ABOUT
"If patience is a golden path, perseverance is a diamond path."
Paterne Gnae
Alongside her studies in Egyptology at the Faculty of Arts in Montpellier (where she earned a Master’s degree in 1989), Valérie Guillorit was also awarded a First Prize in modern violin that same year from the Montpellier Conservatory. She then studied baroque violin with Enrico Gatti in Toulouse for two years.
In 1991, Valérie Guillorit moved to the Netherlands, where she earned a First Prize in Vocal Performance (in 1997) under the guidance of Margreet Honig. She also studied with renowned teachers such as Thomas Hampson, Elly Ameling, Carolyn Watkinson, Udo Reinemann, and David Wilson Johnson.
Passionate about teaching and the unique pedagogical approach of Margreet Honig, she became her assistant at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam from 2001 to 2004, before being appointed as a full professor there in 2004. In 2011, she was also appointed professor of vocal studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP). Since 2017, she has been teaching at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and the Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris.
In 1997, after winning the prestigious Vriandenkrans Prize at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the Jury Prize at the Clermont-Ferrand Lyric Art Competition, Valérie Guillorit began an important soloist career.
She was regularly hired by conductors Claus Peter Flor, Lev Markiz, Roy Goodman, Nikos Athinaeos, Jan Willem de Vriend, Michel Tabachnik.... And interprets, among others, The Illuminations of Benjamin Britten, Pulcinella de Stravinsky, the Bacchianas Brasileiras nr5 of Villa Lobos, the Requiem of Mozart, the German Requiem of Brahms, the Seven Words of Christ on the Cross of Franck, the Gloria of Poulenc, the Messiah of Haendel, the Stabat Mater of Szymanovsky, the Childhood of Christ of Berlioz and the Passions of JS Bach.
Valérie Guillorit also performed in opera in the Mozartian roles of Susanna (Les Noces de Figaro), in the role of Euridice (Orfeo and Euridice de Gluck), Delia (Fosca de Gomez) and Zofia (Halka de Moniuszko). She regularly made incursions into the baroque repertoire and was forced to interpret the roles of Drusilla (the crowning of Poppee de Monteverdi), Belinda (Didon and Enée de Purcell), Venus (King Arthur de Purcell), Romilda (Xersès de Haendel)... She also plays the role in Poulenc's Human Voice.
Valérie Guillorit is a regular guest at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Tonhalle in Zurich, and at festivals across Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, France, and Switzerland.
Her deep connection to the French song repertoire (Debussy, Poulenc, Caplet, Ravel, Barraine, Cras, Jolivet…) and Spanish songs (Granados, Obradors, Sor, De Falla, Lorca, Turina, Rodrigo) has led her to give many recitals in the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, and Italy, accompanied by pianists Paolo Giacometti, Irene Russo, Arthur Schoonewoerd, Frans van Ruth, Hans Adolfsen, and guitarists Frédéric Zigante and the Katona Twins. She also performs chamber music with the Arriaga String Quartet.
Valérie Guillorit is a member of the Dutch ensembles Verso and Insomnio, which are dedicated to contemporary music (including Le Marteau sans Maître by Boulez at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam).
In 2008, she recorded works by Vierne with organist Christine Kamp for the Festivo label, and in 2012 she recorded Le Marteau sans Maître with the Insomnio ensemble for the Encora label.
Valérie Guillorit gives numerous masterclasses in France (Summer Music Academy of Nice), Spain (Riuoms), Belgium (Udo Reinemann International Masterclass), Canada (Conservatoire de Montréal), Finland (Jyväskylä), Germany (Hochschule Leipzig), and Switzerland (Hochschule Zurich).
photo gallery
Discover moments captured during his performances and classes.
Each photo tells a story...
