mezzo-soprano
Dutch mezzo-soprano Esther Kuiper studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory. Soon after obtaining her jazz master’s degree there she has been coached privately by Marion van den Akker and focused on singing classical repertoire. She has been a member of Silbersee international workplace which gave her the opportunity to specialize in contemporary music too.
She became finalist and laureate of the Nicola Martinucci Competition (2019), the International Vocal Competition ‘s Hertogenbosch (2014), laureate of the Dutch Classical Talent Award 2017, 1st Prize winner at the 2013 Concours Kasteel Doorwerth, Klaas Dijkstra Award winner at the 2012 Peter de Grote Festival in Groningen, and the Audience Award winner at the 2011 Presentation Concert of the Stichting Nederlandse Vocalisten Presentatie.
Esther's velvety sound and versatile musicality allow her to perform opera, oratorio and Lied repertoire from different periods and styles.
Highlights from her engagements include Dritte Dame in Mozarts Die Zauberflöte at Dutch National Opera (2023), Mahler's Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen at TivoliVredenburg (2023), Waltraute in Wagner's Walküre under Jaap van Zweden (Zaterdagmatinee November 2019), Pastorkyña/Barena in Janáčeks Jenufa and Dimitri in Giordano's Fedora (NTR Zaterdagmatinee 2021), Zulma in Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri and Glasa in Janáčeks Kát’a Kabanová (NTR Zaterdagmatinee 2022) , Mrs. Segstrom in Sondheim's A Little Night Music at De Nederlandse Reisopera (2019), Dritte Dame in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at La Monnaie in Brussels (2018), Verdi’s Requiem with NedPhO (2018) and with the Verdi Concert Choir Japan (2019), La Contessa di Ceprano at Dutch National Opera in Verdi's Rigoletto (2017) and the role of Youngest Daughter in Trauernacht - a music theatre performance with music by J.S. Bach, with Katie Mitchell and Raphael Pichon (Aix-en-Provence Festival production, Philharmonie de Paris, 2015),
Her extensive concert repertoire comprises Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Christmas Oratorio, (a.o. with the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra), Mozart's Requiem and Mass in C minor, Verdi's Requiem, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle and Stabat Mater and Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, Rückert Lieder and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. This season she appears regularly as a soloist in concerts live on Dutch national radio, performing works as Haydn’s Schöpfungsmesse and Beethoven 9.
She performed as a soloist under the baton of Jaap van Zweden, Markus Stenz, Riccardo Minasi Peter Whelan, Patrick Lang, Carlo Rizzi, Antonello Manacorda, Vahan Mardirossian, Ben Glassberg, Raphael Pichon, Ed Spanjaard, Martin Wright, Pieter-Jelle de Boer, Gijs Leenaars, Philipp von Steinaecker, Giacarlo Andretta, Karina Canellakis, Giampaolo Bisanti, Kenneth Montgomery, Daniël Reuss and Ryan Bancroft.