Biography
The Netherlands has seen the tenor Peter Gijsbertsen rise to prominence through an extensive array of operatic and choral parts. Recognition arrived at the highest level in 2018 when he received the Nederlandse Muziekprijs.
Born in Hardenberg in 1983, Gijsbertsen later told Classical Voice, "I was raised in a tiny village. When I was still a little boy, we moved to a slightly larger village. My sister and I had the fields to play in, and I remember how wonderful it was to pick berries off the bushes and eat them, and how I would bring rhubarb to my mother, and she would cook it for dinner." Classical training began in 2002 at the Utrecht Conservatory under Harry Peeters and Gilbert den Broder. Additional instruction came through masterclasses, one of which—the Samling Foundation session directed by baritone Sir Thomas Allen—resulted in an engagement at London’s Wigmore Hall. That appearance helped anchor an ongoing presence in Britain alongside his Dutch activities.
In 2006 he entered the Resident Artists Program of the Dutch Touring Opera, completed his conservatory studies, and made a first appearance in the Saturday matinee series at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, taking the role of Joe in Puccini’s La fanciulla del West. The John Christie Award from Glyndebourne Opera followed, leading to membership in that company’s understudy program between 2007 and 2011. During the same span he completed a walking pilgrimage that began at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France, continued to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, and concluded at the Atlantic coast.
International engagements marked his operatic work throughout the 2010s. These included Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata for Scottish Opera, Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte for both Scottish Opera and the Nouvel Opéra Fribourg, and The Novice in Britten’s Billy Budd at the Bolshoi Theatre, Glyndebourne, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Concert repertoire featured the tenor solos in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, with the Brabants Orkest, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Vigilia with the Great Netherlands Radio Choir.
Recordings include releases on the Phaedra and Wergo labels, among them a 2016 collection of Jef van Hof songs issued as part of the “In Flanders Fields” series. In 2019 he recorded the complete lieder of Clara Schumann for the MDG label.
Born in Hardenberg in 1983, Gijsbertsen later told Classical Voice, "I was raised in a tiny village. When I was still a little boy, we moved to a slightly larger village. My sister and I had the fields to play in, and I remember how wonderful it was to pick berries off the bushes and eat them, and how I would bring rhubarb to my mother, and she would cook it for dinner." Classical training began in 2002 at the Utrecht Conservatory under Harry Peeters and Gilbert den Broder. Additional instruction came through masterclasses, one of which—the Samling Foundation session directed by baritone Sir Thomas Allen—resulted in an engagement at London’s Wigmore Hall. That appearance helped anchor an ongoing presence in Britain alongside his Dutch activities.
In 2006 he entered the Resident Artists Program of the Dutch Touring Opera, completed his conservatory studies, and made a first appearance in the Saturday matinee series at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, taking the role of Joe in Puccini’s La fanciulla del West. The John Christie Award from Glyndebourne Opera followed, leading to membership in that company’s understudy program between 2007 and 2011. During the same span he completed a walking pilgrimage that began at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France, continued to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, and concluded at the Atlantic coast.
International engagements marked his operatic work throughout the 2010s. These included Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata for Scottish Opera, Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte for both Scottish Opera and the Nouvel Opéra Fribourg, and The Novice in Britten’s Billy Budd at the Bolshoi Theatre, Glyndebourne, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Concert repertoire featured the tenor solos in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, with the Brabants Orkest, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Vigilia with the Great Netherlands Radio Choir.
Recordings include releases on the Phaedra and Wergo labels, among them a 2016 collection of Jef van Hof songs issued as part of the “In Flanders Fields” series. In 2019 he recorded the complete lieder of Clara Schumann for the MDG label.
Albums
