- Voice
The outstanding Dutch soprano, Elly Ameling, studied Rotterdam and The Hague with Bodi Rapp. She completed her training with Pierre Bernac in Paris. In 1956 she won the first prize in the vocal competition in s’Hertogenbosch, but her career really started to take off after she won first prize at the ‘Concours International de Musique’ in Geneva in 1958. Many other first prizes followed.
Elly Ameling made her formal recital debut in Amsterdam in 1961. Subsequent appearances with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Amsterdam Philharmonic and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra secured her reputation. Since then, concert tours led her regularly throughout the world. She has performed with most major symphony orchestras, and conductors such as Ernest Ansermet, Carlo Maria Giulini, Bernard Haitink, Rafael Kubelík, Wolfgang Sawallisch, André Previn, and Seiji Ozawa. She is a regular guest at the major festivals (Holland Festival, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Aix-en-Provence, Tanglewood, Flanders Festival, etc.) She also regularly receives invitations to give master classes. Elly Ameling's repertoire (lied as well as works with orchestra) ranges from Monteverdi and J.S. Bach through W.A. Mozart, Schubert, Robert Schumann, Wolf, and Debussy to composers of the 20th century, such as Benjamin Britten, Menotti, Francis Poulenc, and Gershwin. More than 150 LP’s and CD’s document this extended repertoire. Many of them have been awarded the Edison Prize (4 x), the ‘Grand Prix du Disque’, the ‘Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik’, etc.
Elly Ameling has been granted three honorary degrees in the USA and Canada.
She teaches at the Académie musicale de Villecroze in 1999, 2002 and 2005.