BARBARA BARANDUN

Barbara Barandun is a young Swiss soprano who trained in Juliette Galstian’s singing class at the Geneva Conservatory, where she graduated with honors in 2024. Her accolades include first prize at the Jean Sibelius International Competition (2022), a finalist spot at the Giulio Neri International Lyric Singing Competition (2023), and a finalist spot at the Bell’Arte International Competition (2024). She has sung as a soloist in several oratorios and performed the role of Vincenette in Gounod’s opera Mireille. She has worked with various orchestras in Switzerland and Spain and also took musicology courses at the University of Geneva, which allowed her to lead informative evenings on productions at the Grand Théâtre de Genève.

The first round opens with Susanna’s aria from Le nozze di Figaro, a moment of great lyricism and abandon in which the protagonist reflects on love. This is followed by Rusalka’s aria from Dvořák’s opera of the same name, a song of intense melancholy and despair where the nymph invokes the moon to carry her message of love to the prince. The semi-final features arias of great dramatic depth: “Se pietà di me non senti” by Cleopatra from Giulio Cesare, an aria of great pathos in which the queen turns to Caesar to beg for mercy, “Io son l’umile ancella” by Adriana from Adriana Lecouvreur, in which the protagonist introduces herself to the public and declares her humility and devotion to art, and Salomé’s aria from Hérodiade, “Il est doux, il est bon,” a lyrical and moving expression of her naivety and her passion for John the Baptist.