Celine Ricci, Soprano

After beginning her vocal studies under the watchful eye of Ana Maria Miranda, it was at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London that Céline Ricci continued her schooling culminating with graduate opera studies that saw Céline participate in works as diverse as Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Postcard from Morroco by Dominic Argento, La Didone by Cavalli, Don Pasquale by Donizetti and L’Enfant et les Sortil`eges by Ravel. In 2001, Ricci was accepted to the young artists programme of the Montpellier Opera, where she made her debut as Vagans in Vivaldi’s Juditha Tromphans. The following year, William Christie offered her a special opportunity in choosing her for Le Jardin de Voix, an elite academy for young singers. Selected to sing the role of Emilie in Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes, she embarked on a major tour with Les Arts Florissants throughout Europe. Beginning her international career, she has been heard in music by Charpentier and Alessandro Scarlatti with the Parlement de Musique (Martin Gester), Il Re Teodoro a Venezia of Paisiello/Henze at the Festival Radio France of Montpellier (Enrique Mazzola). She performed the role of Polinessa in Handel’s Radamisto with the Wiener Akademy (Martin Haselboeck) at the Musikverein in Vienna and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Dido and Aeneas with the Akademie fur Alte Musik at the Staatsoper de Berlin, the Grand Theatre of Luxembourg and at the Opera of Montpellier. She has been heard as well in the Zauberfl¨ote with the Ensemble Matheus (Jean-Christophe Spinosi) at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees, in Toulouse and in Brest, and in Vivaldi’s La Griselda at the Ambronnay Festival. Under the direction of Martin Haselbock, she was the featured soloist with the Dresden Philharmonic in arias by Porpora and Weber in 2005. In 2005 Jarebuch, Opernwelt chose Ricci as one of opera’s promising new talents. In upcoming seasons, she will be heard at La Monnaie in Brussels, Los Angeles, l’Opera Comique, the Wiener Festwochen, in Barcelona, Israel, and in Denmark with the Akademie fur Alte Musik, Les Arts Florissants and Musica Angelica. In 2008-2009, she will participate in a worldwide tour with the Folies Francaises, celebrating Lully’s anniversary by reconstructing Lully’s orchestra. She has an extensive discography.