The Opéra Studio

Training for excellence in Colmar

Artists of the Opéra Studio are selected from the most promising candidates from around the world. Based in Colmar, they spend one or two years honing their skills and technique through a practical curriculum that includes master classes and coaching in a variety of disciplines. This first-class training program caters to the needs of the modern stage and aims to get the artists of each intake started in the professional world.

Participation throughout the season

The young artists-in-training of the Opéra Studio have the chance to perform alongside professionals and work with leading directors and conductors. This season, the singers and pianists have performed in the world premiere of the children's opera Moon Dreamers and in the opera The Child and the Spells on tour around the Grand Est region. They have presented also a series of recitals in the Lyrical Breaks program. As for the young conductor, she has been the assistant on several productions and led the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg in a public performance of Braunfel's The Birds.

Musical director

Sandrine Abello is a graduate of the École normale de musique de Paris and the conservatories of Nîmes and Aix-en-Provence. She began her career as a conductor at the Avignon Opera. She then successively joined the teams of the Toulon-Méditerranée Opera, then the Angers Nantes Opera. She is in charge of vocal studies and production at the Dijon Opera. She opened the way to a collaboration between the Jean-Philippe Rameau Conservatory and the Dijon Opera by offering the students of the singing class the opportunity to participate in several opera productions. Particularly interested in skill sharing, she created the Ars Nemausa association, including the Académie de Thil, wich is dedicated to the training of young singers. Her career then turned to choral conducting, at Angers Nantes Opéra and then at the Opéra national du Rhin from 2013 to 2018. Here, she initiated a training program for young singers in collaboration with the Strasbourg Academy of Music. In 2017 she succeeded Ekaterina Nikolova at the music college of the consultative commission for the attribution of deconcentrated aids to the performing arts, Grand Est region. Until July 2021, she is choirmaster at the Opéra de Tours. She has worked with young soloists in training such as Angélique Boudeville, Mathias Vidal, Julien Behr and Julien Dran as well as with established artists such as Joyce Di Donato and Michael Spyres. She collaborates with conductors such as Jeffrey Tate, Myung Whun Chung and John Nelson. In December 2020, she was named Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In August 2021, she joined the Opéra national du Rhin as musical director of the Opéra Studio.

Musical director

Sandrine Abello is a graduate of the École normale de musique de Paris and the conservatories of Nîmes and Aix-en-Provence. She began her career as a conductor at the Avignon Opera. She then successively joined the teams of the Toulon-Méditerranée Opera, then the Angers Nantes Opera. She is in charge of vocal studies and production at the Dijon Opera. She opened the way to a collaboration between the Jean-Philippe Rameau Conservatory and the Dijon Opera by offering the students of the singing class the opportunity to participate in several opera productions. Particularly interested in skill sharing, she created the Ars Nemausa association, including the Académie de Thil, wich is dedicated to the training of young singers. Her career then turned to choral conducting, at Angers Nantes Opéra and then at the Opéra national du Rhin from 2013 to 2018. Here, she initiated a training program for young singers in collaboration with the Strasbourg Academy of Music. In 2017 she succeeded Ekaterina Nikolova at the music college of the consultative commission for the attribution of deconcentrated aids to the performing arts, Grand Est region. Until July 2021, she is choirmaster at the Opéra de Tours. She has worked with young soloists in training such as Angélique Boudeville, Mathias Vidal, Julien Behr and Julien Dran as well as with established artists such as Joyce Di Donato and Michael Spyres. She collaborates with conductors such as Jeffrey Tate, Myung Whun Chung and John Nelson. In December 2020, she was named Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In August 2021, she joined the Opéra national du Rhin as musical director of the Opéra Studio.

Auditions for young opera singers, pianists and assistant conductors for the ’23’24 season are now closed.

Recruitment for young opera singers for the ’24’25 season is expected to open in November 2023. The recruitment of pianists and assistant conductors is expected to open in January 2024.