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The Dutch baritone, Henk Neven, studied with Maarten Koningsberger and Margreet Honig at the Conservatory of Amsterdam where he graduated cum laude in 2003. In 2002 he received a diploma cum laude from the New Opera Academy. He followed master-classes with Graham Johnson, Graham Clark, Rudolf Jansen, Hartmut Höll and Jard van Nes and is now regularly coached by Margreet Honig and Robert Holl. In winning the 2008 Fortis MeesPierson Award, the jury declared that "Neven has the potential to grow into a sensational artist". In 2009 Henk Neven was awarded a Borletti-Buitoni Fellowship and joined the prestigious Radio 3 New Generation Artists Scheme. In April 2011 Neven received the Dutch Music Prize ('Nederlandse Muziekprijs'), the highest honor that the Ministry of Culture can award to a classical musician.
Henk Neven made his professional debut in 2004. In addition to lieder and oratorio, he has sung in many operas, performing such roles as Marco in Gianni Schicchi, Don Giovanni and Leporello in Don Giovanni, Count in Le nozze di Figaro, Phorbas in Oedipe, Patrocle in Iphiginie en Aulide, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, Donald in Billy Budd, Schaunard in La boheme, Morales in Carmen, Ben in The Telephone and Mr. Gobineau in The Medium, Mars in Vénus et Adonis, Pollux in Castor et Pollux and Frère Léon in St. François d’Assise, staged by Pierre Audi which was also recorded for DVD by Opus Arte (De Nederlandse Opera). He has appeared at the Opéra National de Paris, La Monnaie, Staatsoper Berlin Unter den Linden, Theater an der Wien, Le Duo de Dijon, Grand Théatre de Bordeaux, L’Opéra National de Montpellier, Grand Theatre de Tours, Opéra de Rouen and De Nederlandse Opera. In the Notre Dame in Paris he sung the role of Joseph in L’Enfance du Christ by Hector Berlioz, conducted by John Nelson.
Henk Neven has worked with well-known ensembles such as the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Vlaams Radio Orkest, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre d’Opéra National de Paris, Staatskapelle Berlin, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Les Concerts Spirituels and Les Talens Lyriques. He has worked with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Armin Jordan, Emanuel Krivine, Patrick Lange, Joel Levi, Marc Minkowski, Kenneth Montgomery, John Nelson, Hervé Niquet, Paulo Olmi, Christophe Rousset, Marc Soustrot, Ed Spanjaard, Jos van Veldhoven, Jan Willem de Vriend, Edo de Waart, and Jaap van Zweden.
Henk Neven has performed in the Festival Oude Muziek in Utrecht, Operadagen Rotterdam, Gergiev Festival and is a regular guest in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In the NTR ZaterdagMatinee series in the Concertgebouw he performed Vanessa (Samuel Barber), Requiem (Gabriel Fauré), Bakchantinen (Wellesz), Jérusalem (Verdi), Flammen (Schulhoff), Andrea Chenier (Giordano), La chute de la maison Usher (Debussy) and Roméo et Juliette (Charles Gounod). During the 2004-2005 season Neven gave 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 he performed the title role in W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni in addition to singing in the concert series 'Jonge Nederlanders' in the Kleine Zaal with pianist Hans Eijsackers.
Recent engagements included recital debuts at the City of London Festival, Cheltenham Festival and the BBC Proms. In 2011 Henk Neven also sung recitals in the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), La Monnaie (Brussels), Beurs van Berlage (Amsterdam), Musée d’Orsay (Paris) and made his debut in Wigmore Hall, London, and the Sage, Gateshead. Upcoming highlights include the world premiere of Marijn Simons’ 4th Symphony, J.S. Bach’s Matthäus-Passion (BWV 244) with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, recitals in London (Wigmore Hall), Scotland and the Netherlands and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with Opéra de Marseille.
Henk Neven’s first commercial album, 'Auf einer Burg' with Lieder by Robert Schumann and Carl Loewe, received much critical acclaim and was nominated for the prestigious Gramophone Award. Among his pupils: Elvire Beekhuizen (Soprano), Andreas Goetze (Bass-Baritone). |
