👶 Beyond the Score: Parenthood and the performing career Nobody talks about this enough. And when they do, it’s usually framed as a problem. A singer announces a pregnancy. A conductor takes parental leave. And behind the curtains, the industry holds its breath, wondering what it means for availability, for bookings, for the years ahead. At Tiben Artists, we have supported artists through pregnancy, birth, and the early years of parenthood. What we have seen, every single time, is that it does not diminish a career. It changes it. And in the most important ways, it deepens it. You cannot spend years singing about love, loss, sacrifice, and all kinds of emotions, and then tell me that becoming a parent doesn’t add something to that. But the practical side is real, and it deserves to be spoken about openly. 💬 Communicate early and clearly. With your agent, your promoters, your colleagues. Your availability will change, but nobody benefits from uncertainty. The earlier the conversation happens, the more solutions are possible. 🤝 Build your support network before you need it. Childcare, partners, family, fellow artists who understand the schedule. This is not a luxury. It is infrastructure. 🔓 Normalise the conversation. The more artists and managers speak openly about parenthood, the less exceptional it becomes, and the more the industry is pushed to accommodate it as standard practice rather than exception. This applies to fathers and co-parents too. The conversation cannot only happen when a soprano is visibly pregnant. It has to include every artist, every voice type, every family structure. They are raising the next generation of opera lovers, after all. 💕 How has your experience been navigating parenthood and a performing career? We would love to hear from you in the comments. 👇

Marianne Beate Kielland: Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde 🌍 Tonight in Oulu, Finland, Marianne Beate Kielland performs Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Oulu Sinfonia and the European Union Youth Orchestra under Rumon Gamba — on Europe Day, in Oulu’s year as European Capital of Culture. Mahler gave this work a title instead of a number, wary of composing his ninth symphony. What he wrote instead was something between a symphony and a song cycle, six movements for mezzo-soprano and tenor. The final movement, Der Abschied, belongs almost entirely to the mezzo-soprano. Few singers bring the same freshness and authority to Mahler’s orchestral songs as Marianne Beate Kielland. The programme also includes Dvořák’s Carnival Overture and the world premiere of a new orchestral work by Finnish composer Lara Poe, commissioned for this occasion. Mezzo-soprano: Marianne Beate Kielland Tenor: Tuomas Katajala Conductor: Rumon Gamba Oulu Sinfonia & European Union Youth Orchestra 📅 Today, 9 May — 16:00 📍 Madetoja Hall, Oulu Toi toi toi, Marianne Beate! 🌹

Aarón Zapico & Pablo García-López: Negroni Sbagliato 🍸 Tonight at the Gran Teatro in Córdoba, conductor Aarón Zapico joins forces with tenor Pablo García-López and the Orquesta de Córdoba for a programme they built together from scratch. Negroni Sbagliato: a musical toast to the Baroque. Vivaldi dominates, with arias from L’incoronazione di Dario, Armida al campo d’Egitto, Farnace and more. Boccherini’s La casa del diavolo opens and closes the evening. Monteverdi’s Lamento d’Arianna sits at the heart of it. The kind of programme that only happens when two artists know exactly what they want to say together. Tenor: Pablo García-López Harpsichord & direction: Aarón Zapico Orquesta de Córdoba Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Boccherini 📅 Tonight, 7 May — 20:00 📍 Gran Teatro, Córdoba Toi toi toi, Pablo & Aarón! ✨

Logan Lopez Gonzalez: La Petite Annonce Faite à Marie 🎭 This week, countertenor Logan Lopez Gonzalez opens in La Petite Annonce Faite à Marie at the Théâtre Royal du Parc in Brussels: a collective creation based on Thierry Debroux’s novel about family memory, secrets between generations, and the stories we leave behind. Logan sings, acts and dances alongside choreographer Michèle Anne De Mey, actor and singer Fabian Finkels, and pianist Julie Delbart. The repertoire moves from Vivaldi and Porpora to Richard Strauss and Radiohead: four centuries of music on one stage, which tells you something about how this production thinks about what a countertenor voice can do. De Mey is best known internationally for Kiss and Cry, which toured the world. This is a different kind of project: intergenerational, intimate, built around the question of what we remember and what we lose. With: Logan Lopez Gonzalez, Michèle Anne De Mey, Fabian Finkels, Julie Delbart Choreography: Michèle Anne De Mey Musical direction: Julie Delbart 📅 7 May – 6 June 2026 Tuesday to Saturday at 20:15 / Sundays at 15:00 📍 Théâtre Royal du Parc, Brussels Toi toi toi, Logan!