ure.

whilst completing her vocal and musical eduction at LUCA, Lotte Verstaen was admitted to the MM Academy of the ROH La Monnaie in Brussels, which she joined in 2015. As a member of this Academy she repeatedly took part in concert projects under the baton of renowned conductors such as : Thomas Rösner, Mikhail Tatarnikov, Antonello Manacorda, Evelino Pidò, Andrea Marcon and Hartmut Haenchen.

Subsequently she joined the opera studio of the Opera house of Cologne.

The current season 2024-2025 will see her appearing as Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), the challenging mezzo solo part in the world creation of Barzakh and as Margret (Wozzeck). All three production at the Flanders Opera house. Being called laureate of the International Voix Nouvelles competition 2023 Lotte will participate in several concerts with orchestra or with piano at Théâtre des Champs Elysées Paris and the opera houses of Nantes and Toulouse .. amongst others. Upon invitation of L'Orchestra des Pays de Loire, she will take par in a tour with Sains-Saëns Christmas Oratorio.

Recent engagements

Lotte highly distinguished herself as a soloist with her debut in Verdi’s Requiem, alongside the choir of the opera house of Bordeaux. But as well in the mezzo-soprano part in La damoiselle élue (Claude Debussy) coproduced by the Flanders Festival, Prinz Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus) at Flanders Opera and as cover for the title-role in the world premiere of Bernard Foccroulle’s new opera Cassandra at the Monnaie theatre (director Marie-Eve Signeyrole/conductor Kazushi Ono). A theatre where she already successfully was cast as Olga in Eugen Onegin (directed by Laurent Pelly) and as Schwertleite in Walküre in the new RING (directed by Romeo Castellucci). The more she sang Madamigella Dangeville in Adriana Lecouvreur at Opéra royal de Wallonie Liège (house debut), Une jeune Galiléenne and Marie-Madeleine in La Vierge (Jules Massenet) at the Klangvokal Musikfestival Dortmund and Annina (La Traviata) at Alden-Biesen Summer Opera festival.

Previously, as studio member at the Cologne opera house she was cast in La Traviata (Annina), in Rigoletto (Un Paggio), in Nozze di Figaro (Cherubino) and in the « Ring for children » as 1. Norn & Flosshilde and Schwertleite) and sang a first role in the premiere of « Schnittstellen » (Das Kind). Further more she appeared in Die Vögel (Braunfels) as 1. Drossel , 3rd Wood sprite, in Rusalka and the 2nd Lady in Mozart's Magic flute. And, as icing on the cake, she made her role debut as Ursule in the main house's new production of Béatrice et Bénédict.

She combined her duties to the opera studio with first engagements at the Flanders opera as Dryade in Ariadne auf Naxos and her house debut at Concertgebouw Amsterdam as Feklusa in Jenufa, alongside the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Hilversum under the baton of Karina Canellakis.

Roles sung whilst trained

Paquette in Candide (Bernstein) under Patrick Leterme at Flagey Brussels (Festival Musiq’3), Louvain-la-Neuve (Festival du Brabant Wallon), Liège (Opéra Royal de Wallonie), Charleroi (Palais des Beaux Arts), Saint-Hubert and La Louvière ; Third Lady in Mozart's Magic Flute with Casco Phil led by Dionysis Grammenos ; Dinah in Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti under Ivan Meylemans ; Sorceress and Spirit in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas under Filip Martens. The more she covered the role of Dorabella (Così fan tutte) at the Brussel's Mozart Festival (and a few years later at Flanders opera there under Trevor Pinnock). At the MM Academy she participated ENOA-LAB's production A song for the moon. A kid's opera by Mathilde Wantenaar produced by La Monnaie.

Upon invitation of the Flanders Festival she performed Berlioz' Les nuits d'été together with pianist Peter Jeurissen. As soloist in J.S. Bach's Johannes Passion under Bart Naessens and Peter Ledaine with Ensemble Orlandus and Baroque Consort Euterp) ; Handel's Messiah under Dirk De Nef ; Mahler's Rückert-Lieder arranged for voice and string orchestra under Marc Tooten and Saint--Saëns’ Christmas oratorio under Filip Martens. Lotte has also a strong affinity with contemporary and 20th-century classical composers such as Jeroen D’hoe next to Frank Martin of whom she interpreted the cycle «Quatre Sonnets à Cassandre ». Competitions

called Laureate of the International "Voix Nouvelles" competition edition 2023 at the Paris Opéra Comique. In 2019 Lotte Verstaen reached the semi-finals of the 38th International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in Villach and was awarded with the Third Prize at the 52nd International Singing Competition of Toulouse in September 2019.

Cv-update : Season 2024-2025. Please contact the agency to get the most recent update of Lotte Verstaen's biographical details.