Louise McClelland Jacobsen

The Danish-New Zealand soprano Louise McClelland Jacobsen is establishing herself as a versatile and expressive artist with a repertoire ranging from opera and oratorio to art song and contemporary music. She completed the Young Artist Programme of the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen, where she made her debut in 2023 as the Fifth Maid in Strauss's Elektra. Further roles included Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Aase (Drot og Marsk), the High Priestess (Aida), Lauretta (Il Trittico) and the title role in Bent Sørensen's Asle og Alida, which she had already performed at its world premiere at Bergen National Opera.

Since the 2025/26 season, she has been a member of the ensemble of the Semperoper Dresden. There, she has appeared as Pamina, Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel) and Gerda in Hans Abrahamsen's The Snow Queen. In the 2026/27 season, her roles include Micaëla (Carmen), Ninetta (The Love for Three Oranges) and the title role in Ferdinando Paër's Leonore. She will also appear as Mary Stuart in Brett Dean's Of One Blood at the Bavarian State Opera, where she is regular guest since her debut in 2024/25 in Strauss's Die Liebe der Danae.

Louise McClelland Jacobsen is also a sought-after concert singer. Since her debut with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in 2018, she has returned to the orchestra regularly. In the current 2026/27 season, she will appear with the orchestra under the baton of Emmanuel Tjeknavorian in a programme of Mozart concert arias. Further highlights include concerts with the Jönköpings Sinfonietta, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under the baton of Andris Nelsons.

Chamber music is another important focus of her artistic work. Together with her Trio Doré, horn player Lasse Mauritzen and harpist Zachary Hatcher, she explores a broad repertoire ranging from early to contemporary music.

Louise McClelland Jacobsen has received numerous awards, including the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Talent Award, the Léonie Sonning Music Foundation Talent Prize, the "Talent of the Year" award from DR P2 (2024) and the Aalborg Opera Prize (2025). In 2021, she won the inaugural Langgaard Competition, which led to her debut recording of songs by Rued Langgaard for Dacapo Records. She completed her Master's degree with distinction at the Royal Danish Opera Academy in Copenhagen.