Stephan MacLeod
Stephan MacLeod is a conductor and a singer. Born in Geneva, he is the founder and artistic director of Gli Angeli Genève, an ensemble specialising in repertoire from the 17th to 19th centuries on period instruments. He now conducts between 40 and 50 concerts a year around the world, including a growing number as guest conductor with 'modern' orchestras. He is also happily pursuing his career as a singer and teaches singing at Geneva's Haute Ecole de Musique (HEM).
In 2024, among his many projects, he sings and conducts works by Machaut, Josquin, Brumel, Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Mendelssohn or Stravinsky, in Geneva and around the world. He gives organ and voice recitals with Benjamin Righetti, sings Bach’s John Passion in Hungary with György Vashegyi, conducts the Orchestre de la Suisse romande and Gli Angeli Genève in a Stravinsky - Gesualdo - Machaut programme, reunites with Philippe Herreweghe and the Collegium Vocale for some Matthew Passions in Germany and Austria, sings In Terra Pax and Frank Martin's Ode à la Musique for the opening concert of Thierry Fischer's Frank Martin Odyssey, conducts Bach's Mass in B minor in Geneva and on tour with Gli Angeli Genève, sings Mendelssohn's Paulus with Leonardo Garcia Alarcón, takes part in the Saintes, Bruges, Lanvellec or Fribourg Festivals, performs scottish songs on tour with Alexis Kossenko and in Geneva with the Ernest Trio, conducts Bach's Magnificat and sings Frank Martin's Requiem in Geneva, performs and records Stravinsky's Threni with Daniel Reuss and the Capella Amsterdam, and sings and conducts Handel's Messiah on tour with Gli Angeli Genève.
Stephan MacLeod studied violin and piano before turning to singing, which he first studied at the Geneva Conservatoire, then with Kurt Moll at the Musikhochschule in Cologne and finally with Gary Magby at the Haute Ecole de Musique in Lausanne. His singing career began during his studies in Germany, thanks to a fruitful collaboration with Reinhard Goebel and Musica Antiqua Köln. It was then that the doors of the world of oratorio opened to him, and he has since performed regularly on the most important stages under conductors such as Philippe Herreweghe, Jordi Savall, Frieder Bernius, Franz Brüggen and Masaaki Suzuki, Michel Corboz, Gustav Leonhardt, Christophe Coin, Konrad Junghänel, Hans-Christoph Rademann, Sigiswald Kuijken, Vaclav Luks, Philippe Pierlot, Helmut Rilling, Rudolf Lutz, Raphael Pichon, Paul Van Nevel and Jos Van Immerseel, as well as with Daniel Harding and Jesus Lopez Cobos.
A singer with a love of song and melody, he gives numerous recitals, but has also been heard on opera stages, notably productions at La Monnaie in Brussels and La Fenice in Venice, as well as on the opera stages of Geneva, Toulouse, Nîmes, Bordeaux, Cologne, Potsdam, Freiburg, Girona, etc.
Since 2005, in parallel with his singing career, he has also devoted himself to conducting and is the founder of the Ensemble Gli Angeli Genève, which has reaped the rewards of significant international recognition in recent years.
From 2013 to 2023, he was professor of singing at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne, and since September 2023 at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève, and he divides his time between teaching, his commitments as a singer, his ensemble and invitations to conduct - particularly Bach - with increasing frequency. He regularly conducts the musicians of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, as well as the Philharmonie Zuidnederland, the Hungarian National Philharmonic, the Nederlandse Bachvereniging and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra.
Stephan MacLeod's discography includes more than 100 CDs, many of them to critical acclaim.