French-Dutch soprano Barbara Kits earned a Bachelor’s degree from the Conservatorium of Amsterdam and a Master’s Degree in Opera Performance from Mannes School of Music in New York, where she was a member of the Mannes Opera Young Artists under the leadership of Maestro Colaneri.
In 2020, she was scheduled to perform as Musetta in La Bohème with the Festival Cantofest in Portugal under the baton of Vlad Iftinca (cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic).
Ms Kits was a finalist at the 2019 International Competition Nuits Lyriques of Marmande in the category Mélodie Française. A month earlier she won the Gonçalo Santos Prize for Special Talent of the CantoFest vocal competition.
A frequent recitalist, she appeared on WQXR/s Young Artists Showcase, where her rendition of Bernstein’s La Bonne Cuisine was reviewed a « five star performance ». She has performed at the Ukrainian Institute and the Tishman Auditorium in NYC, the Rotterdam Operadagen Festival and the Opera aan Zee Festival. As part of the Grachtenfestival, she was featured in the earbites showcase for the Dutch classical music station NPO Radio 4.
Her concert repertoire includes Ravel’s Shéhérazade, Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder, Debussy’s Ariettes oubliées, Bernstein’s La Bonne cuisine, Barber’s Hermit songs, Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem, Poulenc’s Gloria, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle and Verdi’s Requiem.
Invited several times to take part in the International Vocal Arts Institute in Canada, Israel and in the USA, she has performed at the Israeli Opera House with the Israeli Chamber Orchestra for the IVAI Gala Concert, conducted by Metropolitan Opera conductor Paul Nadler.
Her numerous collaborations with young composers, such as Kaveh Vares and Raphael Fraga, has given her the opportunity to premiere several works in Europe and in America.
Next to performing, Ms Kits is also a sought-after French répertoire coach. This season she was invited by the Zürich Opernhaus as Sprachcoach for their production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann, and gave masterclasses for Core Singers Essentials, the University of Evora and Skidmore College.