Radio 3 - New Generation Artists

Henk Neven (2009-2011)

Henk Neven - baritone

Biography

Henk Neven studied with Maarten Koningsberger and Margreet Honig at the Conservatory of Amsterdam where he graduated in 2003 and also received a diploma from the New Opera Academy in 2002. He has taken part in masterclasses with Graham Johnson, Graham Clark, Rudolf Jansen, Hartmut Höll, Jard van Nes and Robert Holl and is currently a candidate for the coveted Dutch Music Prize.

In winning the 2008 Fortis MeesPierson Award, the jury declared that "Neven has the potential to grow into a sensational artist". In 2009 he was awarded a Borletti-Buitoni Fellowship and from September 2009 he will join the prestigious Radio 3 New Generation Artists Scheme.

In addition to lieder and oratorio Henk Neven has sung in many operas, performing such roles as Marco (Gianni Schicchi), Don Alfonso (Cosí fan tutte), Don Giovanni and Leporello (Don Giovanni), Count (Le nozze di Figaro), Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas), Schaunard (La boheme) (Dijon), Ben (The Telephone) and Mr. Gobineau (The Medium) by Menotti and Mars (Vénus et Adonis) by Desmererst (Nancy), Pollux (Castor et Pollux) and Frère Léon (St. François d'Assise) staged by Pierre Audi which was also recorded for DVD by Opus Arte (Netherlands Opera), Capriccio (Opéra National de Paris) and Morales (Carmen) with Daniel Barenboim (Staatsoper Berlin). He has also appeared at the Grand Théatre de Bordeaux, L'Opéra National de Montpellier, Grand Theatre de Tours, Opéra de Rouen and Het Nederlands Muziektheater, and he has sung Joseph (L'Enfance du Christ) with John Nelson at the Notre Dame in Paris.

He has worked with well-known ensembles such as the Orchestra of the Beethovenhalle, Bonn, Combattimento Consort, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Bachvereniging, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, the Radio Kamer Filharmonie, the Vlaams Radio Orkest, L'Orchestre National de France, L'Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre d'Opéra National de Paris, Staatskapelle Berlin, L'ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Les Concerts Spirituels and Les Talens Lyriques. He has worked with conductors such as Edo de Waart, Jaap van Zweden, Jos van Veldhoven, Jan Willem de Vriend, Hervé Niquet, Emanuel Krivine, Kenneth Montgommery, Joel Levi, Patrick Lange, Paulo Olmi, Armin Jordan, John Nelson, Ed Spanjaard, Marc Soustrot and Christophe Rousset.

Henk Neven has performed in the Festival Oude Muziek in Utrecht and the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam. In the ZaterdagMatinee series in the Concertgebouw, he has sung Vanessa (Barber), Bakchantinen (Wellesz), Jérusalem (Verdi), Flammen (Schulhoff), Roucher (Andrea Chenier), La chute de la maison Usher (Debussy) and in Roméo et Juliette (Gounod)

He has given recitals with cellist Jan Bastiaan Neven and pianist Jelger Blanken as part of the concert series 'Het Debuut' (The Debut). In the Robeco summer series of the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) he performed the title role in Don Giovanni in addition to giving a recital in the Kleine Zaal with pianist Hans Eijsackers. Recently Neven also performed with this pianist in the concert series 'Jonge Nederlanders' in the Concertgebouw and he will make his Wigmore debut in 10-11 also with Eijsackers.

Future engagements include Leporello (Don Giovanni) at De Doelen, Rotterdam, Patrocle (Iphiginie en Aulide) at La Monnaie, Ottokar (Der Freischütz) at the Theater an der Wien, Mercutio (Roméo et Juliette) at De Nederlandse Opéra, Grail Knight (Parsifal) at the Concertgebouw and recitals at the Concertgebouw, La Monnaie and the Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam.

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