Marie Heeschen

Unflaggingly vibrant.
The Guardian, December 2018

Marie Heeschen mesmerises audiences with a lush and flowing voice that is highly adaptable. Since 2016 she has been an ensemble member at the Theater Bonn, where she brings a playful and natural stage presence to roles such as Adele (Die Fledermaus), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Marzelline (Fidelio) or Maria in Leonard Bernstein‘s West Side Story. Further parts include Papagena in Mozart’s Zauberflöte, Atalanta in Handel’s Xerxes and the vocally agile role of Tussy in Jonathan Dove’s latest critically acclaimed opera, Marx in London.

In addition to regularly appearing in operas, the versatile singer is also active across other genres of classical music. With her chamber music ensemble paper kite, consisting of two violins and basso continuo, she is reviving the lesser-known cantata repertoire of the German and Italian baroque. After receiving the Biagio-Marini Prize in 2013 the ensemble released their first CD felice un tempo in 2017, which featured a world premiere recording of a work by Giovanni Legrenzi as well as sonatas and cantatas by Giovanni Bononcini and Domenico Scarlatti.  The newly established program Abendandacht, featuring works from the period of the Thirty Years' War (released on Coviello Classics in summer 2020), was recently presented by paper kite at the Rundale Festival in Riga.

This inquisitive and open-minded singer is also a committed interpreter of contemporary music. In 2013 she founded the ensemble BRuCH with Sally Beck (flute), Ella Rohwer (cello) and Claudia Chan (piano), which focuses on interpreting impressionist works in combination with 20th and 21st century music. They have collaborated with composers such as Helmut Lachenmann, Gordon Kampe and Johannes Schöllhorn. Distinct in its unusual line-up, the quartet won second prize at the Karlsruher Competition for the Performance of Contemporary Music in 2014. They regularly develop new work with young composers, including Ricardo Eizirik, Giovanni Biswas, Matthias Krüger and Julien Jamet. In May 2019, the ensemble gave the world premiere of Jonah Haven’s chamber opera I cannot know your name in Cologne.

As a soloist, Marie Heeschen has performed at the Handel Festival Halle, the Oude Muziek Fest Utrecht, the Acht Brücken Festival in Cologne, the MAFestival in Bruges and at Konserthuset Kristiansand. At She sang Bach’s Johannespassion in a chamber version with Ensemble Resonanz and in Augsburg interpreted Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) in concert performances. In the 2020/21 season at the Theater Bonn, she takes on the roles of Giunone (La Calisto), Poppea (Agrippina) and Pamina (The Magic Flute), and will also be heard in Mauricio Kagel's Staatstheater. With the Antwerpern Symphoony she performs Bach’s St John’s Passion under Christoph Prégardien in the spring 2021, before she returns to Tanztheater Wuppertal appearing onstage in Café Müller / Das Frühlingsopfer under Henrik Schaefer’s musical direction. She is also invited to perform at Heidelberg Spring Festival with BruCH, and in the summer 2021, she will give her debut in the role of Gilda at Opera Hedeland.

Marie Heeschen trained with Christoph Prégardien and Lioba Braun in Cologne. She studied contemporary and chamber music in Essen with David Smeyers and Barbara Maurer, among others. Master classes and lessons with Klesie Kelly-Moog, Ruth Ziesak, Martin Kränzle and Jil Feldman completed her education. 

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2020/21 Season

https://marieheeschen.com

Marie Heeschen interprets the Feldman composition in a hummed version. ... The acoustics of the nave give her a reverberation and a richness of tone, which a solo voice can produce only here. What makes the magic? ... The pauses in which the eyes of the flutist Sally Beck and the soprano create music with their glances? Two minutes of silence in which no one claps their hands with hasty applause? ... Breathing pauses. And then the cello [Ella Rohwer] hums into the idyllic chirping of birds. The flute gives off energy equally well with individual notes. The analogy to an abrupt standstill is easily established. Half an hour of music like what was heard today allows everyone to slowly release themselves from their state of shock.
Liveinderoper,... – to the first concert with BRuCH after the Corona induced lockdown in May 2020

Soprano Marie Heeschen is perfectly cast as chambermaid Adele. She captivates with her witty interpretation, easily winning the audience’s hearts with her singing.
General-Anzeiger Bonn, Bernhard Hartmann, 10 March 2020

Heeschen brings a wonderful luminosity to her phrasing.
General-Anzeiger Bonn, Bernhard Hartmann, 16 September 2019

With her youthful charisma and beautifully delivered lyric soprano, Marie Heeschen gives this role – the musical embodiment of the tragic opera heroine – the necessary creative depth.
Das Opernmagazin, Ursula Hartlapp-Lindemeyer, 17 September 2019

As Marx’s daughter Tussy, soprano Marie Heeschen brought spot-on intonation to dozens of very high notes and masterfully navigated arpeggios that skipped all arund, while still radiating impish rebelliousness.
Bachtrack.com, 22 January 2019 – on the role „Tussy“ in J. Dove’s opera „Marx in London“ at Theater Bonn

This is an ensemble of great promise.
Early Music Review, 17 January 2019 - on „felice un tempo"

Marie Heeschen’s tussy twittered in the stratosphere with coloratura showpieces.
Sunday times, 31 December 2018 – on the role „Tussy“ in J. Dove’s opera „Marx in London“ at Theater Bonn

Dove lavishes some of his most ambitious vocal writing on the Marxes’ daughter ans is rewarded with an unflaggingly vibrant performance by the engaging Marie Heeschen.
The Guardian, 11 December 2018 – on the role „Tussy“ in J. Dove’s opera „Marx in London“ at Theater Bonn

Brilliantly singing coloratura and very high notes, Marie Heeschen has a fling as rather eccentric daughter Tussy who edges into the acting business.
FAZ, Josef Oehrlein, 17 December 2018 – on the role „Tussy“ in J. Dove’s opera „Marx in London“ at Theater Bonn

Marie Heeschen’s voice is extremely sensous (… ) The three cantatas are unusually beautiful one should not miss out listening to.
Scherzo, September 2017 – on the CD „felice und tempo“ with Ensemble Paper Kite, Coviello 7250711