AXELLE
FANYO
SOPRANO
AXELLE FANYO
SOPRANO
ABOUT
French soprano Axelle Fanyo “does not only embody a character, she tells us the story. She clearly cultivates the art of communication, which gives her singing another dimension.” (Forum Opera) and is making her mark on both the opera world and in concert halls with her eclectic curiosity and “charismatic, beautiful voice [of] real star quality.” (Renée Fleming) With multiple accolades including the 2021 Nadia and Lili Boulanger Competition grand prize, prestigious Kaleidoscope prize and the Young Artist prize at the International French Song competition, Axelle is without a doubt an artist on the rise.
After studying musicology at the Sorbonne and winning awards as a violinist at the Conservatoire La Courneuve, Axelle Fanyo studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (CNSMDP) with Glenn Chambers and obtained her Master’s Diploma. She also took part in the lyric workshop Opera Fuoco, led by David Stern, and was a member of Renée Fleming’s Song Studio at Carnegie Hall in 2019. The Deutsche Grammophon label invited her to make her first solo recordings (with repertoire including Weill, Ravel and Bolcom) within their Rising Star programme, and she has also been named as a Rising Star for the 2023/24 season in the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) programme, through which she will give a recital tour of around fifteen dates across major European venues including Vienna’s Musikverein, London’s Barbican, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, the Philharmonie de Paris and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.
In 2023/24, in addition to this European recital tour, she will make her debut in two major roles: Tosca at the Théâtre Imperial in Compiègne, then on tour in France, and Verdi’s Luisa Miller at the Opéra Grand Avignon. She will also sing the role of the Mother in the world premiere of Hèctor Parra’s contemporary opera Justice at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. In concert and recital she sings Berg’s Sieben fruhe lieder, Schoenberg’s lieder op.2 and String Quartet No. 2 (L’Abbaye de Royaumont), and narrates Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat, with musicians from the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Samy Rachid.
Recent highlights include her debut at the Philharmonie de Paris singing the title role in Debussy’s La Damoiselle élue with Orchestre de Paris, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. The latter then invited her to sing at Davies Symphony Hall the role of Refka in Kaija Saariaho’s opera Adriana Mater with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, staged by Peter Sellars. She also made her debut at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in a recital with the pianist Julius Drake, whom she will meet again this season for recitals in London and the Canary Islands, sang roles in Martín y Soler’s We are Eternal at Opéra de Massy, roles at Opéra de Dijon and Opéra de Caen; and recitals at the Orangerie du Parc Bagatelle, Festival des Nuits Romantiques, Opéra Comique and Paris Music Factory.
She has also performed with Hervé Niquet and his baroque ensemble Le Concert Spirituel in the comedy ballet Le Malade Imaginaire by Molière/Charpentier in the role of Flore, and the role of La Baronne in the lyrical comedy Les Aventures du Baron de Münchausen created at the Théâtre Imperial in Compiègne then on tour in France. With Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques she sang the role of Juno in La Divisione del Mondo by Legrenzi at the Cologne Philharmonie, the role of Pulcheria in Pallavicino’s Le amazzoni nell’isole fortunate. Her repertoire has also included Fourth Maid in Elektra at Opera de Toulouse and Leila in John Adams’ I was Looking at the Ceiling and then I saw the Sky at Opera de Lyon.
In concert Axelle Fanyo has been heard in Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem and Mahler’s Ruckert lieder with the Orchestre Les Siècles and in repertoire ranging from Respighi’s Il tramonto, Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder and Poulenc’s La Dame de Monte-Carlo. She performs in recital with pianists such as Julius Drake, Tanguy de Williencourt, Kunal Lahiry, and Adriano Spampanato, in venues such as the Wigmore Hall, La Seine Musicale, La Philharmonie de Paris, and the Musée d ‘Orsay. Her recordings include Saint-Saens’ Les Mélodies Persanes for Palazzetto Bru Zane with the Orchestre de Capitole de Toulouse, conducted by Leo Hussain, and several melodies of Henri Duparc for B Records, in association with l’Académie Orsay-Royaumont.
RECENT PRAISE
Olyrix
Emmanuel Deroeux
“Axelle Fanyo plays the Mother of the Dead Child. Immediately moving with her stage presence, she sustains her singing with intensity, offering high notes that are as heartbreaking as they are delicate during the terrible testimony of this helpless woman facing the agony of her daughter covered in acid. The voice is bright and clear, also in Swahili […] very evocative.”
Classique News
Alexandre Pham
(Translation) “A full-bodied, harmonically rich and sumptuous voice, ideally powerful to carry the actress’s eruptive temperament [her high notes at full voice, volcanic] expertly channelled and focused by the very accurate stage direction. The result is a Tosca like never before: intense, ardent, profound, youthful carrying a luminous candor […] Axelle Fanyo infuses the role with an energy and a sincerity that we have rarely listened to or seen on stage. Not only does the young diva play with the power of her instrument but also with her youth, her freshness and even her impulsiveness; in the control and range of feelings expressed, she shapes her trajectory like a born actress, between ease, precision, finesse. It is in every way a dazzling incarnation that should be followed on each date of the upcoming tour.”
Olyrix
Par Soline Heurtebise
“Axelle Fanyo’s voice reminds us how cabaret and opera (but also jazz, gospel and new creations) are not incompatible… [She] combines coordination and impressive breath control, concentrated and sensitive interpretation, emphatic and technically agile phrasing over intonational challenges, serious depth with tangy luminosity, flamboyant and charming… [she] demonstrates great mastery, embodying with complexity not only the scores but also the subject matter of which she sings…”
Renée Fleming
“Axelle Fanyo is very charismatic, beautiful voice, beautiful woman and so fun to talk to….She has real star quality.”
forum Opéra
Brigitte Maroillat
Axelle Fanyo does not only embody a character, she tells us the story. She clearly cultivates the art of saying, which gives her singing another dimension.
Anaclase
Bertrand Bolognesi
The soprano Axelle Fanyo combines the natural authority of the voice with a song of incredible musicality, ideal diction and imperative charisma. Thanks to a perfectly mastered technique that she skilfully puts at the service of the sensitive, the young artist magnifies the poem to a communicative joy.
NEWS
“Choose Your Own Adventure” – Axelle Fanyo & Kunal Lahiry Let Audiences Curate Concert at London’s Barbican on 13 October
ECHO Rising Stars soprano Axelle Fanyo and pianist Kunal Lahiry invite audiences at London’s Barbican Centre to a musical game of “Choose your own adventure”. Their 13 October concert gives the audience the opportunity to curate their perfect programme. The Barbican writes: “Hear one, choose one: Axelle Fanyo invites the
Fleur Barron and Axelle Fanyo Debut with San Francisco Symphony in Saariaho’s ‘Adriana Mater’
The week following the announcement of the passing of iconic Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, the San Francisco Symphony presents staged performances of her 2005 opera Adriana Mater, conducted by their Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, and directed by Peter Sellars, with rising IMG Artists stars Fleur Barron and Axelle Fanyo in the roles of sisters Adriana and
IMG Artists Welcomes Soprano Axelle Fanyo to its Roster for General Management
“Axelle Fanyo is very charismatic, beautiful voice, beautiful woman and so fun to talk to. …She has real star quality.” – Renée Fleming IMG Artists is delighted to welcome the exceptional French soprano Axelle Fanyo to its roster for general management. She will be represented by general manager Matthew Horner,
IMG Artists Welcomes Soprano Axelle Fanyo to its Roster for General Management
“Axelle Fanyo is very charismatic, beautiful voice, beautiful woman and so fun to talk to. …She has real star quality.” – Renée Fleming IMG Artists is delighted to welcome the exceptional French soprano Axelle Fanyo to its roster for general management. She will be represented by general manager Matthew Horner, Executive
CONTACT
MATTHEW A. HORNER
GENERAL MANAGER
+1 212 994 3514
EMAIL
THOMAS WALTON
EUROPEAN MANAGER
+44 (0) 20 7957 5808
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ROMANA JAROFF
NORTH AMERICAN
CONCERT & RECITAL BOOKING
T: +1 212 994 3518
C. +1 646 228 7690
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Marie Kedroff
SENIOR ASSISTANT ARTIST MANAGER
T: +44 (0) 20 7957 5814
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ALEKSANDAR REUPERT
SENIOR ASSISTANT ARTIST MANAGER
+1 212 994 3540
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