GLENN DESMEDT
character tenor
Belgian tenor Glenn Desmedt received his master’s degree in philosophy and theater studies from the Free University of Brussels. He then studied classical singing at the Maastricht Conservatory and perfected his skills with Luba Stuceveskaja, Aga Winska, and Nicolai Cok. At the same time, he took part in numerous workshops and master classes in the field of musicals, including at the legendary musical department of the Royal Ballet of Flanders under Linda Lepomme, thereby expanding his repertoire.
The versatile tenor began his career in the Netherlands with Opera Zuid, where he worked with renowned directors such as Frank Van Laecke, Bruno Berger-Gorski, and Lotte De Beer. In her version of Manon, he played the character role of Guillot de Morfontaine. Other opera engagements include Goro in Madama Butterfly and Ruiz in Il trovatore (Zomeropera Alden Biesen), MacDuff in Macbeth (Opera Spanga) and Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte (Close Opera Gent). With Arturo Marelli he realized the roles of Basilio and Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro at Schloss Rheinsberg and he sang Spärlich in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor at Schloss Weikersheim.
In the operetta and musical genres, his repertoire includes Giuseppe in The Gondoliers (Opéra Comique Maastricht), Zsupan in Gräfin Mariza (Vlaams Muziek Theater), Barinkay and Ottokar in Der Zigeunerbaron (MinTh and Vlaams Muziek Theater), John Styx in Orphée aux enfers (MinTh), Thénardier in Les Mis (Stadsschouwburg Antwerp), Renfield in Dracula (Judas Theatre Producties Antwerp), Pirelli in Sweeney Todd (MinTh and Fakkeltheater Antwerpen), Quasimodo in Notre Dame de Paris (MusicHall) and many more.
In 2024, he makes his debut as Oberst Pritschitsch in Die lustige Witwe with Vereinigten Bühnen Bozen.
In 2011, Glenn Desmedt won the Heinrich Strecker Crossover Competition in Baden near Vienna in the three disciplines operetta, musical, and Wiener Lied. He then sang leading roles such as Sancho Pansa (Man of La Mancha) and Alfred (Die Fledermaus) at the Theater Baden under Robert Herzl and Alexandra Liedtke. In 2020, he permanently relocated to Baden, where he has performed regularly ever since, most recently as Pawlowitsch in Der Graf von Luxemburg.
As an author and librettist, he worked on the musicals Zoo of Life, Rubens, and Mona, each with the composer Sam Gevers, and specialized in the translation of musical libretti into Dutch. He is also very successful as a producer, having produced, among other things, the Belgian premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, which was received with great enthusiasm by the press and the public.
