About

Canadian mezzo-soprano Mireille Lebel grew up in Vancouver and is based in Berlin. She sings leading roles for lyric mezzo in opera houses internationally. While continuing to add roles to her core repertoire, she produces and creates musical projects. In 2020 she co-founded the artistic collective Crown The Muse in Berlin with frequent collaborator, the soprano/pianist Rachel Fenlon. They were awarded a Canada Council Grant for their first collaboration, a staged two woman opera directed by Bruno Ravella.

Mireille graduated with a Bachelor of Music from the University of Toronto and a Master of Music from l’Université de Montréal and is the recipient of grants from the Canada Council, the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation, and the Deutscher Musikrat. Following her tenure as a young artist at the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montreal, a grant from the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques sent her on an audition tour to Germany. She was engaged at Theater Erfurt where she became a member of the ensemble for 5 years singing roles such as Sesto (Clemenza di Tito), Orlovsky (Die Fledermaus), Haensel (Haensel und Gretel), and Idamante (Idomeneo).

Once the fest contract in Erfurt was complete, Berlin captured her imagination and Mireille relocated there as a freelance artist. Since then, she has worked in opera and concert with theatres in Europe and North America including Opera Atelier, Narodni Divadlo Praha, Theater Basel, Opera Theatre de Metz, Opera de Nancy, Opera de Nice, Vancouver Opera, Schwetzingen SWR Festspiele, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival, Les Violons du Roy, Collegium 1704, and the Houston Symphony. Her roles include Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier (recorded for BR Klassik at Staatstheater Nuernberg and conducted by Joana Mallwitz) Elle in La Voix Humaine (recorded for Vancouver Opera’s digital season 2020), Charlotte in Werther (recorded for Culture Box and French television), Nicklausse in Les contes d’Hoffmann, the title role in Carmen, Penelope in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria, Siébel in Faust, Nerone in L’incoronazione di Poppea, the title role in Gluck’s Orfeo, and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro. She has worked as a soloist with conductors Joana Mallwitz, Christoph Eschenbach, Bernard Labadie, Hervé Niquet, Jonathan Darlington, Jacques Lacombe, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, and regularly performs the music of composer Samy Moussa. She has recorded 7 opera discs with the Boston Early Music Festival on the CPO Radio Bremen label, including the 2015 Grammy Winner La descente d’Orphée aux enfers, and continues to collaborate with them on live and recorded baroque opera projects.