Biography
Appointed “Female Singer of the Year” at the prestigious Opus Klassik 2022 awards, French-Italian mezzosoprano
Lea Desandre is one of the most inspiring talents of her generation.
Her remarkable career continues in 2023/24 with a season of debuts: Idamante Idomeneo in a new production
at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the title role in Charpentier’s Médée at the Opéra de Paris, Haendel’s Ariodante
on a European tour, and Rameau’s Samson at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.
She also gives the New Year’s concert at the Konzerthaus Berlin under the baton of Joana Mallwitz, Chasing
Rainbows a tribute recital to Julie Andrews with Thomas Dunford/Jupiter; a team with whom she will be
touring Europe in the summer of 2024 with the Vivaldi and Songs of Passion programmes. She is returning in
the United States, as well as touring Japan and Europe to mark the release of her latest recording for
Erato/Warner, Idylle, a duet with Thomas Dunford.
Her love of music and text has led Lea Desandre to appear frequently in concerts and recitals at the Wigmore
Hall, Vienna Musikverein, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, Berliner Philharmoniker,
Mozarteum Salzburg…
She has collaborated with international artists such as Gustavo Dudamel, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, William
Christie, Myung-Whun Chung, Raphaël Pichon… – Barrie Kosky, Christof Loy, Netia Jones…
Lea Desandre studied with Sara Mingardo in Venice. In 2015, she joined William Christie’s Jardin des Voix
Academy and the Mozart Academy of the Festival Aix-en-Provence in 2016. She was appointed « Revelation
lyrique » at the Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2017 and won the HSBC Prize in 2018.
In addition to her training as a singer, she practised ballet for 12 years.
Her first recording, Amazone, was released in 2021 exclusively for Erato Warner with the Ensemble Jupiter
conducted by Thomas Dunford and Cecilia Bartoli, with Véronique Gens and William Christie as guests. Her
second album, Eternal Heaven, recorded alongside Thomas Dunford, Iestyn Davies and Jupiter, was released in
autumn 2022.