Serge Kakudji

Born in Kolwezi (DRC), in 1989

As a child, this young countertenor from Lubumbashi in Congo, already dreamt of becoming an opera singer one day. When he was around 16-17 years old, he took part in workshops and contests in Zimbabwe and in Congo and aroused the jury and public’s enthusiasm during the Crowned Hope Festival 2006 in Vienna, where he sang extracts from Mozart in The Dialogue Series: Dinozord III, created by the choreographer Faustin Linyekula. This performance led him to the KVS in Brussels, to the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and to setting off on an international tour. In 2006, he returned home to compose and perform in Likembe Opera, the first-ever opera in Swahili.

Kakudji began his studies formally in 2007 at the Institut supérieur de musique et de pédagogie (IMEP – Higher School of Music and Education) in Namur, Belgium and, the same year, he won the Jacques Dome contest in Verviers. He continued his studies at the Conservatoire National à Rayonnement Régional (Regional Music and Dance National Conservatory) in St. Maur-des-Fossés, under the direction of Yves Sotin.

In 2008, Kakudji set off on a world tour to perform ‘Pitié !’ (by the ballets C de la B), where he was the star of the show, based on Bach’s ‘Saint Matthew Passion’, arranged by Fabrizio Cassol and directed by Alain Platel. The show was performed in 45 cities in Europe, in Japan and in Kakudji’s home country, Congo. Kakudji sang his role occasionally during concerts.

During the 2011-2012 season, Kakudji performed the role of Tomeo in ‘Giulio Cesare in Egitto’, under the direction of Jean-Claude Malgoire and produced by Christian Schiaretti at the Château de Versailles. He was the Angel of Light in Euripides’ ‘La Folie d’Héracles’, which comprised an original score by Fabrizio Cassol and was produced by Christophe Perton at the Comédie-Française and then at the Comédie de Valence. He also sung the world premiere of Henri Seroka’s ‘Credo’ (written for him) at the Classic Open Air Festival in Berlin. He performed the role of Lidio in a concert of Cavalli’s ‘Egisto’ in St. Maur-les-Fossés under Robin Truman direction and was soloist in La Petite Messe Solennelle by Rossini, produced by Jean-Philippe Delavault and directed by Malgoire, in Tourcoing. In June 2012, he made his debut at the Teatro Real in Madrid as Amore in Monteverdi’s ‘L’Incoronazione di Poppea’. He reprised this role at the Opera of Montpellier at the beginning of May 2013. In 2013, Off World Pictures released the documentary film entitled ‘Rêve Kakudji’, which related Serge’s life.

His 2013-2014 season projects included: understudy of the Giulio Cesare title role and that of Tolomeo in Haendel’s ‘Giulio Cesare in Egitto’ at the Opera of Paris, as well as the reprise of Rossini’s ‘La Petite Messe’ at the Atelier Lyrique in Tourcoing. He also sang one of the three solos in ‘Orfeo’ in 2014 for the 10th anniversary of the reopening of the Opera of Lille. This project combined extracts from Monteverdi’s ‘Orfeo’ with new music by Helmut Oehring, with the Concert D’Astrée / Emmanuelle Haïm and the Ictus Ensemble.

His current project, ‘Coup Fatal’ has taken him back once again to his homeland for concerts bringing together Baroque music repertoire and traditional African instruments.