Solene Le Van

Biography

Born in Colmar, France, 24-year-old soprano Solène Le Van has been recognized as “nothing short of amazing” (Norman Lebrecht,  SlippedDisc) and a “peerless soloist” (Rafael de Acha, All About the Arts). 

In Fall 2022, Le Van will make her European concert debut at the Musikverein in Vienna, sharing the stage with Alan Glassman and Elena Mosuc. She will also present an aria from Die Feen in Bayreuth at the Markgräfliches Opernhaus. At the Festival des Voix & des Merveilles in Breil-sur-Roya, France, she will sing as the Waldvogel in Siegfried and repeat the role of Marie in La fille du régiment, following her acclaimed debut in the role with Opera Buffs in Los Angeles in May 2022. Ms. Le Van’s other European engagements with orchestra include gala concerts under the auspices of Opera Classica Europa in Germany and Opéra Nice Côte d'Azur in France. The Grand Prize Winner of the opera division in the Classicalia - Global Televised Music Competition, she will record a performance feature for PBS this fall and perform with orchestra at the Vienna Konzerthaus in June 2023.

Upon her return to the States, Ms. Le Van will sing as a soloist with the Burbank Philharmonic as a Grand Prize Winner of the Hennings Fischer Foundation. In the 2023-2024 season, she will make her role debut as Leıl̈a in Les pêcheurs de perles with Opera Classica Europa and feature in a production of Otello inaugurating the newly formed Opera Orchestra of San Francisco as Desdemona. The cast will include tenors Issachah Savage, Limmie Pulliam, & Jon Morell as Otello on alternating nights and baritone Michael Chioldi as Iago. 

The soprano soloist in the American premiere of Handel’s 1741 Messiah, she has previously performed with the Young Musicians Foundation, the Hollywood Chamber Orchestra, and the Malaga Philharmonic in Spain. A prizewinner of the Metropolitan Opera Council (2nd Prize Midwest / Joyce Castle Award) and the French Embassy (Cultural Services Award), Solène has won eighteen national and eight international competitions, including the Concours Léopold Bellan in Paris, the Ise-Shima Competition in Japan, the Danubia Liszt Contest in Budapest, and Classical Singer. 

Acclaimed in Pizzicato Magazine for her “excitingly performed” collaboration with conductor José Serebrier as an artist for Reference Records, Solène will soon release her debut recording of French mélodies by Reynaldo Hahn and Émile Paladilhe with pianist Eric Le Van for Centaur Records, featuring recording premieres. She is a graduate of Princeton University in music and literature and the recipient of highest honors from the Royal College of Music, London, in voice and violin. She held the title of Associate Instructor at the Indiana Jacobs School of Music, where she studied with Carlos Montané. Le Van is the co-founder of the Jon Fredric West Vocal Academy with her long-time mentor, heldentenor Jon Fredric West.