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Marie-Laure Coenjaerts
BIOGRAPHY
“Playing on the harmonious complementarity of the voices, the duo Begli Occhi casts shadows and unease over the sunlit evocation of the beloved's gaze. Finally, the fluid ornamentation with a delectable rubato in La Riamata, the poetic delicacy of Grandi’s Costume, the ominous bass lines and evocative silences of Che si può fare place this anthology among the most inspired ever dedicated to the composer.”
Diapason, Denis Morrier
“The vocal casting was, for its part, stunning… including the profound and jubilant mezzo Marie-Laure Coenjaerts as a diabolical sorceress.”
Bachtrack, Dido and Aeneas, Purcell, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
“The small role of the page Stephano with the well-known aria ‘Que fais-tu, blanche tourterelle’ was performed with excellence by mezzo-soprano Marie-Laure Coenjaerts.”
Operamagazine, Roméo et Juliette, Gounod, ORW
“The aria ‘Que fais-tu, blanche tourterelle’ performed by Marie-Laure Coenjaerts was a highlight of the evening…”
Online Musik, Roméo et Juliette, Gounod, ORW
“With her natural grace and bronze-toned timbre, Marie-Laure Coenjaerts as the reverend Mother Superior was a radiant and generous presence.”
Seniorsmag, The Sound of Music
“The cast also included two singers trained in Belgium, with Marie-Laure Coenjaerts standing out beautifully as Pisana.”
Concertonet, I Due Foscari, Verdi, ORW
“Some performers stood out in particular. Marie-Laure Coenjaerts brought remarkable depth to the role of the child, subtly illustrating the complexity of a child’s psychology.”
Resmusica, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, Ravel, OPL
Belgian mezzo-soprano Marie-Laure Coenjaerts leads an eclectic career spanning opera, early music, contemporary creation, and musical theatre. A graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Mons and the Haute École de Musique de Genève, where she studied under Danielle Borst, she is known for her dramatic sensitivity and the richness of her repertoire.
She has collaborated with renowned conductors such as Thomas Rösner (Orlando Paladino by Haydn), Leonardo García Alarcón (L’Incoronazione di Poppea by Monteverdi), Pascal Rophé (L’Enfant et les Sortilèges by Ravel), Ton Koopman (Bach cantatas), Patrick Davin (Manon by Massenet, Roméo et Juliette by Gounod), Paolo Arrivabeni (I Due Foscari by Verdi), and Jean-Claude Malgoire (Dido and Aeneas, Vespro della Beata Vergine). She has performed at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, the BFM in Geneva, the Ambronay Festival, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and Charleroi, and at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.
In 2025, she continues her collaboration with Vox Luminis, the Namur Chamber Choir, and the D.I.V.A. project, and records a new album on the theme of vanity under the direction of Gabriel Garrido.
In 2024, she debuts with Vox Luminis in Magdeburg, reunites with the Namur Chamber Choir, records works by Carissimi with Gabriel Garrido, and performs Dubois’ The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross in Brussels and Mozart’s Requiem in Liège. She also takes part in the creation Versailles by Compagnie Dérivation, touring in La Louvière, Nivelles, and the Théâtre des Martyrs in Brussels.
The previous year, she performed in Montenegro, at the Avignon Festival with twenty performances of D.I.V.A. – Opus 2, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées with the Namur Chamber Choir, at La Nouvelle Ève in Paris for a new run of the same production, and in Asia for 26 concert performances of Les Misérables, playing the role of Fantine.
In 2022, she recorded an album dedicated to Barbara Strozzi with her ensemble Il Segreto delle Muse, directed by Gabriel Garrido (released by Pan Classics in 2024).
In 2021, she made her debut with Michel Piquemal in Paris, performing Gounod’s Gallia and Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio. Two years earlier, she toured South Korea with Les Misérables in concert and performed Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri in Brussels with the European Union Choirs.
2018 marked her entry into the D.I.V.A. adventure, a bold and playful operatic production presented at Théâtre Montparnasse in Paris, the Royal Albert Hall in London, and the Un Violon sur le Sable Festival in Royan. The show toured for five years and totaled 130 performances. During this time, she also performed Berio’s Folk Songs with the ensemble Sturm und Klang (Festival de Wallonie) and Monteverdi’s Vespers in Montpellier with Gabriel Garrido.
In 2017, she portrayed Belinda in Dido and Aeneas (dir. Garrido), sang Mozart’s Requiem and Charpentier’s Les Plaisirs de Versailles, and toured across major venues in France including Zénith arenas and the Palais des Congrès in Paris with Les Misérables in concert. The previous year, she performed in Dido and Aeneas at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées under Jean-Claude Malgoire, taking on the roles of the witch and the spirit.
In 2015, she recorded a recital of lieder by Brahms, Schubert, and Schumann with pianist Philippe Raskin, and made her musical theatre debut as the Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music.
A well-rounded musician, she explores a repertoire that ranges from early music to contemporary creation. She began studying music at age eight through the violin, before training in diction, theatre, and classical voice at an academy.
In 2001, she joined the Lassaad International Theatre School, later pursuing vocal studies at the Royal Conservatory of Mons with Thierry Migliorini, and completing a Master’s degree at the Haute École de Musique de Genève in the class of Danielle Borst.
In addition to her performing career, Marie-Laure Coenjaerts is a dedicated educator: she teaches classical voice at Arts² (Mons) and musical theatre at the LNB school (Paris).