Born in Strasbourg, France, Antoinette Dennefeld’s artistic education began at a very young age, and included piano, theatre and dance. After two years at the University Marc Bloch in Strasbourg, she enters the Haute Ecole de Musique in Lausanne in 2006. During her studies, she participated in masterclasses with Dale Dusing, Christa Ludwig and Luisa Catsellani. She received the Mosetti grant two times (2008-2010), the Leenards grant (2011) and the Richard Wagner scholarship (2009).

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She graduated from the Haute Ecole de Musique in Lausanne and received her Master of Music (Voice) in 2011 with high honors. For her excellent results, she received the Max Jost Award, Friends of the OSR Award and the Paderewski Prize. The same year, she won the «Grand Prix» at the International Singing Competition of Marmande and the Third Prize and Public’s Choice at the International Singing Competition of Geneva. She also recieved in 2011 an advanced career development grant from the Leenaards Foundation.

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She made her debut at the Lausanne Opera, where her roles included the Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte, the Second Witch in Dido and Aeneas, Zulma in L’Italiana in Algeri, Stéphano in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, and Fanny Elssler in Honegger and Ibert’s L’Aiglon. At the Marseille Opera, she sang the roles of Charmion in Massenet’s Cléopâtre and Jean in Massenet’s Le Portrait de Manon. She has performed roles such as Dorabella (Così fan tutte) in Tenerife, Oreste (La Belle Hélène) in Avignon, Annio (La Clemenza di Tito) in Montpellier, Louise (Louis Varney’s Les Mousquetaires au couvent) and Brigitte (Auber’s Le Domino Noir) at the Opéra Comique, and Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) in Florence. At the Opéra National de Lyon, she appeared as the Cat and the Squirrel (L’Enfant et les sortilèges), as well as Isolier (Le Comte Ory) and Cunégonde (Le Roi Carotte), in two new productions directed by Laurent Pelly.

 

Deeply committed to the mélodie and Lied repertoire, she has formed the Duo Almage with pianist Lucas Buclin since 2009. In 2012, they recorded mélodies by Poulenc, Aboulker, and Britten, along with Lieder by Strauss and Wolf, for the Young Talent Prize awarded by the Société Vaudoise des Amis de l’OSR.

Recent engagements include appearances in La Traviata, Cavalleria rusticana, Carmen, La clemenza di Tito, and Yvonne, princesse de Bourgogne; the roles of Giulietta (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) and Fragoletto (Les Brigands) at the Opéra National de Paris; Meg (Falstaff) at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and the Opéra National de Lyon; Charlotte (Werther) in Tenerife and Marseille; Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) at the Opéra de Lyon; Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) at the Opéra de Marseille; the title role of Carmen at the Opéra de Dijon, the Opéra National du Rhin, in Vilnius, and at the Opéra de Lausanne; Concepción (L’Heure espagnole) with Opera Lombardia; Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) at the Opéra de Lille; the Prince (Cendrillon) at the Opéra National de Lorraine, in Moscow, and at the Opéra National de Paris; the title role of La Périchole at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Opéra de Dijon, the Opéra de Toulon, and the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège; Gisèle in Magnard’s Guercœur at the Opéra National du Rhin; and Angelina (La Cenerentola) and Mère Marie (Dialogues des Carmélites) at the Teatro Regio in Turin.​

 

In concert, she has recently performed Shéhérazade with the Orchestre Régional Bayonne Côte Basque; Offenbach’s Maître Péronilla with the Orchestre National de France; Mozart and Berlioz programs with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris; La Princesse de Trébizonde with the London Symphony Orchestra; Pelléas et Mélisande (as Mélisande) with the Orchestre National de France; Shéhérazade with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra; Grisélidis with the Orchestre de l’Opéra National Montpellier Occitanie (in Montpellier and at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées); Ô mon bel inconnu with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester; I Capuleti e i Montecchi (as Romeo) at the Opéra de Toulon; Eros in Ambroise Thomas’s Psyché at the Müpa Budapest with Palazzetto Bru-Zane; Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Orchestre National Avignon Provence; and Berlioz’s La Mort de Cléopâtre with the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto. ​

 

Her upcoming projects this season include Mermet’s Roland à Roncevaux at the Opéra de Saint-Étienne and La Belle Hélène at the Opéra de Rouen; as well as concert performances of Février’s La Femme nue at the Victoria Hall in Geneva and La Mort de Cléopâtre at the Teatro Regio in Turin.