Julie Gebhart 

Soloist

Julie Gebhart began her studies in the Conservatory of Valenciennes where she received a gold medal and a first prize in the category of advancement, as well as at the École Normale de Musique A.Cortot in Paris. She currently keeps perfecting her singing under the tutelage of Olga Toporkova.  

Julie has been a member of the International Opera Academy of Gent directed by Guy Joosten, which enabled her to perform in various theaters across Belgium in the roles of Eleonora from the opera Prima la musica e poi le parole by Salieri, and Euridice from the opera Orpheus by Teleman.  

She was chosen by the radio Musiq'3 as the artist representing Belgium for the competition Young Soloists of the French Public Medias and won the prize of the public.  

Julie has sung Mozart arias with the Liège Royal Opera Orchestra, Fauré's Requiem and Carmina Burana (Carf Orff) in the Bozar.  

In 2017, the duo Julie Gebhart and Pablo Matias Becerra was selected to be part of the movie Brussels swings promoted by Flagey and realised by Marie-Jo Lafontaine. 

Festivals include Eté Mosan with a program dedicated to Enrique Granados, the festival of Nancy, where she sang an exclusively German repertoire and the festival Les Minimes in Brussels where she performed Exsultate Jubilate of Mozart.

 

 

 

Lissa Meyvis 

Soprano

Belgian soprano Lissa Meyvis started her education in classical singing in 2011 at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, where she is taught by Stephanie Friede, Valérie Vervoort, Liesbeth Devos, Lucienne Van Deyck and Guy Joosten. In 2010 she was a finalist of the Prix Jacques Dôme contest and she obtained a first prize at Dexia Classics in 2011. In 2012, 2013 and 2014 she participated in the Performance Practices masterclass where she worked with renowned teachers like Ann Rodiger, John Norris, Thomas Michael Allen and Abbie Furmansky. There the idea rose to develop “Ode an die Freunde”, a light classical program with Alexandra Franck, Jokke Martens and Lester Van Loock. Suitable for concert halls as well as living rooms the four friends already performed on over fourty occasions, with many more to come. 

In July 2015 she sang the role of Genevieve in Suor Angelica, organized by Greek Opera Studio, as well as the soprano solo in Mozart’s Coronation Mass. Fall 2015 she participated as a choir member in Tannhäuser by Kunsthuis Opera Ballet Vlaanderen and was she cast to sing Zerlina from Don Giovanni in Berlin fall 2015. Spring 2016 Lissa Meyvis performed as Papagena in a production of the Magic Flute as well as Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel. July 2016 she sang the part of Susanna in Greek Opera Studio’s Le Nozze di Figaro. May 2017 she sang Clorinda in Madrigals, a Dutch National Opera Talent production.

 

 

 

Anne Cambier 

Soprano

Anne Cambier Soprano Anne Cambier practices the three major disciplines of song, opera and oratorio, and has already built up an impressive and varied career.

 

After her training at the Royal Music Conservatory of Ghent (Belgium), Anne Cambier further developed her abilities with Noëlle Barker at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. At the same time she followed masterclasses with Suzanne Danco, Hugues Quenod, Thomas Hampson, Geoffrey Parsons, Thomas Hemsley, Graham Johnson, Paul Hamburger and others. During her stay in England, she already performed a number of roles with various British opera companies and in the same period participated in creative productions by Les Arts Florissants conducted by William Christie.

 

Back in Belgium, her career fl ourished thanks to the International Queen Elisabeth Competition in 1996. She was invited to perform with most of the Belgian orchestras and worked with conductors such as C. Hogwood, A. Pappano, S. Ozawa, R. Goebel, G. Llewellyn, P. Ellis, P. Goodwin, P. Peire, P. Dombrecht, G. Octors and D. Brossé.

 

In 1997 Anne Cambier made her debut at the National Opera in Brussels. This brought high critical acclaim and as a result, La Monnaie immediately offered her a variety of roles: Erste Knappe in “Parsifal” (directed by A. Pappano); Nimfa in “Orfeo” (Trisha Brown/René Jacobs) with later performances broadening her international reputation in Aix-en-Provence, Paris, London and New-York; Barbarina in “Le nozze de Figaro” (C. Loy/ A. Pappano) and the leading role in “La Rappresentatione di Anima e di Corpo” with the Ensemble La Fenice conducted by Jean Tubéry.

 

For the Flemish Opera she twice played the role of Rowan in “Let’s make an Opera” by B. Britten and she sang Karolka (“Jenufa”/Janacek) directed by Robert Carsen, an opera revived in Japan in August 2001 with Seiji Ozawa as conductor.

 

Anne Cambier also works in close collaboration with Music Theatre Transparant, the Flemish Chamber Opera Company. She sang in a production of songs by Samuel Barber “Een Leugen van Schoonheid”, performed the title role in Mozart’s “Zaïde” and achieved a huge success in the challenging role of Seleuce in Haendel’s “Tolomeo” (Lindy Hume/Paul Dombrecht) that was taken on tour in Holland. In 2002-2003 she performs the role of Elisa in Mozart’s “Il Re Pastore” (Ramsey Nasr/Il Fondamento conducted by Paul Dombrecht). Anne Cambier performs regularly with Baroque orchestras such as Musica Antiqua Köln, La Petite Bande, Il Fondamento, The Academy of Ancient Music and Les Agrémens. She sings oratorios and cantatas.

 

Her acclaimed recitals are staged with Belgian pianists such as Jan Vermeulen, Jozef De Beenhouwer, Levente Kende, Jean-Claude Vanden Eynde. She has also found true partners in the well-known Belgian clarinetist Walter Boeykens and the members of his ensemble for the highy notable performances of chamber music. With them, she gave a unique concert marking the State Visit of the Belgian King and Queen to Portugal in 1999. That same year Anne Cambier sang at the Wedding Mass of Crown Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde of Belgium.

 

Next season, Anne Cambier will sing Papagena in Mozart’s Magic Flute at the Ruhr-Triennale with Marc Minkowski as conductor.

 

 

Fotini Athanassaki

Mezzo Soprano

 

Fotini Athanassaki was born in Athens and received her Classical Singing Diploma in January 2013 with Honors and a First Prize with Mezzo Soprano Margaret Syngeniotou. She has performed the roles of : Neris in L. Cherubini's "Medea", Zia Principessa in G. Puccini's "Suor Angelica", Mrs Herring in B. Britten's "Albert Herring" in Thessaloniki Concert Hall (March 2014) and Violance/Goddess Athena in P. Karousso's "Prometheus Bound". She has also sung the Mezzo/Alto part in A. Vivaldi's "Gloria" with Athens City Orchestra under the Baguette of M. Economou (March 2015), M. A. Charpentier's "Messe de Minuit pour Noel", G. B. Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater", C. Saint-Saens's "Oratorio de Noel", C. Monteverdi's "Messa a quattri voci da cappella" and experts from V. Bellini's "Zaira", G. Verdi's "Un Ballo In Maschera", "Traviata" and "Il Trovatore", W.A Mozart's "Zauberflote", G. Verdi's "Requiem", W. A. Mozart's "Requiem", G. Rossini's "Stabat Mater" and "Pettite Messe Sollenelle" and G.F. Haendel's "Messiah".

She has been collaborating with the Greek National Opera since 2011. The summers of 2012 and 2013 participated in the "Festival of the Aegean" and the Greek Opera Studio in Syros, where she performed with Padardzhik Symphony Orchestra (Sofia) and the National Symphonic Orchestra of Ballet and Opera of Tirana under the Baguette of G. Palikarov, P. Tiboris and F. Bardot.

In June 2013 won the Athens Academy Scholarship for a post Degree in Classical Singing.

In August 2013 attended the "Berlin Opera Studio", performing in Bayreuth, Germany. She has attended Masterclasses and Classical Singing lessons with: Jeanette Pilou, Dimitris Kavrakos, Eilana Lappalainen, Peter Svensson, Michelle Breedt, Keith-Ikaya Purdy, Graciela Araya, Anooshah Goleshorkhi, Fotini Kostopoulou and George Soutis. She has a Hotel & Tourism Management Degree, Proficiency in English (Cambridge) and basic knowledge of Italian, French, Spanish and German.

From Fotini

Dear Mary and Dirk!

Thank you very much for the opportunity you gave me to participate in such a beautiful concert!
I have never seen more dedicated and well prepared choir.
Every one of them, transmitted to the public their love and enthusiasm.
It was wonderful being there and being part of that magic!
It was really a privilege to work with you all and the memory of that concert will always be in my heart.
Keep up the good work!
I hope to see you all again soon!

Love,
Fotini