MEZZO-SOPRANO | ALTO
Olivia Vermeulen
Representation: World
- Alexander Brunner
- +43 (0)5 06 80-011
- brunner@machreich-artists.com
- Press enquiries & artist material | Saul Rigg
- +43 (0)5 06 80-010
- rigg@machreich-artists.com
GALLERY
BIOGRAPHY
Dutch mezzo-soprano Olivia Vermeulen has established herself as one of the outstanding artists on today’s classical music scene. Whether on the opera stage or the concert platform, her performances are distinguished by an exceptional stylistic range, spanning from early music to works of the twenty-first century.
A renowned soloist in Bach’s Passions, she is regularly invited to perform with ensembles and orchestras including the Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and Residentie Orkest. Her artistic partnerships also encompass ensembles such as Bach Collegium Japan, Le Concert des Nations, B’Rock Orchestra and La Cetra Barockorchester Basel, while further appearances have taken her to the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. She made her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in Mozart’s Mass in C minor under Daniel Harding.
Contemporary music occupies an equally important place in her artistic life. She has appeared at the Ruhrtriennale and Holland Festival in Philippe Manoury’s Kein Licht, performed with Musikfabrik Köln under Peter Eötvös at Musikfest Berlin, and sang the role of Saiko in the world premiere of Thomas Larcher’s debut opera Das Jagdgewehr at the Bregenz Festival. Further highlights include the world premiere of songs by Wolfgang Rihm at the Kissinger Sommer festival and her appearance as Idris in John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw under the composer’s direction.
On the operatic stage, Olivia Vermeulen has appeared at the Berlin State Opera in Steffani’s L’Amor vien dal destino and Vivaldi’s Il Giustino, and made her house debut at the Opéra national de Paris as Abel in Alessandro Scarlatti’s Il primo omicidio. She has also performed Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at the Opernhaus Zürich and made her role debuts as Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) and Dorabella (Così fan tutte) with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra under René Jacobs.
Highlights of the past season included her debuts at the Vienna Musikverein in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Dutch and Swiss premieres of Cimarosa’s L’Olimpiade with La Cetra Barockorchester Basel, a major European tour of Vivaldi’s Il Giustino with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, and Jommelli’s rarely performed Didone abbandonata at the Ludwigsburg Festival. Another major milestone was her acclaimed role debut as Waltraute in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung as part of the “Wagner Cycles” project initiated by the Dresden Music Festival under Kent Nagano, with concert performances in Dresden, Bayreuth, Hamburg and Cologne.
Current highlights in the 2026-27 season continue to showcase the breadth of her repertoire, be it with Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, a tour of Beethoven’s Missa solemnis under Jordi Savall (also documented in a recording on the Alia Vox label), or Mendelssohn’s Elijah at Barcelona’s Palau de la Música.
Over the course of her career, Olivia Vermeulen has collaborated with distinguished conductors including Giovanni Antonini, Alessandro De Marchi, Iván Fischer, Reinhard Goebel, Daniel Harding, Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, Marek Janowski, Andrea Marcon, Kent Nagano, Tomáš Netopil, Michael Schønwandt, Markus Stenz, and Masaaki and Masato Suzuki. She has also appeared at major festivals such as the Bregenz Festival, Holland Festival, Munich Opera Festival, Rheingau Music Festival, Festival RheinVokal, Musikfest Stuttgart and the Handel Festival in Halle.
Song repertoire forms another important pillar of her artistic activity. Her acclaimed solo album Dirty Minds, awarded both the German Record Critics’ Annual Prize and the Edison Klassiek Award, led to appearances with her long-standing recital partner Jan Philip Schulze at venues including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Oxford Lieder Festival, the International Lied Festival Zeist and deSingel in Antwerp. She subsequently completed the trilogy with the albums Hello Darkness and In Heaven, both released by Challenge Records and recorded with Jan Philip Schulze. Numerous further radio and commercial recordings document the versatility of her artistry.
2026 | 2027
This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorized by artist management.
DISCOGRAPHY
In Heaven
Songs by Schubert, Mahler, Stockhausen, Rebecca Clarke, Grace Slick, David Bowie, and more
Olivia Vermeulen, mezzo-soprano
Jan Philip Schulze, piano
Label: Challenge Records International | November 2025
Hello Darkness
Songs by Claudio Monteverdi, Billie Eilish, Franz Schubert, Nick Cave, George Crumb et al.
Olivia Vermeulen, Mezzosopran
Jan Philip Schulze, Klavier
Label: Challenge Records International | 2022
Ludwig van Beethoven: Missa Solemnis op.123
Lina Johnson, Olivia Vermeulen, Martin Platz, Manuel Walser
La Capella Nacional de Catalunya, Le Concert des Nations
Conductor: Jordi Savall
Label: AliaVox, DDD, 2022
Dirty Minds
Songs by Purcell, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Schönberg, Berg, Eisler et al.
Olivia Vermeulen, mezzo-soprano
Jan Philip Schulze, piano
Label: Challenge Records International | 2020
VIDEOS
CALENDAR
Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Love Song Waltzes, Op. 52
New Love Song Waltzes, Op. 65
Robert Schumann (1810–1856)
Spanish Song Cycle, Op. 74
Lydia Teuscher, soprano
Olivia Vermeulen, mezzo-soprano
Martin Mitterrutzner, tenor
Tobias Berndt, baritone
Jan Philip Schulze, piano
Alexander Fleischer, piano
In Heaven (Songs for a Trip to Space)
Olivia Vermeulen, mezzo-soprano
Jan Philip Schulze, piano
Thomas Hobbs, Judas Maccabaeus
Matthias Winckhler, Simon
Suzanne Jerosme, Israelitish Woman
Olivia Vermeulen, Israelitish Man:
Jaro Kirchgessner, Priest
Holger Speck, musical direction
Vocalensemble Rastatt
Les Favorites
Niccolò Jommelli: “Didone abbandonata,” an opera in three acts
Jone Martínez, Didone
Maayan Licht, Aeneas
Olivia Vermeulen, Selene
Valerio Contaldo, Iarba
Leandro Marziotte, Araspe
Suzanne Jerosme, Osmida
Nina Brazier, Stage Design
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Francesco Corti, Musical Director
Niccolò Jommelli: “Didone abbandonata,” an opera in three acts
Jone Martínez, Didone
Maayan Licht, Aeneas
Olivia Vermeulen, Selene
Valerio Contaldo, Iarba
Leandro Marziotte, Araspe
Suzanne Jerosme, Osmida
Nina Brazier, Stage Design
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Francesco Corti, Musical Director
CONTACT
Representation: World
- Alexander Brunner
- +43 (0)5 06 80-011
- brunner@machreich-artists.com
- und Press enquiries & artist material | Saul Rigg
- +43 (0)5 06 80-010
- rigg@machreich-artists.com
