Elsa Benoit
About this Artist
Elsa Benoit received vocal and piano training at a young age and took her first steps onto the stage as a member of the opera choir in Rennes and Angers-Nantes while studying musicology. She successfully completed her studies at the Amsterdam Conservatory with a Bachelor of Music degree. Between 2011 and 2013, she pursued vocal studies at the Dutch National Opera Academy, where she earned a Master’s degree in opera with distinction. In November 2012, she was awarded three prizes at the international singing competition Symphonies d’Automne, followed by the Brane-Cantenac Prize at the MACM international singing competition in March 2013.
After two years at the Bavarian State Opera Studio, the doors to Benoit’s singing career opened for her. From 2016 to 2021, Benoit was a member of the Bavarian State Opera ensemble and performed roles including the Shepherd in Tannhäuser, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, Frasquita in Carmen, Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos, Adina in L’elisir d’amore, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Musetta in La bohème, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Emilie in Rameau’s Les Indes galantes.
Since 2021, she has been working as a freelance artist, with roles in Philippe Hersant’s Les Éclairs at the Opéra-Comique and Handel’s Alcina (Morgana) at the Palais Garnier in Paris, Carmen (Micaëla) in Toulouse, The Rake’s Progress (Anne Trulove) in Rennes and Nantes, Handel’s Agrippina (Poppea) in Munich, Handel’s Semele (Semele) in Barrie Kosky’s production in Lille and at Berlin’s Komische Oper, and Poulenc’s Les mamelles de Tirésias (Thérèse) in Glyndebourne. During the 2023/24 season, she performed Massenet’s Werther (Sophie) in a new production by Robert Carsen under Thomas Hengelbrock, as well as the title role of Poppea in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea in a new production directed by Ted Huffman under the baton of George Petrou at the Cologne Opera.
Benoit is also highly sought-after in the concert field. In the 2023/24 season, she performed Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang under the baton of Andris Nelsons. She also performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 under Robin Ticciati and Honegger’s dramatic oratorio Joan of Arc at the Stake under Alan Gilbert.