The Dutch mezzo-soprano Olivia Vermeulen has established herself in recent years as a versatile soloist at international level, devoting herself with great passion to the classical and baroque repertoire. Equally in demand as an interpreter of contemporary music, Olivia has appeared at the Ruhrtriennale and the Holland Festival and made guest appearances at the Musikfest Berlin under Peter Eötvös. At the Bregenz Festival, Olivia created the role of Saiko in the world premiere of Thomas Larcher's first opera The Hunting Gun, and premiered songs by Wolfgang Rihm at the classical music festival Kissinger Sommer.
Highlights of Olivia’s career include performances with the Bach Collegium Japan and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra conducted by René Jacobs, debuts at the Ópera National de Paris and at the Berlin State Opera, as well as at the Zurich Opera House.
Recent and upcoming projects include Vivaldi’s seldom-performed Il Giustino at the Berlin State Opera, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony under Masato Suzuki, Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Residentie Orkest under Matthew Halls, as well as a tour project with the Belgian B'Rock Orchestra under Andreas Küppers. As part of a collaboration with Jordi Savall and his ensemble Le Concert des Nations, Olivia will further perform the alto part in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis in Barcelona, Dresden and Paris.
Olivia Vermeulen has appeared at festivals such as the Munich Opera Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Mozartwoche Salzburg and the Handel Festival Halle, working with conductors such as Frans Brüggen, Alessandro De Marchi, Iván Fischer, Reinhard Goebel, Enoch zu Guttenberg, Daniel Harding, Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, Marek Janowski, Konrad Junghänel, Andrea Marcon, Tomáš Netopil, Michael Schønwandt, Markus Stenz and Lothar Zagrosek.
