Seroen, Berthe

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Seroen, Berthe

Seroen, Berthe, Belgian-born Dutch soprano and teacher; b. Mechelen, Nov. 27, 1882; d. Amsterdam, April 17, 1957. She was trained at the Brussels Cons. After giving concerts in Belgium and France, she made her operatic debut in Antwerp in 1908 at the Flemish Opera as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser. She later sang at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. In 1914 she settled in Holland and pursued a career as a concert artist. She taught at the Rotterdam Cons. (from 1927), and at the conservatories in Amsterdam and Utrecht (from 1937). Seroen was particularly admired for her performances of contemporary Dutch and French art songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire