Suzan Erens
Encyclopedia
Suzan Erens is a Dutch concert singer. Classically trained, her concert repertoire includes arias from opera
and operetta
as well as musical theatre
and pop
songs. She has toured worldwide and recorded as a soloist with Andre Rieu
's Johan Strauss Orchestra.
, a town in the south of the Netherlands
, on 11 November 1976. As a young girl she began playing the violin
and French horn. In her early teens she was discovered on her high school Sophianum (Gulpen
) while singing a song in a school play.
Soon after this performance, Suzan decided to study voice at the Academy of Music in Maastricht
, the Netherlands.
While studying at the academy she started her career as an opera singer at Opera Zuid in Maastricht. She performed in several operas during her study and toured with Opera Zuid through the Netherlands. In her final year (1999) at the academy she came to the attention of André Rieu
, who hired her as a vocalist with his Johann Strauss Orchaestra. In addition to global touring with the orchestra, Erens has performed as a soloist on several of Rieu's albums and television specials.
Since 2000, highlights of her performances included several songs from well-known musical plays and films, including "Somewhere over the rainbow" (from The Wizard of Oz
), "I belong to me" (from Elisabeth
), "Don't cry for me Argentina" (from "Evita"), and Kilar from the film "The ninth gate
."
In the beginning of 2009 she left the Johan Strauss Orchestra to begin a life in Norway
.
She is singing now with the Vefsn Ensemble, with whom she sings various types of music, mostly opera
and musical
. She has also expanded her repertoire to pop music, including work from artists such as Jeff Buckley
and The Carpenters
.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
as well as musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
songs. She has toured worldwide and recorded as a soloist with Andre Rieu
André Rieu
André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu is a Dutch violinist, conductor, and composer best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra.- Early life and studies :...
's Johan Strauss Orchestra.
Biography
Erens was born in HeerlenHeerlen
Heerlen is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the province of Limburg. It forms part of Parkstad Limburg, , an agglomeration of about 220,000 inhabitants.After its early Roman beginnings and a rather modest medieval period, Heerlen...
, a town in the south of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, on 11 November 1976. As a young girl she began playing the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and French horn. In her early teens she was discovered on her high school Sophianum (Gulpen
Gulpen
Gulpen is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is approximately midway between the Dutch city of Maastricht and the German city of Aachen.Gulpen was a separate municipality until 1999, when it merged with Wittem...
) while singing a song in a school play.
Soon after this performance, Suzan decided to study voice at the Academy of Music in Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
, the Netherlands.
While studying at the academy she started her career as an opera singer at Opera Zuid in Maastricht. She performed in several operas during her study and toured with Opera Zuid through the Netherlands. In her final year (1999) at the academy she came to the attention of André Rieu
André Rieu
André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu is a Dutch violinist, conductor, and composer best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra.- Early life and studies :...
, who hired her as a vocalist with his Johann Strauss Orchaestra. In addition to global touring with the orchestra, Erens has performed as a soloist on several of Rieu's albums and television specials.
Since 2000, highlights of her performances included several songs from well-known musical plays and films, including "Somewhere over the rainbow" (from The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
), "I belong to me" (from Elisabeth
Elisabeth (musical)
Elisabeth is a Viennese, German-language musical commissioned by the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien , with book/lyrics by Michael Kunze and music by Sylvester Levay. It portrays the life and death of the Empress consort of Austria, Elisabeth of Bavaria, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I...
), "Don't cry for me Argentina" (from "Evita"), and Kilar from the film "The ninth gate
The Ninth Gate
The Ninth Gate is a 1999 horror film directed, produced, and co-written by Roman Polanski. It is a neo-noir, occult mystery thriller involving the rare book business, wherein rare-book dealer Dean Corso is hired by bibliophile Boris Balkan to validate a seventeenth-century copy of The Nine Gates...
."
In the beginning of 2009 she left the Johan Strauss Orchestra to begin a life in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
She is singing now with the Vefsn Ensemble, with whom she sings various types of music, mostly opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
. She has also expanded her repertoire to pop music, including work from artists such as Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
and The Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
.
Sources
- Hanssen, Leknes, "Ønsket seg til Norge",Helgeland Arbeiderblad, 1 November 2009
- Elliott, Greg, "CD review - Romantic Nights, Andre Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra", Adelaide Independent Weekly, 24 October 2008