Sophie Junker regularly performs with top-flight conductors including Harry Bicket (Dorinda Orlando), Laurence Cummings (Sigismondo in Handel’s Arminio, Aspasia in Alexander Balus, Michal in Saul, and Bellezza in Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno), Christian Curnyn (Italian Woman in Charpentier’s Médée, Phoebe in Rameau’s Castor et Pollux), Masaaki Suzuki (Monteverdi’s Vespers), and Stefano Montanari (Zerlina Don Giovanni).
Described by Opera magazine as “… irresistibly charming”, Sophie already has an established relationship with the Opera Royal de Liège Wallonie (Elisetta Il Matrimonio segreto, Wanda La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein, title-role in Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon), and Angers-Nantes Opéra (Amour Orphée et Eurydice, Constance Dialogues des Carmélites). She made her American operatic début in 2016, singing Cleis in Martini’s Sapho and Hélène in Chabrier’s Une Éducation Manquée (Opera Lafayette, New York, and Washington). Further operatic roles include Caio in Vivaldi’s Ottone in Villa at the Copenhagen Opera Festival, Proserpine/Euridice in Charpentier’s La Déscente d’Orphée aux enfers (Wigmore Hall, The Hague), and Belinda (Dido and Aeneas, Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik).
In concert, Sophie appears regularly as soloist with Concerto Copenhagen conducted by Lars Ulrik Mortensen, with David Bates’ La Nuovo Musica, with the Belgium-based ensemble Vox Luminis, with Le Concert de la Loge conducted by Julien Chauvin, with Le Poème Harmonique conducted by Vincent Dumestre and with Jonathan Cohen’s Arcangelo. She performed Bach’s St John Passion with Ensemble 1704 (Paris, Prague, Dresden, and Dortmund) and under Leonardo García Alarcón in a staged production by Sasha Waltz (Salzburg Easter Festival and Opéra de Dijon), Bach’s St Matthew Passion at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Haydn’s Creation with the Russian National Orchestra in Moscow, Lully’s Grands Motets and toured Vespro a san Marco alongside the Chœur de Chambre de Namur conducted by Leonardo García Alarcón. Further performances included Fauré’s Requiem conducted by Klaas Stok (Amsterdam Concertgebouw), Mozart’s Grande Messe in C minor with B’Rock, <s>and</s> Handel’s Apollo e Dafne with {oh!} Orkiestra conducted by Martyna Pastuszka and Mendelssohn’s Paulus under Leonardo García Alarcón at Victoria Hall, Geneva.
Sophie’s repertoire also includes roles such as Cunegunda in Leonardo Vinci’s Gismondo (Vienna, Moscow, Dortmund and Bayreuth), Venere in Legrenzi’s La Divisione del Mondo conducted by Christophe Rousset (Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Colmar, Nancy, Versailles and Cologne), Eurilla in Handel’s Il Pastor Fido (Gliwice and Händel-Festspiele Halle) and Atalanta in Handel’s Serse in a Clarac & Deloeuils production conducted by David Bates (Opéra de Rouen Normandie). <s>She also made her</s> Further debuts include Drusilla in L’Incoronazione di Poppea at the Staatsoper Berlin conducted by Diego Fasolis, <s>and sang </s>the title role in Handel’s Theodora conducted by Leonardo García Alarcón (Namur, Beaune) and at Händel-Festspiele Karlsruhe as Emira in Handel’s Siroe, re die Persia, staged by Ulrich Peters in 2024.
Sophie’s lithe and sparkling soprano has also been heard as Angelica in Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso(La Seine Musicale), Clori in Cavalli’s Egisto (Royal Opera of Versailles) and Asteria in Handel’s Tamerlano with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra conducted by Christopher Moulds (Tchaikovsky Hall, Moscow). In 2022, she made her debut as Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare under the direction of George Petrou (Reisopera, Handel Festival in Göttingen) and as Atilia in Cavalli’s Eliogabalo, directed by Calixto Bieito (Zurich Opera House).
Sophie’s 2024/25 season is shaped by a thriving cooperation with Leonardo García Alarcón which gave way for exciting concerts and staged productions. Starting the season with the revival of Sasha Waltz’ production of St John Passion at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the soprano will also take part in concerts of Bach Cantatas in 2025 as well as in a tour of Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea through Germany, Switzerland and France (title-role). Sophie will revive the Händel-Festspiele Karlsruhe production of Siroe, re di Persia in the role of Emira and will take part in the tour of Handel’s Deborah under Tom Koopman (title-role).
The soprano’s discography includes Sacrifices with La Nuova Musica (Harmonia Mundi), Handel’s Esther with Laurence Cummings (Accent), Grétry’s L’Épreuve Villageoise (Naxos), Bach’s Secular Cantatas with the Bach Collegium Japan under Masaaki Suzuki (BIS), Stravaganza d’amore with Pygmalion under Raphaël Pichon (Harmonia Mundi) and Cunegunda in Leonardo Vinci’s Gismondo (Parnassus Arts Productions). In 2020, Sophie’s first solo album, La Francesina, was released under the label Aparté. This publication won an International Classical Music Award as well as the Trophée Forum-Opéra.
(2024/25_Please use this biography exclusively.)
