Laetitia Gerards (1993) started playing the cello at the age of five. At thirteen she was admitted to the Young Musicians Academy at the conservatory of Tilburg. During her musical theatre studies at the conservatory, Laetitia developed a passion for singing and performing on stage. In 2013 Laetitia decided to focus exclusively on classical singing and started her studies at the conservatory in Amsterdam with mezzo soprano Sasja Hunnego. In May 2016 Laetitia graduated for her bachelor’s degree summa cum laude. Currently Laetitia is studying with Magreet Honig.
In 2013 Laetitia won the first prize at the Junior Deutekom Concours and the Prinses Christina Concours. One year later she received the prestigious Young Talent Award of the Royal Concertgebouw. Since then she performs with renowned orchestras and ensembles such as the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, het Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, the The Hague Philharmonic, The Royal Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, Camerata RCO, Amsterdam Sinfoniëtta en the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century.
In 2016 Laetitia debuted at the Moscow Symphony Orchestra in the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. In the same year, she was invited to sing for the Netherlands-America foundation and gave performances in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Calgary and Vancouver.
Laetitia’s repertoire includes among others the roles of Servilia in Mozart’s ‘La Clemenza di Tito’, Musetta in Puccini's 'La Bohème', Lisette in Puccini's 'La Rondiné', Noémie in Massenet’s 'Cendrillon', Anna in Kurt Weil’s 'Die Sieben Todsünden', Marzelline in Beethoven’s 'Fidelio' and Maria in Bernsteins 'West Side Story’.
In 2017, together with pianist Ramon van Engelenhoven, she sang Poulenc's one-act 'La Voix Humaine' in ‘Het Concertgebouw’ in Amsterdam, in the serie ‘Jonge Nederlander’. In march 2018, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam invited Laetitia for their TRACKS series, giving her carte blanche to make a special program around herself.
In April 2019 she made her debut with De Nederlandse Reisopera and sang the role of Anne Egerman in "A little night music" by Stephen Sondheim. Later that year, with the same company, she sang the rol of Eileen in Bernsteins ‘A Wonderful Town.’
In March 2020 Laetitia will perform the role of Marenka in ‘The Bartled Bride’ by Bedrich Smetana with De Nederlandse Reisopera.
