Chœur de Chambre de Namur, Millenium Orchestra & Thibaut Lenaerts
Biography Chœur de Chambre de Namur, Millenium Orchestra & Thibaut Lenaerts
Caroline Weynants
is a Belgian soprano specialising in baroque music. She is renowned for her many collaborations with top-quality international ensembles and her extensive discography. Trained at the Conservatoire Royal de Liège (Belgium), where she obtained a Higher Singing Diploma (2003) as well as a First Prize in Chamber Music, she worked on all repertoires, from early music to contemporary music.
In 1998 she joined the Namur Chamber Choir (Centre d'Art Vocal & de Musique Ancienne - CAV&MA), where she forged her career as a choral singer and soloist under the direction of renowned conductors such as M. Minkowski, S. Kuijken, J. Tubéry, J-C. Malgloire, G. Van Waas, F. Bernius, P. Dombrecht, P. Davin, Ph. Pierlot, L. García Alarcón. She has performed with the finest European baroque music ensembles: La Fenice (J. Tubéry), Les Agrémens (G. Van Waas), Il Fondamento (P. Dombrecht), Il Gardellino (M. Ponseele, Jan de Winne), Cappella Mediterranea (L. García Alarcón), Lauda Musica, La grande chapelle (A. Recasens), Les Muffatti, Correspondances (S. Daucé) and Vox Luminis (L. Meunier).
These collaborations have given rise to a number of recordings, including C.P.E. Bach: Lukas Passion with Il Fondamento, or Grétry: Céphale et Procris with Les Agrémens; Bach: Desire - Cantatas 32, 49 & 154 with Il Gardellino or Falvetti: Il diluvio Universale or Nabucco with L. Garcia Alarcòn. Charpentier's Sacred Stories with Correspondances, Handel's Dixit Dominus with Vox Luminis, and much more!
Caroline Weynants has sung at numerous festivals in Europe - the Ambronay festival, the Beaune baroque opera festival, the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, the Bourg-en-Bresse festival, Lyon, Lessay, Sablé, La Chaise Dieu, Périgueux. In Belgium, at the Flanders and Wallonia festivals; and at festivals and major venues in Spain, Italy, Germany, England, Canada and the United States.
Thibaut Lenaerts
A graduate of the Royal Conservatories of Liège and Mons, Thibaut Lenaerts began his career with the great European Baroque ensembles as a soloist and singer, including La Chapelle Royale, Le Concert Spirituel, Les Arts Florissants and Les Musiciens du Louvre, under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe, Hervé Niquet, William Christie and Marc Minkowski.
He is an active member of the Chœur de chambre de Namur as a singer and ensemble coach. Since 2014, he has been assistant to conductor Leonardo Garcia Alarcon. At the latter's request, he has been appointed conductor at the Opéra national de Paris for the 2019 production of Les Indes Galantes. For the Chœur de chambre de Namur, he also assists various conductors, including Christophe Rousset for, among others, the complete recordings of Lully's operas.
He is also choral director of Les Arts Florissants for various productions (Handel's L'Allegro, Bach's St John Passion, Campra's Requiem). In June 2024, Thibaut Lenaerts will conduct Mitridate in Brussels for the Mozartiades. Thibaut Lenaerts teaches at the Royal Conservatories of Brussels and Liège. He has taken part in some sixty recordings.
With Philippe Riga (Erard piano), he has recorded an album devoted to the melodies of Fauré (Muso / Alpha label), as well as an album devoted to the choral works of César Franck, in which he conducts the Chœur de chambre de Namur (Musique en Wallonie label). This summer, he will conduct and record a previously unreleased version of Fauré's Requiem with the Chœur de chambre de Namur for the Ricercar label.
