Romain Champion

Tenor

Romain Champion was already performing on stage in works such as “Les Mousquetaires au couvent”, “La Fille de Madame Angot”, and various musicals at venues like the Théâtre Déjazet, the Trianon Théâtre, and the Théâtre de Saint-Maur-des-Fossés before earning gold medals at the CNR in that same city in 2005. His vocal profile naturally drew him toward the Baroque repertoire, particularly French works; in 2005, he was recruited by the Ambronay Baroque Academy to perform in André Campra’s “L’Europe Galante” under the direction of William Christie, touring across France and Spain. Over the past twenty years, he has worked with leading ensembles including Le Concert Spirituel, Les Talens Lyriques, Pygmalion, Accentus, Le Poème Harmonique, La Simphonie du Marais, L’Ensemble Baroque de Limoges, La Fenice, Marguerite Louise, the Royal Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Stradivaria, Les Nouveaux Caractères, Les Paladins, and the Czech Baroque Ensemble. With the latter, he has recorded around twenty CDs and DVDs; the most recent release is Charpentier’s “Missa Assumpta est” (February 2025), and the next will be Charpentier’s “Messe de Minuit”, scheduled for release in 2026! With these and other ensembles, he tours France and the world performing in New York, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Carthage, the Royal Opera of Versailles, the Opéra Comique, and the opera houses of Rennes, Vichy, Massy, ​​Lille, Rouen, and the Grand Théâtre de Provence, among others as well as at numerous festivals. His solo repertoire ranges from the Baroque era (the title role in Lully’s “Atys”; Mercury and Thespis in Rameau’s “Platée”; Mozart roles such as Tamino and Bastien) to contemporary music (Stockhausen’s “Welt-Parlament”). Passionate about oratorio, he has frequently performed the Evangelist roles in Bach’s Passions and major oratorios such as Handel’s “Messiah”, Bach’s cantatas, Requiems by Mozart, Campra, and Gilles, French Baroque “Grands Motets” (Mondonville, Gilles, Charpentier, Delalande), Rossini’s “Missa di Gloria” and “Petite Messe Solennelle”, Vespers by Monteverdi and Rachmaninoff, and Dvořák’s “Stabat Mater”.

An excellent ensemble singer (”ripienist”), he is passionate about chamber music and participates in numerous demanding programs requiring one voice per part, featuring motets by Bach, Schütz, Charpentier, Lassus, Morales, Victoria, Poulenc, Rautavaara, Whitacre, and others.

He has studied choral conducting and has enjoyed conducting numerous programs over the past 25 years.

Regarding Claudio Monteverdi’s “Vespers of the Blessed Virgin” at Radio France, in a concert conducted by Lionel Sow:

“Romain Champion, who joins the two soloists in the “Duo Seraphim” and features in numerous passages, displays his fresh tenor timbre with ease and flexibility, combining powerful projection, a Baroque aesthetic, and majestic phrasing.”

 

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