Lenneke Ruiten
The soprano Lenneke Ruiten studied voice with Maria Rondel and Meinard Kraak in the Hague and opera at the Bavarian Theatre Academy in Munich. She also had classes with Elly Ameling, Robert Holl, Hans Hotter, Robert Tear and Walter Berry. In 2002 Lenneke won five prizes at the International Vocal Competition in’s-Hertogenbosch, including the first prize and the audience prize.
Lenneke Ruiten made her debut as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro in Munich. With the Nationale Reisopera she sang Yniold in Pelléas et Mélisande and Ksenia in Boris Godunov. At the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival she sang Blondchen in Die Entführung and in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam she sang Elisa in Il re pastore and Mme Herz in Der Schauspieldirektor.
In 2008 she made a very successful debut with the Netherlands Opera, singing Falke and the Hüter der Schwelle in Richard Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten. During the Holland Festival in 2009 Lenneke sang with the Netherlands Opera again, now in the role of Gabriel in the world premiere of Rob Zuidam’s opera Adam in Ballingschap. In 2009 she made her debut at the festival of Beaune as Despina in Cosi van Tutte with Le Cercle de l’Harmonie conducted by Jérémy Rhorer and as Armida in Rinaldo with Accademia Bizantina conducted by Ottavio Dantone. In 2010 she made her debut as Pamina in The Magic Flute at the Opéra de Lausanne, where she will perform again in 2011 in the role of Almirena in Handel’s Rinaldo.
Lenneke is also in great demand as a concert soloist. She has worked with orchestras and ensembles such as the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Bach Choir, the Dresden Baroque Orchestra and the NDR Radio Philharmonic, with conductors including Frans Brüggen, Alessandro de Marchi, Arnold Östman and Ed Spanjaard, and has performed in the major concert halls of Europe.
In addition to opera and concert singing, Lenneke Ruiten has a special passion for Lieder. She works with the pianists Thom Janssen and Rudolf Jansen. In 2005 her CD ‘Mélodies Françaises’ appeared, to wide acclaim. In 2010 a CD will appear of Lenneke Ruiten singing concert arias and Exsultate Jubilate by Mozart, with the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra conducted by Ed Spanjaard (PentaTone).
Future projects: Bach’s Mass in B Minor with John Eliot Gardiner in Dortmund, Frankfurt, La Coruna, Leipzig, Aldeburgh, and at the Brighton Festival and the Prague Spring Festival; Bach Solo Cantatas with John Eliot Gardiner during the Schleswig-Holstein Festival; concerts in the Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Rome, Hamburg, Warsaw and Munich.