Hebe de Champeaux is a Dutch/American conductor, mezzo-soprano and violinist, and the artistic director of Ensemble42 and Vocal Ensemble A'dam24. She completed her Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance cum laude from San Francisco State University, where she received extensive instruction in chamber music from the Alexander String Quartet. She then received her Master of Music in orchestral conducting from Indiana University Bloomington and a Bachelor of Music in Choral Conducting from the Conservatory of Amsterdam. She finished her final conducting studies with an orchestral and choral program including Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps, the Symphony of Psalms, and the motet Singet dem Herrn by J.S. Bach. She studied orchestral conducting with Imre Pallo, Thomas Baldner, Yair Samet and choral conducting with Jos Vermunt and Jos van Veldhoven. She studied singing with Hein Meens, Pierre Mak, James McCray, Esther Linssen, Capucine Chiaudani and Ira Siff. In 2007 she was the winner of the Jury's Prize at the Bela Bartok International Opera Conducting Competition and in 2009 she received an Honorable Mention from the Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship for female conductors. She was the Graduate Assistant for the IU Opera Theater 2004-2005 season including the operas Tosca, Les Dialogues des Carmélites, die Zauberflöte, La Bohême, and La Cenerentola. She has also been an active participant in conducting masterclasses with Kurt Masur (Beethoven masterclass in Bonn), Jorma Panula (Amsterdam, Budapest, Helsinki), Boris Hinchev (opera in Bulgaria), Colin Metters (St. Petersburg) as well as in early music vocal workshops with Rebecca Stewart, Adrian van der Spoel and Gabriel Garrido. Hebe participated in the 1st International Ferenc Fricsay Conducting Competition in September of 2023. She was selected for the 3rd edition of La Maestra International Competition for Women Conductors in March 2024. Hebe was guest conductor/violinist at the Romanian Opera House in Cluj at the production of Piazzolla's tango opera Maria de Buenos Aires in 2008, having previously performed the same production in Bloomington in 2006 with her own ensemble, ExArt. In the Netherlands she conducted the Promenade Orchestra, Continuo Rotterdam and Florilegium Musicum in collaboration with several major oratorio choirs. Abroad she conducted the St.Petersburg State Academic Orchestra during a masterclass and performance of Mahler's 5th Symphony and the Bulgarian State Opera during a masterclass and performance of Puccini's Madame Butterfly. She has conducted several programs with the professional new music ensemble Orkest de Ereprijs, and she conducted the MÁV Symphony Orchestra during a masterclass and concert with Jorma Panula in 2022. Hebe has been working as a freelance conductor in the Netherlands since 2009. She has given hundreds of concerts in the last decade embracing many styles and ensemble configurations spanning from small chamber choirs to enormous productions with symphonic orchestra and multi-choral collaborations. She excels at initiating collaborations between her various ensembles and encouraging partnerships. She has conducted the following ensembles ranging from contracts of up to 15 years to small projects: Audite Nova Kamerkoor, Ensemble TIEN, the Leiden English Choir, Decamerone Kamerkoor, Sonante Symfonisch Orkest van de Gelders Vallei, Apeldoorns Symfonieorkest, Leeuwarder Kamerkoor, VU Kamerkoor, Toonkunstkoor Amsterdam, Haarlems Gemengd Koor, COV IJmuiden, the Schütz Ensemble, Cantiamo Vrouwenkoor and Vocaal Ensemble Boxmeer. She also sings with the professional chamber choirs Cappella Amsterdam and Studium Chorale, the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir, the Netherlands Chamber Choir, and the professional vocal quartet, Hollands Collectief. Hebe loves working with children and is passionate about encouraging a new generation of musicians to hone and expand their talents. She teaches at Jonge Strijkers Nederland, Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam, Leerorkest, and the Amsterdam Music School. |