A night with La Monnaie at TheMerode

The young Belgian soprano Virginie Léonard trained with Hélène Bernardy. After studying the violin for a number of years, she decided to devote herself to her lifelong passion, singing, in 2012. After graduating with great distinction with a Master's degree specialising in singing, she had the opportunity during her years of study to take on roles in several contemporary opera creations, before going on to play Cendrillon (Cendrillon, J. Massenet) and Mimi (La Bohème, G. Puccini) in 2015. In 2016, she sang Poppea (L'Incoronazione di Poppea, C. Monteverdi) and Tatjana (Eugene Onegin, P. Tchaikovsky). She made her debut as a soloist in October 2013, performing concert works such as Mendelssohn's "Lauda Sion" op. 27 in Köln and Liège, and Barber's "Prayers of Kierkegaard" op. 30 in June 2014. She performed an excerpt from the role of Desdemona (Otello, Verdi), as part of a concert devoted to Shakespeare at the Opéra-Théâtre de Metz with the Orchestre national de Lorraine in April 2016. She has also taken part in various masterclasses with, among others, Patricia Petibon, Alain Altinoglu and Nora Gubisch, Sandrine Piau, José Van Dam, Isabelle Kabatu, and Elisabeth Vidal, Pascal Dusapin and Elena Pankratova. In March 2016, she was awarded Second Prize in the Ans International Competition for New Talent in Lyric Art. In June 2016, she was awarded the title of MM Academy Soloist, then MM Academy Laureate, at the Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie, enabling her to take part in S. Reich's "Three Tales" (soprano 1), G. Fauré's "Pénélope" (Alkandre), and L. Janacek's "The Cunning little Vixen (Foxie!)" (Chocholka). During the 2017 - 2018 season, she also performed in R. Wagner's "Lohengrin" (1st Edelknabe). A member of the IMEP's European Vocal Department (EVD) during the 2017 - 2018 season, she sang Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte, W. A. Mozart). Qualified for the final rounds of the renowned Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition and International Maria Callas Grand Prix, she defended her place in Barcelona, Spain, for the final rounds of the Tenor Vinas International Singing Contest and was awarded third prize in the Honda Competition for Classical Music in 2018. In 2018 and 2019, she took part in the production "(Victor) Frankenstein", a mixture of object theatre and opera, playing the role of the mother, in collaboration with the Karyatides company, for various performances in Belgium and France. In 2019, she will take part in a Mozart workshop at La Monnaie, performing the roles of Contessa Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro) and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni). In March 2023, she will perform the role of Alexis (L'île de Tulipatan, J. Offenbach) at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, as well as at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Charleroi.

After training as a pianist, Kamil Ben Hsaïn Lachiri discovered singing at the Conservatoire in Namur, his home town. He won a prize at the Opéra Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, where he is regularly invited to perform. The young Belgian baritone's solo career has taken him to a number of European venues (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Opéra de Rouen, Opéra Royal de Liège, Opéra d'Helsinki, Opéra d'Amsterdam, Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Opéra de Dijon, Opéra d'Aix-la-Chapelle, Opéra de Lille, Opéra de Francfort, etc.), where he has developed a particular affection for the role. ), where he has developed a particular affection for the Mozart (Conte Almaviva, Figaro, Guglielmo, Papageno, Leporello) and Italian repertoires. He recently made his acclaimed debut as Papageno in The Magic Flute at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, as well as in concert with Jordi Savall, and at the Frankfurt Opera as baritone soloist in Ligeti's 'New Adventures'. He recently took part in the first Monte Carlo Opera Academy (the Clock and the Cat in Ravel's L'Enfant et les sortilèges), created and directed by Cécilia Bartoli. His career was initiated by the Centre d'Art Vocal et de Musique Ancienne and the Chœur de Chambre de Namur, and baroque music also occupies a special place in his repertoire. A winner of national and international competitions (finalist in the Voix Nouvelles competition, winner of the Honda and Voice of Shakespeare competitions), Kamil Ben Hsaïn Lachiri also has a degree in economics and finance.

French mezzo-soprano Marie-Juliette Ghazarian began her musical training in Paris with the harpsichord, which she practised for over twelve years. She studied literature, history and foreign languages in Hypokhâgne, as well as cinema, journalism and cultural mediation at La Sorbonne, where she obtained her degree in Literature and Media in 2015. Passionate and fascinated by opera singing from an early age, she began to work on her voice with Julie Hassler, before deciding to study further at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles. There she studied with Marcel Vanaud, Jean-François Rouchon and Marianne Pousseur, obtaining her Master's degree with Great Distinction in June 2022. Alongside her studies at the Conservatoire, in 2018 she joined the MMAcademy at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, which enabled her to take part in several prestigious productions, alongside conductors such as Evelino Pidò, Kazushi Ōno and Alain Altinoglu, and directors such as Romeo Castellucci and Krzysztof Warlikowski. In 2022, she became MMSoloist of La Monnaie and, in addition to concerts and masterclasses, she was Polina's cover in Pikovaya Dama during the 2022-2023 season. Since September 2022 she has also been Artist in Residence at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth in the classes of Stéphane Degout, Sophie Koch and José van Dam.During her first year of residency, she took part in a number of projects and concerts at venues such as Flagey, the Palais Royal in Brussels and La Ferme du Biéreau. She has also taken part in masterclasses and workshops with Barbara Hannigan, Ed Lyon, Stéphane Degout, Sandrine Piau, Anne Sofie von Otter, Rosemary Joshua, Iñaki Encina Oyón, Marion Lebègue, Bernard Foccroulle, Rachel Willis-Sørensen, Riccardo Novaro, Catherine Wyn-Rogers and others. In 2018, she won the Vocation Prize at the Concours des Nouveaux Talents de l'Art Lyrique de Belgique, followed in 2019 by the Third Prize at the BOT National Operetta Competition. In 2021 and 2022, she received the Heritage Prize of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. In 2018, she made her stage debut as Rick in John Adams' I Was Looking at the Ceiling and then I saw the Sky at the Théâtre National de Bruxelles, then at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie and finally in Paris at the Théâtre de l'Athénée.In 2019, she will join the lyric studio at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Charleroi, where she will study the roles of Carmen, Dorabella in Così fan tutte and the Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte.During the 2023-2024 season, she will be the Third Lady at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, the Abuela in the world premiere of the chamber opera Cambio madre por moto by Frank Nuyts, and she will join the French opera company Arcal.trillingue.