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Charlotte Stoppelenburg (alt-mezzo soprano) (1979) and Josefien
Stoppelenburg (soprano) (1981) were born in a family of professional
musicians. They began their career in in a regional children’s
choir, followed by singing in the National Children’s Choir
and the National Youth Choir. They often performed solo in these
choirs.
In 1997, the sisters were the first to win the Prinses Christina
Competition for vocalists. As a result, they toured through America
as soloists with the Haydn Youth String Orchestra. The result
of this cooperation can be heard on CD. Before winning this competition,
they already attracted attention by singing the part of Dido
and Belinda in Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’, both
in the Netherlands and Germany. They performed with the Johan
Willem Friso Chapel and sang parts in ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’
(Donizetti) and Orfeo (Gluck) in the Groningen Summer Opera.
Other concert tours sent them to Venezuela, the United Arab Emirates
and recently to South Africa. |
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Reviews of the 2001 New Year concerts of the Northern Netherlands
Orchestra were without exception favourable. In collaboration
with the National Philharmonic Orchestra (which consists of members
of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra), Charlotte and Josefien
presented their album ‘Unique Harmony of Two Voices’.
Their performances on television in ‘Una Voce Particolare’,
‘De Plantage’ (the plantation) and on Queens Day 2002,
when the Dutch queen visited Meppel, were all noteworthy. Furthermore,
they performed in the series of the ‘Amsterdam Prinsengracht
concerts’. As young talents, they could be heard on Dutch
national radiostations Radio 4 and the so-called Concertstation.
Performances in choirs, orchestras, lunch-time concerts: Charlotte
and Josefien have acquired a lot of concert experience, also
in the oratorio circuit (St.Matthew’s Passion, St. John’s
Passion, Messiah, etc.).
They sang modern music as well. For instance, Charlotte sang
Berio’s ‘Folksongs’ and Ton de Leeuw’s ‘And
they shall reign forever’ in Christofori conducted by Jurjen
Hempel in Amsterdam. In Utrecht, she sang Corean composer Sukhi
Kang’s ‘Buru’, conducted bu Harry Sparnaay. Josefien
participated in the Opera ‘Writing to Vermeer’ by L.Andriessen
and ‘Miroir de Peine’ from H. Andriessen is part of
her repertoire. In addition, they played a major part in productions
of the Van Gogh opera ‘Het Uitstel’ (the delay), written
by her father, Willem Stoppelenburg, and sang pieces specifically
composed for them by various Dutch composers (Westra, Heeringa,
Ziblat, Nederpelt).
They attended various masterclasses, among others of Henk Smit,
Kurt Widmer (in Basel, Switzerland), Julia Hamari (Vienna) and
Birgitte Fassbaender (Kufstein. Austria). |
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Recently, they sang with the orchestra ‘Camarata Amsterdam’
in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Charlotte is also engaged by
Opera Köln to sing in E. Cavalieri’s ‘Rappresentazione
di Corpo et di Anima’ and Ravel’s L’Enfant et
les Sortilèges’, ‘Die Ehe im Kreise’ (E.
Künneke) with the WDR Radio Orchestra. After graduating
from the Academy of Music in Utrecht , she continues her studies
in Köln with Edda Moser and Henner Leyhe. To make this possible,
Charlotte received a grant from the VSB-Bank and the Prins Bernhard
Culture Foundation. Josefien finished her studies in Amsterdam
and is engaged by 'Junge Kammer Oper Köln' .
On Charlotte & Josefien's personal website you will find
more information and also some video fragments .
Source: Charlotte
& Josefien Stoppelenburg |
