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The Belgian counter-tenor, Pieter De Praetere, was born into a musical family. At the age of 10, he started following voice training with Pascal Devreese in Ronse. At the age of 16 he moved to counter-tenor Steve Dugardin in Antwerp. During his studies in Literary Studies at Ghent University, he took lessons from Hilde Coppé. Shortly afterwards he moved to the Royal Conservatory of Brussels with Lena Lootens.
As a soloist Pieter De Praetere mainly focuses on Baroque music. He is also a much sought-after figure in musical theatre. As a soloist, he has built up a solid repertoire. For example, he performed the solo roles in George Frideric Handel's Messiah, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, and a significant portion of cantatas, motets and oratorios by J.S. Bach. Purcell, Antonio Vivaldi and other contemporaries are also often on the program. He has performed on stages at home and abroad. Among others, Pieter sings with the ensembles Musica Gloria (Directors: Beniamino Paganini & Nele Vertommen), Il Gardellino (Director: Marcel Ponseele), B'Rock, Ensemble BachPlus (Director: Bart Naessens), Apotheosis, Il Fondamento (Director: Paul Dombrecht), etc.
He has been working intensively with Beniamino Paganini and Nele Vertommen of the Musica Gloria ensemble for several years. Together they have already completed several successful European tours. In 2020 they recorded music by A. Vivaldi and Purcell that was well received by the public and in the media. This season they will again be performing together on national and international stages and in the recording studio.
Pieter De Praetere is also active in the opera world. He made his debut at the Bayreuth Baroque Festival in 2021 with B'Rock and Bart Naessens in G.F. Handel's Judas Maccabeus. In the Reaktorhalle in Munich he played the antagonist Pierre in Leon Zmelty’s contemporary opera Invitation to a Beheading, based on the novella by Vladimir Nabokov. With the Orchester Royal de Wallonie he played the role of Farnace in W.A. Mozart's Mitridate, Re di Ponto at the Midsummer Mozartiade Festival. In 2026, Pieter will make his debut with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in the opera Meryem by director Haider Al Timimi.
In addition to his work at home and abroad as a classical singer, Pieter De Praetere is a much sought-after figure in the Flemish theater landscape. His role in the epic folk opera Wij, De Verdronkenen at Wintervuur Antwerp, the Oerol Festival (Netherlands), Marstal (Denmark) and Theater aan Zee Ostend did not go unnoticed. With Muziektheater Broder he has been touring Belgium for years with poetic family performances with and about classical music (Franzerl, Babushka, Seaking…) |
