Artists

Béa Droz | Soprano

In addition to the artistic direction of this project, Béa Droz also carries the solo soprano parts, this time with her voice. Her experience spans a wide repertoire, from Lied to oratorio, opera and early music. 

In 2023, she sang the Queen of the Night’s arias at the Concerts Lyriques de Roche-sur-Linotte (France), which she had already performed at the Operatic Night at the Villa in Zurich. She has also appeared in a Vivaldi and Handel program with the Schaffhausen Baroque Ensemble, and in Inspirations Helvétiques, a recital with pianist Florent Lattuga featuring melodies by composers who lived in Switzerland. In 2021, she sang the solo soprano part in Carmina Burana with the Salto Corale choir at Schaffhausen’s Stadttheater. In 2019 she appeared on stage in Frédéric Barbier’s operetta La Cigale et la Fourmi with the Compagnie Opéra Par-ci Par-là. In 2018, Béa Droz sang the world premiere of the melody cycle Love, we must part now by Swiss composer Valentin Villard.

She has worked with conductors Daniel Reuss, Simon Gaudenz, Frieder Bernius , Howard Armann and Zubin Mehta, among others. Her engagements have taken the soprano not only to Switzerland, but also to France, Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria.

Konstantin Ingenpass | Baritone

For baritone Konstantin Ingenpass, born in Osnabrück, music has played a major role since early childhood. He holds a Master’s degree in interpretation from Professor Manuel Lange and a Master’s degree in opera from Professor Friedemann Röhlig at Karlsruhe University of Music, and has continued his training with Mitsuko Shirai, Thomas Quasthoff, Teru Yoshihara and Brigitte Fassbaender.

In October 2020, this intensive work was rewarded with 1st prize in the International Lied Competition of the Hugo Wolf Academie. Konstantin Ingenpass can look back on a vast repertoire of melodies already performed at events such as the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, the Schubert Festival in Dortmund, the International Music Festival in Koblenz or the Gargan Music Festival in Kanazawa (Japan), with internationally renowned conductors such as Ulrich Eisenlohr or Hartmut Höll.

Eléonore Thélisson | Young Soloist

Eléonore Thélisson is a young Swiss soprano. She has been taking singing lessons at the Conservatoire de Lausanne under the tutelage of Francine Acolas since 2021. Her repertoire combines film music and classical pieces. She has performed the Little Mermaid (Disney film), John Ritter’s Blow Blow thou Winter Wind, Franz Schubert’s Seligkeit, Greensleeves (Henry VIII) and Robert Schumann’s Lied der Braut. She embodies youth and represents future generations in the musical project in Japan. She will celebrate her 15th birthday in the year of the concert. 

Renaud Bouvier | Choir Conductor

Independent choral and orchestral conductor Renaud Bouvier has been directing choirs since 2003. Active for twenty years in publishing and university literary research, he enjoys approaching the repertoire with curiosity and rigor. He currently heads 4 choirs (professional, oratorio, chamber and symphonic). He completed his conducting training in 2002 with Hervé Klopfenstein at the Lausanne Conservatoire, after studying bassoon, singing, musical analysis and orchestration. With a degree in literature from the University of Lausanne, he was an assistant in French literature and carried out research and publishing mandates in French and French-speaking literature from 1994 to 2014.

Renaud Bouvier has directed the Chœur de la Cité de Lausanne since October 2015, with whom he stages a cappella, organ and orchestral programs from the 17th to 21st centuries. In 2017, he offers a program dedicated to M.-A. Charpentier. In 2016, he premiered Valentin Villard’s Fresque Poétique. Since 2003, he has directed the Vocalistes Romands, a top-level amateur chamber choir, with whom he explores a little-known and demanding repertoire. Since January 2010, he has also been at the helm of the Cantabile symphonic choir in Neuchâtel, with whom he performs the great symphonic repertoire for choir and orchestra. In 2009, he and Dominique Tille founded the Académie vocale de Suisse romande, a professional chamber choir, whose first CD was released in 2011 (Prix Hector Berlioz for best sacred music recording 2012) by the Académie du disque lyrique in Paris. He also recorded V. Villard’s Messe à 6 voix for Claves in 2022 (5 de Diapason).

Maestro Okumura Nobuki | Symphonic Orchestra Conductor

Okumura Nobuki, born in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture, is a graduate of the Kunitachi College of Music. He conducts orchestras of various genres, from classical music to pop music and film music. He has conducted orchestras and choirs in Austria, Italy and more than ten European countries. He has directed events such as Koshino Junko’s fashion show, the inauguration of Haneda Airport’s Terminal 2, the Roppongi Hills Christmas lighting ceremony with a team of 90 trumpeters and an orchestra, as well as various music projects and television programmes. He has also collaborated with many renowned artists and groups in various fields, from classical to pop music, including Ryuichi Kawamura and soprano Tomotaka Okamoto.

He was the conductor of the Kagurazaka Female Chorus (1999-2003), made up of celebrities from various backgrounds, the Star Mixed Chorus (2008-2012), a charity choir for the eradication of cancer co-directed by Kuniko Yamada, a member of Mikiko Otonashi’s Singing Voice Cafe (2011-); a charity for reconstruction after the great earthquake in eastern Japan. Since 2000, he has been the permanent conductor of the NTT Chorus, made up of companies from the NTT Group, and since 2017, he has been the principal conductor of the Film Score Philharmonic Orchestra, an orchestra specialising in film music. In 1999, he founded his own orchestra, made up of top-level professionals. In April 2005, he founded the orchestral production company Orchestra Presenter Inc. with the concept of “an orchestra for every stage”. He is constantly exploring new orchestral possibilities. Orchestra Presenter Tokyo advocates a modern orchestral style with unique charm.

Joséphine Maillefer | Composer

Joséphine Maillefer is a Swiss composer born in 1987. She writes for instrumental and vocal ensembles, as well as for theater and film. Her writing moves between classical, pop, experimental and electronic music. The composer’s musical intention is simple and clear, so that the audience can grasp it. Using powerful ideas, Joséphine seeks to touch her listeners while sharing with them her universal human values.

She initiated the “Inmates’ Voices” artistic projects, giving voice to prisoners sentenced to capital punishment in the United States.

Joséphine Maillefer holds a master’s degree in pedagogy from the HEMU Classical School and a master’s degree in composition from the HEMU Jazz School in Lausanne.