After studying at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris, Catherine Trottmann joined the Ensemble of the Wiener Staatsoper where she made her first stage appearances.
The young soprano swiftly made an impression for her richness of tone and her talent as an actress, appearing in major international venues and festivals such as Opéra de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Carnegie Hall in New York, Berlin Philharmonie, The Edinburgh and Aix-en-Provence Festivals.
Nominated in 2017 at the Victoires de la Musique in the category “Révélation Artiste Lyrique” she won the First Prize at the Manhattan International Music Competition and was a HSBC Laureate of the Académie of the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.
Most recently, Catherine Trottmann made her eagerly anticipated debut at La Scala as Jemmy in a new production of Rossini’s Guillaume Tell helmed by Michele Mariotti and Chiara Muti and offered her title role debut in Ted Huffman’s staging of Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea at the Rennes Opera.
She has garnered widespread acclaim for her portrayal of both Leïla in Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de perles under Guillaume Tourniaire at the Opéra de Saint-Etienne and Adina in L’Elisir d’amore at the Bordeaux National Opera.
Recognised for her versatility, Catherine is regularly invited to sing Rossini, in particular the role of Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Edinburgh Festival and the Konzerthaus in Dortmund. Add to this Le Comte Ory at the Opéra-Théâtre in Metz, Il Turco in Italia at the Dijon Opera and La Cenerentola in Lausanne and Vienna.
Also a lover of Mozart, she took the stage as Zerlina in Don Giovanni at the Lausanne Opera, the Bremen Musikfest and the Beaune Festival, not to mention Le Nozze di Figaro at the Opéra National du Rhin.
Catherine Trottmann is also an exponent of the French repertoire. She has sung in Debussy’s La Demoiselle élue with the Orchestre National d’l’Ile-de-France at the Paris Philharmonie and Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges at Paris Salle Pleyel. She has embodied the roles of Princess Cunégonde in Jacques Offenbach’s Le Roi Carotte at the Opéra de Lyon, Diane in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysees and the title role in Henri Sauguet’s Tistou les pouces verts at the Opéra de Rouen.
She it was who created the role of La Rose in Michaël Levinas’ Le Petit Prince at the Lausanne Opera, the Lille Opera, the Grand Théâtre in Geneva and Paris Théâtre du Chatelet.
Other notable highlights in her career include the title role in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel in Metz and Eliza Doolittle in Frederick Loewe’s My Fair Lady in Lausanne.
Also active on the concert stage, Catherine has performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Mass in C Major at the Avignon Opera, Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio in Russia with the Moscow New Philharmonic Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream with both the Orchestre National de Lyon and Orchestre National de Lorraine, and the French premiere of Leonid Desyatnikov’s Illusions perdues with the Bolshoi Ballet at the Palais Garnier.
Exploring more and more Baroque music, she was recently invited to sing La Resurrezione (Angelo) under Alessandro De Marchi in Oslo and with Julien Chauvin for both the Saint-Michel en Thiérache and Froville Festivals.
In the 2024/2025 season, Catherine returns to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées for the title role of Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea with Le Banquet Céleste and for Zerlina in Don Giovanni alongside Les Ambassadeurs ~ La Grande Écurie, both in concert.
Catherine will sing Brahms’ Deutsches Requiem with the Chœur de chambre Mélisme(s) in Rennes and Grenoble and will reprise L’Incoronazione di Poppea for the Nederlandse Reisopera accompanied by Cappella Mediterannea.
