Biography
Sophie Harmsen is known for her emotionally intelligent performances. She studied at the University of Cape Town and was trained by Prof. Dr. Edith Wiens and Tobias Truniger.
She is at home in the Baroque repertoire, devoting herself in particular to the music of Bach and Handel, and works regularly with AKAMUS, Les Talens Lyriques, the B'Rock Orchestra, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, and the Basel Chamber Orchestra. In addition, she is increasingly singing Romantic roles. Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder, Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, Dvorak's Requiem, and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony are equally represented in her repertoire.
Praised for her acting skills, she has performed a variety of roles at venues such as the Cape Town Opera, the Teatro Real Madrid, the Opéra de Dijon, and the Theater an der Wien. Sophie Harmsen regularly performs with renowned orchestras such as the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, the SWR Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Paris, the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. Conductors she has worked with include Karina Canellakis, Iván Fischer, Pablo Heras-Casado, Thomas Hengelbrock, Philippe Herreweghe, and Vaclav Luks.
Her recording of Bruckner's Missa Solemnis with the RIAS Chamber Choir was awarded the Diapason d'Or, and she received an ECHO in 2017 for her complete recording of Johann Sebastian Bach's Luther cantatas with Christoph Spering.