About
Marion Bauwens, young soprano from Ghent, started her musical education at the age of 5 at the VEM vzw in Ghent, Belgium. After several years of violin lessons with Inge Aelvoet, Marion discovered singing, which immediately became a real passion. She began her vocal training with Jolien de Gendt. She discovered opera in 2009, taking her first steps on the stage of La Monnaie with the Maîtrise de La Monnaie (dir. Denis Meunier). She then moved on to La Choraline, the youth choir at La Monnaie (conducted by Benoît Giaux), where she remained until she was 18.
Thanks to her many years at the opera, Marion decided to study singing with Benoît Giaux, Elise Gäbele & Ana-Camelia Stefanescu at the IMEP in Namur. During these studies she made her solo debut in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen at La Monnaie in 2017, conducted by Antonello Manacorda/Christophe Coppens. Since obtaining her Master’s degree, she has been perfecting her vocal technique with Hélène Bernardy, Sophie Koch, Stéphane Degout, Angelique Noldus and Patrizia Ciofi.
In October 2021 Marion won the Soroptimist International Prize at the Raymond Duffault Concours Opéra Jeunes Espoirs at the Avignon Opera. Then in 2022 she won 3rd prize and the Audience Prize at the2nd Rita Gorr International Opera Competition.
Since September 2022 Marion joined the MMSoloist programme at La Monnaie in Brussels. This programme aims to launch the young opera soloists of tomorrow. A year later she also becomes an artist-in-residence at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth.
Outside of opera, she has already appeared as soloist in Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne at the Bijloke (Ghent) and in Valencia, as well as in Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem.
On the operastage Marion interpreted “Stella” at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie (Liège) in 2022, lead female role in Le Dernier Sorcier by Pauline Viardot.In 2023 Marion was cover in the creation of Cassandra by Bernard Foccroulle at La Monnaie and sang the role of Papagena in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Midsummer Mozartiades in Brussels.
She opens the season 2024-2025 with ‘Annina’ in G. Verdi’s La Traviata at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie. In December she was reinvited at La Monnaie to perform the role of ‘Paulina’ in Fanny and Alexander, the world premiere of Mikael Karlsson’s new opera.
