Belgium’s Ivan Thirion has had a great career in two countries. Now he will show just how strong those nations’ ability to create a new star is when he appears at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2017.

Short Bio

The baritone was born in Belgium and studied at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels before shooting over to Switzerland to do some work at the Geneva University of Music. He has won a number of major prizes in St. Petersburg and Amsterdam and was a member of the International Opera Studio of the Zurich Opera, where he took on such operas as “Turandot,” “La Fanciulla del West,” “Adriane auf Naxos,” and “Orlando Paladino.”

Major Performances and Roles

His operatic debut came as Papageno in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” at the Opéra de Wallonie. He subsequently appeared in Marseille, Avignon, and Montpellier in “Le Nozze di Figaro” and “Die Fledermaus.” He has taken on roles in “Lucia di Lammermoor” in Liège and “Der Barber von Sevilla für Kinder” at Salzburg, and has toured around the world, including performances in China.

Here he performs a selection from “Le Nozze di Figaro.”