Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet Joins Vocal Faculty

The Cali School welcomes Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet as the newest member of our distinguished vocal faculty. During her varied career, dramatic soprano Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet has established herself as a leading force in the German operatic roles and contemporary repertoires. Having begun singing Italian and ‘spinto’ Russian roles, she has naturally progressed into the more dramatic German soprano – and more recently ‘Zwischenfach’ – repertoire. Her intense stage presence has been widely praised by critics, with the New York Times proclaiming her a ‘spine-chillingly powerful’ performer.

In Europe, Charbonnet has appeared at major opera houses including the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona; Opéra National de Paris; Teatro Real, Madrid; Oper Frankfurt; Opéra National de Bordeaux; Deutsche Oper Berlin; Teatro Comunale di Firenze; Teatro La Fenice; and Bregenz Festival. Her many performances include major roles in Fidelio, Elektra, Lohengrin, Parsifal, Tannhäuser, Die Walküre, and Der Ring des Nibelungen. Her portrayal of Isolde was described in Opera magazine as ‘every inch the passionate Irish princess, at first a bundle of fury, then wholly possessed by the love potion. Her soprano smouldered hotly below, blazed thrillingly on high.’ Her concert repertoire includes Schoenberg’s Erwartung (with Jukka-Pekka Saraste in Cologne) and Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass (with Pierre Boulez at the BBC Proms).