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SOLEN MAINGUENÉ

SOPRANO

About

 about

Solen Mainguené is a lyric soprano from Orange, south of France. Currently an ensemble member of the Leipzig Opera, she additionally appears on stages all over Europe in the lyrico spinto repertoire. Particularly known for her emotional interpretations, rich voice, acting skills and solar stage charisma, she loves to blur the line between straight acting and opera, to create realistic and complex female protagonists. 

Photo:C.Delestrade

Photo:M.Brun

Education

She started her vocal studies at the Conservatoire de Rennes, followed by a Bachelor on a merit scholarship at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, USA, and a Master in the Opernklasse of the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria.

 

She finally perfected her education as a member of the Hamburg State Opera´s Opera Studio.

Her former teachers include: Stanley Cornett, Boris Bakow, John Shirley Quirk, Andzej Dobber.

She attended masterclasses with: Montserrat Caballé, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Cheryl Studer, Marilyn Horn, Barbara Bonney, Neil Schicoff, Grace Bumbry, Sophie Koch, Riri Grits, Dame Ann Murray.

Solen benefited from the guidance and mentoring of numerous conductors but more specifically the Australian conductor Simone Young, and the French conductor Michel Plasson.

Solen currently studies with the American vocal pedagogue Neil Semer.

Furthermore Solen is a mentor to advanced vocal students of the Mendelssohn Bartholdy Conservatory in Leipzig where she coaches and supports young singers vocally and professionally at the start of their professional career as part of the MentoringArts Program.

Theaters

Solen started her career on the stage of the Hamburg State Opera where she was a resident artist. While at the State Opera she performed over 20 roles, such as MICAELA in Carmen, MUSETTA in la Bohème, 1st LADY in die Zauberflöte, POLOWETZER MAIDEN in Prince Igor, and FLOWER MAIDEN in Parsifal.

Whilst in Hamburg she covered numerous sopranos such as Ailyn Perez, Anita Hartig, Nino Machaidze, in roles such as Luisa Miller, Marguerite in Faust and Mimí in La Bohème.

Solen guests regularly in theatres all over Europe, amongst those roles: VIOLETTA (Oper Halle, Oper Aachen), NEDDA (Danish National Opera, Opéra Grand Avignon, Theater Braunschweig, Opéra de Vichy...), ANTONIA ( Badische Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Theater Freiburg, Theater Gelsenkirchen), LIÙ (Malmö Opera, Opéra de Massy), MUSETTA (Staatsoper Hannover, Theater Lübeck, Staatsoper Hamburg), MIMÍ (Theater Freiburg, Oper Leipzig), TATJANA (Theater Freiburg, Theater Winterthur), CONTESSA (Theater Koblenz), MANON (Theater Freiburg), MARSCHALLIN (Oper Leipzig), GOVERNESS (Theater Freiburg)

Currently a member of the ensemble of the Leipzig Opera, she can be heard this season as MICAELA in Carmen, DESDEMONA in Otello under the baton of Ivan Repušić, LISA in Pique Dame in a new production by Lorenzo Fioroni and she will renew her highly praised interpretation of  MARSCHALLIN in Rosenkavalier with the Gewandhaus Orchestra.

Additionally she will make her Czech Debut as MARSCHALLIN in Rosenkavalier at the Prague State Opera and add another Straußian role to her Repertoire as ARABELLA with the Gießen Stadtstheater.

Awards

Mrs Mainguené is the recipient of numerous awards as the result of her vocal accomplishments. She is the 1st Price Winner and Price for best female Italian repertoire interpretation at the Clermont-Ferrand International Competition. She was also a finalist of the Portofino International Competition and of the Avignon Grand Opera Competition. Additionally she was a semi-finalist of the Montserrat Caballé Grand Prix, Belvedere Competition, Virginia Zeani Competition, Opera Crown Competition and the Ferruccio Tagliavini Competition.

Solen was nominated three times by the magazine Opernwelt, two times for "best female artist of the year" in 2019 for Governess in Turn of the Screw at Theater Freiburg and in 2021 as Manon in Manon at Theater Freiburg, as well as in 2015 as "young rising artist of the year" for her burning interpretation of Catherine Earnshaw in B.Herrmann at Theater Braunschweig. Her production of Turn of the Screw at Theater Freiburg was also nominated for best production of the year in 2019.

She is the recipient of numerous stipends and scholarships that funded her vocal studies amongst them: Berenberg Bank, Körber Stiftung, Ursula Rahman Stiftung, Marleigh Baratz, the Lions Club, the Janssen´s vocal merit scholarship, and the Mozarteum Universität vocal scholarship.

Acting

A trained actress, Solen also enjoys crossing to straight plays, films, narration, and performance acting. In 2022 she was Marion Cotillard´s understudy as Jeanne d´Arc in Honnegger Jeanne d´Arc au bûcher at the Teatro Real Madrid, a piece that she also collaborated on with Fanny Ardent at the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg in 2015. Other theatrical collaborations include the Thalia Theater Hamburg, the collective Hauen und Stechen, the collective Proxi, the Bundes Jungend Ballett and the Swiss actor Robert Hunger-Bühler.

Solen speaks French, English, German and Italian.