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"Slender and petite Belgian soprano Sarah Defrise is a vocal giant". (La Tribuna de Ciudad Real - Teatro Real Madrid)
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Sarah is a young Belgian soprano. Her acting and piano training contributed to her personality and to her eclectic repertoire ranging from chamber music, to operas, recitals with orchestra or solo-voice shows, with a particular taste for XXth Century and contemporary music.
Her recent success as the Teenager, in Jean-Luc Fafchamp's Is this the end ? at la Monnaie / De Munt in Brussels marked the beginning of her international career. In 2022, she made critically acclaimed debuts at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and the Grand théâtre de Genève where "her crystalline voice and impressive tops were absolutely stunning" (Crescendo Magazine) in a role written for her by Peter Eötvös (the Girl/Sleepless). That year she also sang the Little Chinese in Der Goldene Drache at the Nouvel Opéra Fribourg and made her debuts as Zerlina (Don Giovanni) with Christophe Rousset at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie. In 2023, she makes her debuts as Zdenka (Arabella) at the Teatro Real Madrid in Christof Loy's production. Her performance is unanimously praised by the press for her "perfect phrasing and beautiful lyrical voice" (Opernmagazin) and for her "magnificent" incarnation of "a complex role full of implications and details" (El Debate).
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As a prominent performer of Ligeti's vocal music, she was invited as principal guest singer to perform Aventures/Nouvelles Aventures in 2021 for György Kurtág's 90th birthday, and again in 2023 together with Mysteries of the Macabre and the Requiem at Müpa and BMC for the 100th Anniversary of György Ligeti under the direction of Peter Eötvös and Gregory Vajda.
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In 2022, she was awarded the prestigious Caecilia Prize in Belgium as "Young Musician of the Year" and was labeled "Musician of the year" in 2023 by the Belgian Musical Press.
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This season she will sing the role of Naomi in Bernard Foccroulle's new opera Cassandra at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and make her debuts at the Theater an der Wien as die Jungfrau in Das Paradies und die Peri (Schumann) and at the Komische Oper Berlin as Suzanne in Robinson Crusoe (Offenbach).
In concert, She will be the guest of the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège in Gorecki's 3rd symphony. She will premiere a piece by American composer Natacha Diels with Ensemble Contrechamps (Switzerland) and open the Poznan Music Festival with the Ensemble Intercontemporain (Poland).
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Sarah released two solo albums : the complete recording of Joseph Jongen's songs (Entrevisions and ​Fêtes rouges, Musique en Wallonie, 3 Cd's) and an a cappella album dedicated to Cathy Berberian For Cathy (Sub Rosa).
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Sarah holds a Master in Music from the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel and a PhD in the Arts from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.