Katia Ledoux (born 18 July 1990) is a French mezzo-soprano.

Life

Born in Paris, Ledoux grew up in Vienna, Austria, and took violin lessons before beginning to sing at the age of six, joining the Schubert Sängerknaben. At the age of sixteen, she entered the preparatory class of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, then left Vienna in 2016 to study with Ulf Bästlein at the University of the Arts in the city of

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

where she made her debut at the Steirischer Herbst contemporary music festival as well as the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna Graz Opera. For the 2019/20 season, as well as 2020/21, she was part of the International Opera Studio of the Zürich Opera House where she performs numerous roles.

Career

Before even finishing her studies, Ledoux made her debut at the Dutch National Opera in 2019 as Genevieve in Pelléas et Mélisande directed by Olivier Py with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by

Stéphane Denève Stéphane Denève (born 24 November 1971) is a French conductor. He is currently music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and artistic director of the New World Symphony. Biography Denève was born in Tourcoing, France, and graduated ...

. She came back to Amsterdam in 2021 for the world premiere of "How Anansi freed the stories of the world" by Neo Muyanga and in 2022 for another world premiere "Eurydice - die liebenden blind" by Manfred Trojahn. During the 2020-21 pandemic, the Dutch National Opera recorded and streamed Rossini's full Petite Messe Solenelle with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra in which Ledoux performed the alto solo. In 2019, Ledoux also joined the International Opera Studio at the Zürich Opera where she worked with many big names of the industry including Cecilia Bartoli, Laurence Cummings, Jakub Hrůša, Barrie Kosky, Jakub Orliński or Dmitri Tcherniakov. Since she has returned twice to Zurich: to sing Gertrude in Ted Huffman's Roméo et Juliette in 2023 and Junon in Jetske Mijnssen's Platée conducted by

Emmanuelle Haïm Emmanuelle Haïm (; born 11 May 1962) is a French harpsichordist and conductor with a particular interest in early music and Baroque music. Early life, student and assistant years Haïm was born and grew up in Paris, and was raised Catholic al ...

in 2024. In 2021, she traveled to Russia to sing the role of Cornelia in Giulio Cesare with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under

Christopher Moulds Christopher Moulds is an English conductor of classical and baroque operas. Biography Early life and first operas Moulds was born in Halifax, England where he studied piano with Fanny Waterman. From 1991 to 1995 he was an English National Oper ...

. 2022 marked her debut at the Staatsoper Stuttgart where she interpreted Ježibaba in Bastian Kraft's

Rusalka In Slavic folklore, the rusalka (plural: rusalky/rusalki; ; pl, rusałka}) is a typically feminine entity, often malicious toward mankind and frequently associated with water, with counterparts in other parts of Europe, such as the French Melus ...

conducted by Oksana Lyniv In 2022 Katia Ledoux joined the ensemble of the Vienna Volksoper.

Other

Ledoux became a viral phenomenon in January 2023 when multiple international newspapers, radios and websites reported on her jumping in for two roles in one evening, including one for a male tenor colleague during a performance of "Orpheus in the Underworld" at the Vienna Volksoper. Some noted that this was a historic first.

Awards

* First prize in the Austrian competition In 2008 * Finalist of the "Ferruccio Tagliavini" competition in 2017 * Recipient of the "Bourse of the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

" in 2018; * Press Award of the International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, 2018. * First prize of the "Nordfriesischer Liedpreis" competition. * Oratorio-Lied Prize of the " Francisco Viñas International Singing Competition" in Barcelona in 2022

Recordings

* 2023: ''La princesse de Trébizonde'' by Jacques Offenbach with the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

and Paul Daniel for Opera Rara.

References

External links

*
Katia Ledoux on operabase.com

Katia Ledoux on the official website of the Graz Opera

Portrait of Katia Ledoux by agence TACT
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ledoux, Katia French operatic mezzo-sopranos 1990 births Living people Singers from Paris