Marijje van Stralen Dutch soprano Marijje van Stralen studied at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam with Margreet Honig. She was awarded the prestigious Fulbright scholarship which enabled her to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and in New York with Bill Riley. In 1999 she was selected for the Britten-Pears School of Advanced Musical Studies in Aldeborough. She has been a member of the International Opera Centre Holland, won the Public's Prize and was a finalist at the Christina Deutekom Contest 2002. She made her debut at De Nederlandse Opera as part of the Vocaal Ensemble in Writing to Vermeer by Louis Andriessen. For a Lincoln Center production in New York of the same opera the soprano was invited together with the modern music ensemble ELECTRA. In a third production of the opera conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw Van Stralen sang the main role Saskia. Marijje has sung in Purcell's King Arthur, Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Blondchen), Der Schauspieldirektor (Mademoiselle Silberklang), Bastien und Bastienne (Bastienne) and in the Ernst Theo Richter production of Die Zauberflöte (Pamina), Bizet's Carmen (Frasquita), Gounod's La Colombe (Silvie), Puccini's Tosca (Shepherd), Maurice Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges (Princess), Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus (Adèle), Britten's The Rape of Lucretia (Lucia) and Martijn Padding and Friso Haverkamp's Tattooed tongues (world premiere). Van Stralen has worked with conductors such as Richard Bradshaw, Roy Goodman, Yakov Kreizberg, Hans Leenders, Reinbert de Leeuw, Yoel Levi, Kenneth Montgomery, Ed Spanjaard, Jos van Veldhoven, Timothy Vernon, Jed Wentz and Jan Willem de Vriend; and is invited by the Ensemble Musikfabrik, Vlaams Radio Orkest, Ensemble Sospeso New York, Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, Gelders Orkest, Noord Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, Combattimento Consort, Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, Netherlands Woodwind & Brass Ensemble, New Sinfonietta Amsterdam and the Nederlands Kamer Orkest for a performance in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Van Stralen performed at the following festivals: Barbican Centre and South Bank Centre (London), Louis Andriessen Festival Sonic Evolutions (New York), Pontino Festival (Italy), Berliner Festwochen, Festival of Alden-Biesen, Art lyrique et Musique ancienne, Festival Agora (Paris), the Carmel Bach Festival (San Francisco), Waterford Music Week (Ireland), Gaudeamus in St. Petersburg and Bachfestival Amsterdam. On CD Marijje van Stralen can be heard as Sifare in the Mozart opera Mitridate conducted by Jed Wentz and as part of ELECTRA on the BBC label. Future engagements: a production of Midsummer Night's Dream with the Noord Nederlands Orkest, a reprisal of the opera Reigen by Ph. Boesmans (a production of Opera Studio Nederland with performances in Paris) with the Ives Ensemble, concerts with the Stichting 20e eeuwse muziek, and an extensive cycle of recitals with pianist Jeroen Bal.