Lieve Geuens is a lyrical soprano born in Antwerp, Belgium.
She first trained to become a popular music singer and then went on to study classical singing, completing both programs with a Master’s degree (MM). She graduated with a distinction, cum laude, for her versatile expressiveness.
Lieve studied with a wide range of teachers, including Gabriëlle Boré, Eugenie Ditewig, Udo Reinemann, Cora Canne Meijer, Rachel Ann Morgan, Takako Hara, and Pedro Paulo Neves.
Lieve holds a certificate in the Pahn Method, is a CMT (Master) in EVT, has a certificate in vocal (laryngeal) massage, and is familiar with CVT, the Alexander Technique, and the Lichtenberg Method.
Popular Music
Lieve began her career in popular music. While studying, she frequently performed for radio and television and shared the stage with Brazilian, jazz, and pop ensembles. In 1987, she released three singles.
She has written pop songs that other artists have also performed, including Mary Coughlan. She has produced various CDs spanning pop, jazz, and improvised music, and collaborated with artists such as Georges Moustaki (Paris), Petula Clark (US), and Mildred Douglas. After many years providing backing vocals for the Dutch pop band The Nits, the group dedicated a song to her, “The Yellow Hotel / Lieve Geuens is Waiting in the Hall.”
In 2000, a collaboration with avant-garde jazz duo Drum and Tenor resulted in a CD that received widespread acclaim from Jazz Nu (Netherlands), Jazz Journal (UK), and Cadans (US).
Lieve also worked with Gregor Theelen, creating two CDs of improvised music, released by Inua Music in 2003 and 2006.
She has further appeared as a singer in television productions and film releases, including Ook honden gaan naar de hemel (Dogs also go to Heaven), Ferngully ’t laatste regenwoud (Ferngully: The Last Rainforest), Jungle Book, and VVN.
Classical Music
In recent years, Lieve has mainly given opera concerts across Europe, and has also performed further afield, including Cuba and Atlanta (USA).
She forms one half of a duo with pianist Hein Hoogendoorn. Their partnership promises a distinctive, theatrical evening filled with beautiful opera arias, with the atmosphere shifting seamlessly between drama and humor.
Lieve has taken part in a large number of opera productions in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Her debut was in 1989 in Henk Alkema’s opera Rixt, where she appeared as Marieke. Since then, she has worked with other Dutch and Belgian composers, including Chiel Meijering and Jurriaan Andriessen.
Among the roles she has interpreted are Pamina and Papagena in Der Zauberflöte (Mozart), Suor Angelica (Puccini), Het zwarte blondje (Jurriaan Andriessen), Bertha in La Poupée de Nuremberg (Adam), Norina in Don Pasquale (Donizetti), Mimi in La Bohème (Puccini), and Amina in La Sonnambula (Bellini), among others.
Lieve is a soprano and joint founder of The Dutch Opera Singers,
an ensemble that has been presenting opera performances since 2006. Through the Tosca eet slakken zonder zout (Tosca eats snails without salt) project, she gave many concerts between 2000 and 2014 in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, France, and Germany. She was also affiliated with the choir of De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam from 1996 to 2006.
Lieder recitals are also part of her repertoire.
In 2012/13, she researched the work of Belgian composer Martin Lunssens and gave concerts featuring his compositions. In 2016/17, she presented lieder recitals of works by French and Spanish composers. In 2018, Dutch-language and Russian lieder were added to the programme.
Her oratorio repertoire includes St John’s Passion and St Matthew’s Passion (Bach), The Messiah (Händel), Die Schöpfung (Haydn), Messe Solennelle (Rossini), and Mozart’s Krönungsmesse and Requiem.
Other theatre performances include a Frank Zappa project with the Amsterdam Saxophone Quartet (1993), a tour with Hans Liberg in Vienna and London (1999), De Invitatie (The Invitation), the mini-opera by Henk Alkema and Guido de Wijs (2007–2009), and the children’s opera Marguerite, which she produced herself and performed with a small ensemble from 2008 to 2010.
Teaching
Lieve taught at the Utrecht Conservatory from 1995 to 2009. Since 2008, she has been a voice technique teacher in the Jazz department of the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam. She also regularly runs workshops on request.
