A memorable Pelléas, Mârouf, Frédéric in Lakmé, Raimbaud in Le Comte Ory, Coppélius in The Tales of Hoffmann: Jean-Sébastien Bou has inhabited many roles on the Favart stage. The baritone shares with the young artists of the Academy his relationship to the text, to the French language and to an eclectic repertoire.
Cast
Jean-Sébastien Bou, with the artists of the Academy of Opéra-Comique • Mathieu Pordoy, director of musical studies
Detailed cast of the 2026-2027 Academy class to come
Biography
A French baritone trained at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris after studying with Mady Mesplé, Jean-Sébastien Bou is one of the most complete French-speaking singers of his generation. His international career began in 2000 with the male title role of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, which he has since reprised at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Liceu in Barcelona and the Stanislavski Theatre in Moscow. He notably sang Pelléas at Opéra-Comique for the centenary of the work's premiere in 2002.
A familiar voice on the Opéra-Comique stage, he has played the title role of Rabaud's Mârouf, savetier du Caire, Frédéric in Lakmé, Raimbaud in Le Comte Ory, the Prince of Mantua in Fantasio, Lescaut in Manon. He returned in 2025 in the roles of Coppélius, Dapertutto, Lindorf and Doctor Miracle in The Tales of Hoffmann.
His eclectic repertoire stretches from the Baroque (Les Boréades conducted by William Christie and then Marc Minkowski, Monteverdi's L'Orfeo) to contemporary creation: Marc-André Dalbavie's Charlotte Salomon at the Salzburg Festival, Thierry Escaich's Claude at the Opéra de Lyon, Escaich's Point d'Orgue at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Dalbavie's The Satin Slipper at the Opéra national de Paris. A renowned interpreter of mélodie, he recorded the complete songs of Charles Bordes with François-René Duchâble.
Program
From Pelléas to contemporary creation, from Baroque to operetta, Jean-Sébastien Bou's career bears witness both to a deep loyalty to the house and to an artistic curiosity that is constantly renewed. Follow his transmission with the singers of the Academy.
Detailed program to come
The Academy of Opéra-Comique
A major player in lyric creation for more than three centuries, in 2023 Opéra-Comique opened an Academy dedicated to new generations of performers.
Its mission is to promote the opéra-comique genre and its specific art of interpretation, performed as close as possible to the texts and to stage action. It aspires to be a centre of artistic excellence around French singing and the art of spoken-sung performance. The Academy also aims to identify and support young French-speaking artists by encouraging them to develop fresh perspectives on lyric art and its vitality.
The disciplines of dramaturgy and costume design are also called to join this project.
