Iris van Wijnen

The Dutch mezzo-soprano Iris van Wijnen was a member of the Opera Studio of the Bavarian State Opera, where she appeared in operas including The Fiery Angel and Il barbiere di Siviglia. Since then, she has been a guest at renowned opera houses and concert halls and international festivals such as the Dutch National Opera, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus, the Hanover State Opera, the National Theatre in Mannheim, the Stadttheater Klagenfurt, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the Aldeburgh Festival, and makes regular returns to the Bavarian State Opera.

Her repertory includes Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro), Sesto (La clemenza di Tito), Fenena (Nabucco), Flora (La traviata), Marguerite (La Damnation de Faust), Charlotte (Werther), Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier), Second Maid (Elektra), Kitchen Boy (Rusalka), roles in Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, Nixon in China and Turnage’s Greek, and Clitemestra in the world premiere of Sciarrino‘s Il canto s’attrista, perché?

Highlights of the 2024/25 season include(d) Second Norn (Götterdämmerung) under Alain Altinoglu in Brussels, Mary (Der fliegende Holländer) under Jaap van Zweden, Otto Ketting’s Ithaka at the Concertgebouw, Sciarrino’s Macbeth at the Salzburg Festival and Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte) with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen at venues including the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and at the George Enescu Festival.

Important recent engagements have also included Marianne Leitmetzerin (Der Rosenkavalier) in Amsterdam, The Makropulos Affair and The Cunning Little Vixen with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under Karina Canellakis, Gertrud (Hänsel und Gretel) in Hanover, Die Walküre and Parsifal in Brussels and Das Rheingold and Die Walküre with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

On the concert platform she has sung repertory including Bach cantatas, Handel’s Messiah, Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de noël, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Ravel’s Shéhérazade, Saariaho’s Quatres Instants, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été. She has also appeared in song recitals at the Heidelberg Spring Festival.

Iris van Wijnen studied at the conservatory in Utrecht, and participated in masterclasses with Kiri Te Kanawa, Thomas Hampson, Leontina Vaduva and Graham Johnson. She currently works closely with Gregory Lamar and Brigitte Fassbaender.