Sabine Devieilhe

Devieilhe was born in Ifs, near Caen, France, on 12 December 1985 into a non-musician family – her parents work in special education, although her older sister teaches singing and violin.^[4]

She began her musical apprenticeship at the Ifs school of music before entering the Caen Conservatory [fr] at the age of twelve in order to study the cello.^[5] Influenced successively by conductor Valérie Fayet, and singing teachers Jocelyne Chamonin (Caen Conservatory), Martine Surais (Rennes Conservatory [fr]), Pierre Mervant, Malcolm Walker and Elène Golgevit^[6] (Conservatoire de Paris), she became a lyrical singer.^[7]

After graduating from the Lycée Malherbe,^[8] Sabine Devieilhe obtained a diploma in musicology and ethnomusicology at the University of Rennes 2. In parallel with her studies, she joined the choir of the Opéra de Rennes.^[9] She participated as a chorister in a production of The Flying Dutchman by Richard Wagner in 2002.^[10] Her voice was praised and she became a soloist.^[11] In 2008, she entered the Conservatoire de Paris in the singing class of Pierre Mervant.^[12] In 2011 she was unanimously awarded first prize, with the jury's congratulations.^[10]

Recognised by Jean-Claude Malgoire, Devieilhe debuted as a soloist with the Atelier Lyrique de Tourcoing in October 2011, singing Amina in Bellini's La sonnambula.^[7]

In 2012, she was invited to portray Serpetta in Aix-en-Provence Festival's production of La finta giardiniera; she repeated her role in later performances at the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg and the Toulon Opera.^[13][14][15] In October 2012, she made her role debut playing the title role in Lakmé at the Opéra national de Montpellier to critical success.^[16][17] In June–July 2013, she debuted in the role of the Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Opéra National de Lyon.^[18] Later in the year, she interpreted Sister Constance in Christophe Honoré's staging of Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites at the Opéra de Lyon, Théâtre Graslin in Nantes, Le Quai in Angers.^[19] and Olivier Py's production of the same opera at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, alternating the role with Sandrine Piau.^[20]

In 2014, she sang in Lakmé by Léo Delibes at the Opéra-Comique.^[21] She made her debut with the Paris Opera portraying the Queen of the Night at the Opéra Bastille in performances in March.^[22]

On 11 April 2016, together with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris conducted by Christopher Franklin and the choir Les Cris de Paris,^[23] she performed in a concert version of La sonnambula at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.^[24][25] In September 2017, she made her debut at the Royal Opera, London in the role of the Queen of the Night.^[26]

In January 2019, Devieilhe made her Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall, singing a program of French songs by Debussy and his circle.^[27]

She is often praised by critics.^[28][29][30]

• On 25 February 2013, Sabine Devieilhe was named "Révélation Artiste Lyrique" at the Victoires de la musique classique.^[31]
• On 2 February 2015, she was voted "Singer of the Year" (Artiste lyrique de l'année) at the Victoires de la musique classique.^[32]
• Asteroid 33346 Sabinedevieilhe was named in her honor.^[33] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 31 January 2018 (M.P.C. 108697).^[34]