Johannette Zomer
The Dutch soprano Johannette Zomer began her studies at the Sweelinck Conservatorium Amsterdam in 1990 with Charles van Tassel, after having worked as a microbiology analyst for several years. In June 1997 she was awarded her Performance Diploma. Since then she has received coaching by Diane Forlano (London), Claudia Visca (Wuppertal) and Marlena Malas (New York). Her repertoire ranges from medieval music through all music of the baroque and classical eras, including opera, but also Lieder, French Romanticism and Contemporary music. The prestigious ‘Gramophone’ magazine said of her: “A new voice to watch”.
Johannette’s concert appearances are also many and various. She has worked with Baroque specialists such as Philippe Herreweghe, Ton Koopman, Frans Brüggen, Gustav Leonhardt, René Jacobs, Reinard Goebel and Paul McCreesh, but has also worked with conductors including Kent Nagano, Daniel Harding, Ivan Fischer, Marcus Creed and Valery Gergiev. In 2008 she made her debut with both the Concertgebouw Orchestra (in the Matthew Passion conducted by Ivan Fischer) and the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg (in the B minor Mass under Ivor Bolton). Further she regularly gives recitals accompanied by theorbo player Fred Jacobs or fortepiano specialist Arthur Schoonderwoerd.
In October 1996 Johannette made her opera debut as Tebaldo in Verdi's Don Carlo with the Nationale Reisopera. Since then she has made regular appearances in roles including Belinda, Pamina, La Musica, Euridice, Dalinda and Ilia, and also as Amanda in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre and Mélisande in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande. In January 2009 she made her debut at the Netherlands Opera in a new production by David Alden/Ivor Bolton of Cavalli’s Ercole Amante.
