Sophie Claisse Soprano

Chorus of the Opera

After completing her classical studies in History, Geography and Art History at the University of Nancy and obtaining her Masters with Honours, Sophie Claisse embraced her passion for singing and entered the Conservatoire national supérieur in Nancy in the voice class of Jacqueline Brumaire and the drama class of Christiane Stutzmann. She won two gold medals in 1984 and 1986. 

In 1989, she joined the chorus of the Nantes Opera where she was also asked to perform a number of solo roles, including Annina (La Traviata) and the Heavenly Voice (Mireille), etc. 

In 1995, she joined the Paris Opera Chorus. As such, she has participated in all the productions on the stages of the Opera Bastille and the Palais Garnier, under the direction of some of the greatest conductors in France and around the world, including Sir Georg Solti, Georges Prêtre, Seiji Ozawa, Kent Nagano, etc. She has regularly been cast in small cameo roles: The Ghost (Macbeth), a maidservant (Die Frau Ohne Schatten), a nun (Dialogues des carmélites), etc.

In 2000, under the direction of James Levine, she performed the solo voice from Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance for the live presentation of the cartoon Fantasia 2000 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. A prizewinner at the Cesson-Sévigné operetta competition and a finalist at the UFAM competition in 1997, she also specialises in that repertoire, performing, among others, the roles of Aspasie (Christiné’s Phi-Phi) and Mi (The Land of Smiles).