Camille GIMENEZ-LAVAUD

Originally from Montpellier, where she studied French literature and singing at the same time, Camille then moved to Paris and joined Ana Maria Miranda’s singing class at the Ecole Normale de Musique. She then perfected her skills at a few Masterclasses (Michel Plasson, Nadine Denize, Viorica Cortez, Gabriel Bacquier, Maciej Pikulski, Beatrice Uria-Monzon, Donna Brown).
She then went into many roles: Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus de J. Strauss Jr at the Théâtre de Chatelet), Mimi (La Bohème, Puccini, direction JP Corre), Cinderella (in the opera of the same name by J. Massenet), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni, W.A. Mozart), Roméo (I Capuleti et I Montecchi, V. Bellini with the Compagnie Opéra Coté Chœur), Madame Lidoine (Les Dialogues des Carmélites, F. Poulenc), Charlotte (Werther, J. Massenet), Junon (Pâris ou le bon juge de C. Terrasse, at the Angers Festival of the Opéra bouffe, direction Nicolas Bercet) and Carmen (Carmen, Bizet, direction  Mireille Larroche).
Very creative and passionate about literature, she trained in the art of melody and lied with Françoise Tillard and then, in tandem with the pianist Clémence Chabrand, created several recital programs around this repertoire “Promenade amoureuse de Séville à Madrid” devoted to Spanish music, “Bestiaires…” dedicated to animal figures in the French melody, recital of Czech melodies at the Centre Culturel de la République Tchèque in Paris, “Max Reger et Othmar Schoeck: le lied Post-Romantique“).
In 2015, she won the 2^nd Prize in the Opera category, at the Concours National de Chant Lyrique in the city of Béziers and was invited to sing as a soloist of Mr Caillbotte’s Ecce Quam Bonum at the Théâtre de Béziers. This sealed the beginning of a strong artistic collaboration with conductor Flavien Miannay, who regularly invited her as a soloist (Alto solo of Gloria d’A. Vivaldi, Missa tango by Mr Palmeri, Bess part in “Around Porgy”)
Convinced by the lyrical voice’s power to move, to create a link and touch the other in his or her sensibility, and, regardless her access to spoken language, Camille got involved with the association MOS, which works with various sensitive audiences (Alzheimer’s, autism …) through music therapy workshops and Sing-Along concerts.
Passionate by pedagogy, she chose to devote part of her time to teaching. In the same time, she also trained as a choir director alongside Antoine Bretonnière, becoming assistant to Gabriel Ortega at the Choir of the Nanterre’s University. She leads numerous workshops related to the voice, plans show mixing professionals and amateurs as artistic director of  The Caprices Lyriques and make her stage director debut with La Cigale et la fourmi by E. Audran (June 2020).
Keen to pass on her passion to the young ones, she wrote and created, with pianist Alexis Dubroca and director Valentine Martinez, “Annunaki et Amara“, an opera show for children where they learn about great classical tunes and are invited to sing along.

Photo credit: India Lange