Marcel Reijans

Only after finishing his studies in political science and communication, Reijans began studying voice, in 1990: first in Amsterdam, then in Philadelphia, where he graduated in 1996 (at age 32).

Then he made a career of little more than 20 years (with very occasional appearances in comprimario parts into the 2020s); he sang a lot at the Amsterdam opera, the touring National Reisopera and in Maastricht, he appeared at many festivals (Schwetzingen, Innsbruck, Aix-en-Provence, Baden-Baden, Montreux) as well as in Hamburg, Dresden, Antwerp, Boston, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Marseille, at the Liceu in Barcelona, the Paris Opéra, the Staatsoper Berlin, La Monnaie in Brussels or the New York City Opera. He was a Mozart specialist: in Mozart's operas, he always sang main roles, Ferrando, Tamino, Don Ottavio, Mitridate, Agenore (Il re pastore); otherwise, he sang very often (but not exclusively) comprimario parts like Scaramuccio, Elemer, Narraboth, Kudrjáš, Chekalinskij, Walther von der Vogelweide, Junger Seemann (Tristan und Isolde). In later years, he ventured into roles that he should never have tried: Don José, Florestan, Max, Erik, Radames, in far-off places like Dessau, Luxembourg or Caen. Equally important as his operatic career, though, was his activity in oratorio and concert, where he worked in many countries, and with famous conductors like Simon Rattle, Philippe Jordan, René Jacobs, Valery Gergiev, Daniel Barenboim or Seiji Ozawa.

After his career, he was a voice teacher, both at his own studio and the Rotterdam conservatory.