Valentin Thill, tenor

French tenor Valentin Thill was born in Rouen and grew up in the southern French town of Toulon. Since childhood, he has been fascinated by musicals and opera and he started singing at the age of 14. In addition to his Product Design studies, he began taking opera singing lessons with baritone Frédéric Jean in December 2013.
He then decided to fully dedicate himself to music and in October 2014 he began taking a course in Opera Singing at the Conservatoire de musique et danse Darius Milhaud in Aix-en-Provence as a tenor, in Patricia Schnell’s class.

He became laureate at the Concours International Lied et Mélodie in Gordes in October 2016, presided over by Raymond Duffaut. In May 2017, he sang the lead role in the opera Ixibab, le dessein des dieux, an original creation by Fabien Barcelo, at the Théâtre du Jeu de Paume in Aix-en-Provence. In October 2017, he was admitted to the specialised cycle Opera Singing (pre-professional) at the Conservatoire.

In January 2018, at the age of 24, he was named laureate of the Prix Gabriel Dussurget (Jeune Espoir Lyrique), and on 20 June 2018, he participated in the opera performance ‘Musiques en Fêtes’ at Les Chorégies d’Orange, broadcast live on France 3.
On 30 June 2018, he received the Prix Gabriel Dussurget from José van Dam in Aix-en-Provence, at the end of one of his masterclasses. From October 2018, he continued to perfect himself as an artist in residence at the Muziekkapel Koningin Elisabeth in the class of José van Dam and Sophie Koch.

In March 2019 he sang the title role in the opera Mavra by I. Stravinsky in Ghent. He performed the roles of The Harlequin and The Soldier in Viktor Ullmann’s opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis at Camp des Milles in Aix-en-Provence in April 2019, and then participated in a masterclass by Rolando Villazón on 23 April 2019, as part of the Festival de Pâques of Aix-en-Provence.

In June 2019, he sang as a soloist in Rossini’s La Petite Messe Solennelle at the MuCH Waterloo Festival and made his debut in the role of Don José, in a chamber music version (piano-vocal) of Bizet’s opera Carmen at the Festival Lyrique de Grans.

He won the Second Grand Prize at the 52nd Concours International de Chant de Toulouse at the Théâtre du Capitole of Toulouse on 7 September 2019, presided over by Béatrice Uria-Monzon.

In October 2020, he made his debut at La Monnaie in Brussels, in the world creation A l’extrême bord du monde, composed by Harold Noben, in the role of Stefan Zweig.

For the 2020/21 season, he will sing not only at La Monnaie, but also at the Opéra de Toulon in Si j’étais roi, as well as at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège in Les Contes d’Hoffmann and in I Lombardi alla prima crociata, at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse in Strauss’ Elektra, and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in Verdi’s I due Foscari alongside baritone Leo Nucci and with Daniele Rustioni conducting.
On 9 July 2021, he sang Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at the Théâtre antique de Fourvière in Lyon, conducted by Ben Glassberg.

The current season also includes masterclasses by Helmut Deutsch and Patrizia Ciofi.

In December 2021, he made his debut in the role of Tamino in Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse.
In May 2022, he will be seen as Tavannes in Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots at La Monnaie in Brussels, directed by Olivier Py.
Soon he will sing Dvorak’s Stabat Mater in Finland with the Symphony Orchestra of Lahti, and in Belgium with the Flemish Radio Choir, conducted by Bart Van Reyn, in collaboration with the Muziekkapel Koningin Elisabeth.
In August 2022, he will take on the role of Nadir in Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles, as part of the grand Concours International des Chefs d’orchestre d’Opéra at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège.

For his new season 2022/2023, Valentin will make his debut in England and Germany, as well as in numerous French opera houses.

Scholarship by an anonymous donor