Signe Asmussen Manuitt (born 1970) is a Danish mezzosoprano singer who has performed widely, not only in classical concerts, chamber music and opera but also in

Latin jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave (rhythm), clave, and Afro-Brazil ...

and as a member of

The Tolkien Ensemble The Tolkien Ensemble (founded in 1995) is a Danish ensemble which created "the world's first complete musical interpretation of the poems and songs from ''The Lord of the Rings''". They published four CDs from 1997 to 2005, in which all the poe ...

. Since 2001, she has made a mark as one of Denmark's most impressive female singers. In addition to appearances in Denmark, she has given recitals in London's

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadi ...

and Amsterdam's

Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls ...

. Asmussen recently starred as Hanna Glawari in Operette Kompagniet's production of ''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to ...

''. She is married to the Cuban Salsa singer Ernesto Manuitt.

Biography

Born in 1970 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Signe Asmussen was brought up in a musical family, learning to sing and play the violin from an early age. She studied at the

Royal Danish Academy of Music The Royal Danish Academy of Music, or Royal Danish Conservatory of Music ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium), in Copenhagen is the oldest professional institution of musical education in Denmark as well as the largest, with approxima ...

under Bodil Øland and Keld Thaarup, graduating as a soloist in 2001. From the start, she received encouraging support from the critics as she branched out into virtually all genres. She became particularly fond of singing

lieder In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French ...

, developing an extensive repertoire as a member of Liedkompagniet founded by Christian Westergaard. She has been accompanied by prominent pianists from Denmark and abroad, including

Howard Shelley Howard Gordon Shelley (born 9 March 1950) is a British pianist and conductor. He was educated at Highgate School and the Royal College of Music. He was married to fellow pianist Hilary Macnamara (her death), with whom he has performed and recor ...

and Peter Hill, and has sung with orchestras conducted by

Thomas Dausgaard Thomas Dausgaard (; born 4 July 1963 in Copenhagen) is a Danish conductor. Biography Dausgaard studied conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen and with Norman Del Mar at the Royal College of Music in London. He subsequently partic ...

Lan Shui Lan Shui ( Chinese: 水蓝, born 1957) is a Chinese-American conductor. He was the Music Director of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra from 1997 to 2019. He has retired as Music Director on 26 January 2019, and was given the title of Conductor Lau ...

, Michel Tabachnik,

Michael Seal Michael Seal (born 3 May 1970) is a British orchestral conductor and classical violinist. Since 2011 he has served as the Associate Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), having served previously as the orchestra's Assista ...

and

. Asmussen has participated in several ensembles, including

Theatre of Voices Theatre of Voices is a vocal ensemble founded by baritone Paul Hillier in 1990;www.paulhillier.net
. Retrieved March 9, ...

, the Copenhagen Saxophone Quartet, Athelas Sinfonietta, Figura Ensemble. and the Esbjerg Ensemble. As an opera singer, she has appeared at the

Royal Danish Opera The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first se ...

and at Den Jyske Opera in a variety of roles, including Cherubino in ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' ( opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It pre ...

'', Bertha in ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an '' opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was b ...

'' and Musette in ''

La Bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '' quadri'', '' tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuse ...

. In 2013, she sang and played the violin in ''Sangbogen fra Eldorado'', a lively baroque concert inspired by 17th and 18th century Latin-American songs. As a member of Grupo Cubita, she has also sung modern Cuban numbers.

Awards

Signe Asmussen has received a number of grants and scholarships. In 2009, she was awarded the Aksel Schiøtz prize for excellence as a lieder singer.

References

External links

Signe Asmussen's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asmussen, Signe 1970 births Living people Singers from Copenhagen Danish sopranos Danish operatic mezzo-sopranos Latin jazz singers 21st-century Danish musicians Danish violinists Royal Danish Academy of Music alumni 21st-century women musicians 21st-century Danish women singers 21st-century violinists