A native of The Netherlands, the baritone Johan Lippens made his European debut in 1995 in the Royal Concertgebouw concert hall, singing with the Schönberg Ensemble conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw.
Mr. Lippens has since sung with ensembles such as the Amsterdam Baroque Choir and performed in opera, oratorio and solo lied recitals throughout
the world, working under the baton of Simon Schouten, Thiery Fisher, Ton Koopman, Jos Vermunt, Otto Tausk and Masaki Suzuki.
In 1998 he was one of two baritone soloists selected to participate in the Baroque program at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo Japan. In 1999 he received a fellowship from the Aspen Music Festival, where he worked with artists such as Armen Guzelimian, William Sharp and Adele Addison.Mr. Lippens was soloist in the Maria Vespers by Monteverdi with Teatro Lirico under the direction of renowned lutist, Stephen Stubbs.
Working in collaboration with pianist Brook Cuden, Mr. Lippens has given lied recitals in the United States, Great Britain, Asia and Europe, performing Schumann’s Dichterliebe, Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin-Winterreise-Schwanengesang, Brahms’ Lieder Op.32, Vaughan Williams’ Songs of Travel, songs by Viktor Ullmann and songs by Ravel, Duparc, Poulenc Fauré.
Lippens also performed as a soloist with choir and orchestra in
Shostakovich's 14th Symphony with the Loch Shiel Philharmonic Ensemble (Loch Shiel Music Festival 2006) and Orf's Carmina Burana with the Helios Ensemble.
In addition to the traditional classical repertoire, Mr. Lippens is a promoter and performer of contemporary music. In 2002, Lippens gave a concert tour throughout the Netherlands and England featuring the music of Californian composer Harry Partch. These concerts included the Li Po Songs for adapted viola and voice, which use a 43-tone scale. This was a European premiere project, which was broadcasted on the VPRO radio and the BBC world television. He has also premiered works by Bob Zimmerman, Paul Bruinen and David Dramm.
Mr. Lippens has been active as an educator, giving master classes at the Edessa Conservatory (Greece), the Dartington College for the Arts (England), at universities in Wisconsin and Minnesota and at Yantai University (China).
Upcoming projects include Bach cantatas with the Helios ensembles, cd recording of the three Schubert cycles, a United states cd promotional tour including concerts and a masterclass at the University of Louisiana Monroe.