Ruth Willemse took a bachelor's degree in voice with Pierre Mak at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. She received scholarships from the Scholingsfonds, the Staetshuys Fonds and in 2011 won the Klaas Dijkstra Award at the Peter de Grote Festival: a stipend for a master's degree in voice, which she is now pursuing with Marion van den Akker. She had lessons and master classes with Martin Wright, Valérie Guillorit, Jard van Nes, Nelly Miriciou, Rudolf Jansen, Julius Drake and Brian Fieldhouse, among others.
Ruth Willemse has formed a song duo with Belarusian pianist since 2005 Vital Stahievitch whom she met at the Amsterdam Conservatory. From his help with Russian pronunciation a fruitful collaboration developed in which they performed songs by Tchaikovsky, Schumann, Mahler, Quilter and the solo cantata, among others Arianna a Naxos of Haydn. Ruth Willemse also works with the Matangi Quartet, with whom she made her solo debut in the Concertgebouw's Recital Hall in 2012 with repertoire by Respighi and De Falla.
At the Nationale Reisopera, Ruth Willemse sang in Bernstein's Candide the double role of Paquette and Old Lady in a production for young talent. At the 2011 Peter the Great Festival, she sang the role of Miss Todd in Menotti's The Old Maid and the Thief. In France, she sang the role of Ciesca in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. She previously performed at the Concertgebouw in a semi-scenic performance of Don Giovanni conducted by Vincent de Kort. Ruth Willemse is also regularly requested as a soloist in oratorios by Bach, Mozart, Haydn and Saint-Saëns, among others.
Ruth Willemse joined the Friends of Song soloist list in 2011 along with her accompanist, pianist Vital Stahievitch.
Ruth Willemse, mezzo-soprano
Vital Stahievitch, piano
Ruth Willemse and Vital Stahievitch have created a new programme, which they released on CD in July 2018. In this programme, songs by Gustav Mahler and Richard Wagner embrace those by Edward Elgar, the most European among British composers: the Rückert Lieder, the Sea Pictures and the Wesendonck Lieder. These songs not only look to the past or past youth, but also herald a fascinating future.
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Ruth Willemse, mezzo-soprano
Vital Stahievitch, piano
This programme opens with three beloved songs by Tchaikovsky followed by five fairytale songs by Belarusian composer Abeliovich. Before the interval, Vital Stahievitch plays a ballad and a polonaise by Chopin. The second part of this recital features the cycle Engellieder by Dutchman Wim Zwaag on texts by Rilke and the Wesendonck-Lieder By Richard Wagner.
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Ruth Willemse, mezzo-soprano
Vital Stahievitch, piano
Songs by Schumann, Quilter, Elgar and Haydn's solo cantata Arianna a Naxos. The understated and dramatic cycle about Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, takes you by sea, from France to England. Radiant, irresistibly engaging and full of hope, the Shakespeare Songs By Roger Quilter on life, love and death. A sea of tears from Arianna, for her Theseus sailing away from her. We end with calm lovely seas and audibly raging storms in Elgar's Sea Pictures.
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Ruth Willemse, mezzo-soprano
Vital Stahievitch, piano
A programme of Italian song repertoire, because no matter how dramatic it gets, there always remains a lightness in the Italian experience.
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