Named Lyric Artist Revelation at the Victoires de la musique classique 2026, Léontine Maridat-Zimmerlin is a 26-year-old French mezzo-soprano. She has been represented by Do Opéra agency since 2024. After starting out with the cello and dance, she spent eleven years at the Maîtrise and the CRR of Paris. In 2021, she obtained a bachelor's degree in musicology at La Sorbonne. That same year, she joined the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon under the guidance of Sophie Marin-Degor, Hélène Lucas and Nobuyoshi Shima. In 2023, she graduated with a DNSPM with Highest Honours and continued her training in a Master's programme at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, a degree she obtained in 2025.
Mundo Clasico – Seville Concert – February 2025Passionate about art song, she stood out in 2022 at the International Mélodie Competition of Gordes, where she won three prizes, including the special Karine Deshayes Prize. In 2023, she won awards at the Georges Enesco Competition in Paris, receiving the Génération Opéra Prize, the Grand Prize for Contemporary Music, as well as an invitation to the Gala des Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques de Montréal. A few weeks later, she was also awarded the French Repertoire Prize at the Raymond Duffaut Opera Jeunes Espoirs Competition.
ResMusica – Adami Concert – July 2025During her studies, Léontine had the opportunity to perform several roles in conservatoire productions: at the CNSMDL, she notably portrayed the vain Orestes in La Belle Hélène and the mad Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte, both staged by Bernard Rozet.
In 2025, she played a mischievous Cherubino in a CNSMDP production directed by Mariame Clément,
in co-production with the Philharmonie de Paris. That same year, she also performed three roles—La Candeur, Hippocratine and La Notaire—in L'Île de Merlin ou Le monde renversé by Christoph Willibald Gluck, staged by Myriam Marzouki at the Opéra-Comique.
Her commitment to opera has been further enriched by the mentorship of Clémentine Margaine, as part of the springboard programme Fonds Tutti, and by numerous masterclasses, notably with Karine Deshayes at Boissettes en Scène, as well as Stéphane Degout, Simon O'Neil, Cyril Dubois, Raphaël Pichon, Sabine Devieilhe, Emmanuelle de Negri, Laurence Equilbey, or Louis Langrée.
Olyrix – The Marriage of Figaro – March 2025Deeply attached to the chamber music repertoire, in 2025 she performed at the Amphitheatre of the Seville Opera House in a recital of English songs alongside Carmen Martinez-Pierret (piano) and Israel Fausto-Martinez (cello).
In May 2025, her duo with pianist Louis Dechambre won the Duo Prize at the International Competition of Clermont-Ferrand.
And a few months later, she also won, with pianist Ayano Kamei, the Prince Rainier III de Monaco Grand Prize for voice–piano duo at the Nadia and Lili Boulanger International Voice–Piano Competition.
She maintains a sincere friendship with both musicians and is deeply attached to these duos, built on close artistic rapport and a shared passion for the chamber repertoire.
Opéra Magazine – 7th "Raymond Duffaut" Competition – November 2023For the 2024–2025 season, Léontine joined the Académie Favart of the Opéra-Comique
under the artistic direction of Louis Langrée and Mathieu Pordoy,
which enabled her to sing alongside Stéphane Degout in an on-stage recital, and also to take a full part in the life at the heart of an opera house. There, she developed in particular a special fondness for outreach work with children.
She completed her Master 2 with Highest Honours unanimously at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris under Frédéric Gindraux.
The current season marks several major debuts: she will portray Diana in Iphigénie en Tauride at the Opéra-Comique, Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro in Pistoia, Italy, Tisbe in Rameau's Pygmalion with Les Talens Lyriques, and Mercedes in Carmen at the Capitole de Toulouse.
Several recitals are planned in Basel, at the Opéra de Clermont-Ferrand, at the Musée de l'Armée (Les Invalides), and in various summer festivals.
She has also been selected to join the new cohort of Génération Opéra 2025-2026, has been announced as an Adami Artist 2025, and joined the Académie Jaroussky in September 2025.
Léontine is supported by the SIAA Foundation.
Olyrix – Génération Opéra – December 2024
