Opera Lafayette - Kristen Blase

Kirsten Blase One of the most remarkable young singers to emerge in recent years, soprano Kirsten Blaise is rapidly earning outstanding critical acclaim for her performances in concert and recital throughout the world. Ms. Blaise is an artist of broad scope whose repertoire ranges from John Dowland to John Adams, from Chamber Music to Opera. Since her debut she has been in particular demand for her interpretations of Bach, Handel, Mozart, and repertoire of the French Baroque.

Ms. Blaise made her professional debut in 1996 in Handel's Israel in Egypt with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. Since then she has sung with the Stamford Symphony, the American Classical Orchestra (Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas), the Dallas Bach Society, Concert Royal, the Carmel Bach Festival, and with Le Parlement de Musique, with whom she made a recording of Gluck songs. Recent concert appearances include Handel’s newly re-discovered Gloria with the Four Nations Ensemble, Boccherini’s Stabat Mater at the Carmel Bach Festival, Handel’s Messiah with Concert Royal and Bach cantatas at the Opera de Rennes with Le Parlement de Musique. Her recent opera appearances have included L'Amour in Rameau's Pygmalion with Concert Royal, Soprano in Stravinsky's Threni at the Netherlands Opera staged by Peter Sellars, and Olga in La Grand Duchesse de Gérolstein at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. In January 2002 Ms. Blaise made a critically acclaimed debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra as the British Dancing Girl in the UK premiere of John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer under the baton of Leonard Slatkin.

In December 2002, Kirsten Blaise made her Concertgebouw debut with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Vaughan Williams’ Sinfonia Antarctica under Richard Hickox. In February 2003 she made her debut with the Handel Festspiele in Karlsruhe, Germany in the role of Arianna in Handel’s Giustino.

Ms. Blaise reprises the role of the British Dancing Girl for the Blast Films production of The Death of Klinghoffer which had five screenings at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2003 and will be seen at the San Francisco International Film Festival in April, Lincoln Center in May and on British Channel Four television. Later this spring, she will record the 6 Roman Cantatas for Soprano of Antonio Caldara with the New York based Four Nations Ensemble for ASV Records and Couperin’s Leçons de Ténèbres with Le Parlement de Musique.

Other upcoming performances will include music of Couperin with Le Parlement de Musique in Paris, Handel arias with Ars Antiqua in Chappaqua, New York, Poulenc’s Gloria at Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington, Kentucky, John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music with the London Sinfonietta at Lincoln Center, the Corona del Mar Baroque Festival, a return to the Carmel Bach Festival and Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Noord Nederlands Orkest in Groningen, The Netherlands.

Ms. Blaise received her Masters degree from the Indiana University School of Music. She currently resides in London.