Ludmila Schwartzwalder is a French mezzo-soprano who graduated in 2021 with a Master’s degree from Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne (HEMU) in Switzerland (class of Brigitte Balleys). Her career path reflects her many interests and her growth: having begun choral singing at the age of 10, she now has extensive experience of ensemble singing and works regularly with the self-directed women’s ensemble Diaphane, Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne (P.-F. Roubaty), Cappella Amsterdam (D. Reuss), Gli Angeli Genève (S. MacLeod), and Ensemble Exosphère (J-Ph. Billmann). In recent years, she has also discovered the pleasure of singing as a soloist in a variety of repertoires, and is increasingly exploring this avenue.
Ludmila being an eclectic musician, she recorded in 2015 an album of experimental rock titled Everyday Mythology (Label Altr0ck Productions) with the band Loomings on compositions from J. Costa. She is also a soloist for modern and contemporary music, among which premieres such as Karukinka by F. Alvarado (IRCAM) at the Musica Festival in Strasbourg (2015) or Quatre mélodies d’après Aya Mansour by P. Landy (2019). Last July, she sang the mezzo solo part in Stravinsky’s Svadebka at the Théâtre du Jorat (conducted by D. Reuss). Last September, she and Ensemble Diaphane created “Feminis-K“, a show retracing the struggle for women’s suffrage in Switzerland, at the Théâtre 2.21 in Lausanne.
In 2020 she is a finalist in the “Nuits lyriques” international competition (Marmande, France) in the category of French art songs. In 2021 she wins the special prize for the best interpretation of songs from Fauré and Séverac at the “Concours international de mélodies françaises de Toulouse” (France) with the pianist Pilar Benavides Campini.
Ludmila is also a soloist in the baroque repertoire including oratorios such as Bach’s Magnificat in Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) with Nederlands Kamerorkest and Matthew Passion with Orchestra of the 18th Century, Vivaldi’s Gloria, etc. In April 2023, she toured the Netherlands with Holland Baroque and its “Tears of Brabant” program. She will be alto solo in St John Passion next spring, once more with Orchestra of the 18th Century and Cappella Amsterdam (conductor D. Reuss) in Utrecht and Arnhem.
On stage, during her studies, she sings the role of Lucia in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana in 2016, and the role of Marie/Angel 2 in Benjamin’s Written on skin in 2019. For her debuts at the Opéra de Lausanne she portrays Maryse in Christiné’s Dédé (2021), and then Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte in a coproduction with the NOF – Opéra de Fribourg and HEMU. In 2022, still in Opéra de Lausanne, she plays Oberto in Haendel’s Alcina, conducted by Diego Fasolis and staged by Stefano Poda. The same year, she portrays the title role for the world Premiere of Crausaz’s Le chat botté at Opéra des Champs. This season, she was Cidippe in Henry Desmarest’s Vénus & Adonis in concert performance with L’Arpa Festante (conducted by Roland Lißmann). Last November, she was delighted to take part in her second production for young audiences, playing Armelinde (one of the two mean sisters!), in Pauline Viardot’s Cinderella at the Opéra de Lausanne under the baton of Marc Leroy-Calatayud, directed by Gilles Rico.
Passionate about foreign languages, Ludmila also holds a Bachelor’s degree in English, German and Swedish from the University of Strasbourg. Today, she is learning Dutch and Spanish by herself; she can read the Cyrillic alphabet fluently and has some basic knowledge of Russian. She is also particularly fond of various types of bodily expression, and has taken courses in modern and jazz dance, charleston and salsa.