Céline Scheen

The Belgian soprano Céline Scheen received her first musical training at the Conservatory in Verviers, where she studied flute and singing. Although she initially wanted to be a chanson or rock singer, she studied classical singing first at the Royal Conservatory in Mons, then at the Royal Conservatory and the Chapelle musicale Reine Élisabeth in Brussels. She went on to study in depth at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with Vera Rózsa, who convinced her to dedicate herself to early music.

Céline Scheen became widely known through the highly acclaimed recording of music for Gérard Corbiau’s film Le Roi danse (2000), released on the Deutsche Grammophon label with Musica Antiqua Köln under the direction of Reinhard Goebel. She has since taken part in numerous opera productions at venues including the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg, the Théâtre de Caen and the Opéra national du Rhin. Roles she has interpreted include Thérèse in Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias, Frasquita (Carmen), Grilletta in Haydn’s Lo speziale, Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and Philonoé in Lully’s Bellérophon. At the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, she has appeared in Gluck’s Alceste, Cavalli’s Eliogabalo and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, conducted by René Jacobs.

In addition, she has appeared in concert as a soloist in repertoire ranging from Bach and Mozart to Fauré and Orff, with ensembles such as Musica Antiqua Köln, Il Fondamento, the Ricercar Consort, the Cappella Mediterranea, the Ensemble La Fenice, the La Cetra Baroque Orchestra Basel, Les Talens Lyriques, L’Arpeggiata and Le Concert des Nations, and with artistic directors including Leonardo García Alarcón, Jean Tubéry, Andrea Marcon, Christophe Rousset, Jordi Savall and Christina Pluhar. She has toured to music venues throughout Europe, and to New Zealand, and appeared at New York’s Carnegie Hall.
Since 2019 Céline Scheen has taught singing at the Royal Conservatory in Liège.