English

Fenna Ograjensek, soprano, is a highly sought-after and versatile singer. She feels completely at home in both opera and concert repertoire, while also enthusiastically engaging with chamber music and new works by contemporary composers. She is known for her warm vocal timbre, musicality, and strong connection with her audience.

As an opera singer, Fenna was a member of the Florida Grand Opera in Miami for two years, where she performed various roles as a Young Artist. She currently works as a freelance singer and has collaborated with companies such as Opera Zuid, Central City Opera, Opera Omaha, New Jersey Opera Theater, Zomeropera Alden Biesen, Holland Opera, Opera Spanga, and the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse.

Her concert performances have taken her to major concert halls around the world, including Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, the Berliner Philharmonie and Berliner Dom, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and the Konzerthaus Freiburg. Her repertoire includes major works such as the Requiems by Verdi, Brahms, Dvořák, and Mozart, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Mahler’s Second Symphony, A Sea Symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and many others. In addition, she has performed several times for Aldeburgh Music (UK), was a participant in the renowned Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, USA, and is a much-requested soloist with the ORSO Orchestra & Choral Society.

As a cultural connector, Fenna is committed to using her talents to contribute to a vibrant cultural life in the region where she lives. This is her mission.

In 2018, together with Sybrand van der Werf, she founded the new opera company Opera Compact, where she serves as managing director. Opera Compact aims to bring opera closer to audiences, making it more accessible and creating an atmospheric experience together with cast, crew, and audience. For Opera Compact, she has sung roles such as Leonore (Fidelio), Agathe (Der Freischütz), Titania (The Fairy Queen), and Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly). In 2026, she will sing Micaëla (Carmen).

She organized and performed (together with fellow artists from Limburg) at the Mijn Barbara Concert with the Metropole Orchestra, created five successful productions with Opera 2.0—El Rey (about politician Jos van Rey), De Berg van Tom (about cyclist Tom Dumoulin’s Olympic journey), and Lijf Live; Liefde in tijden van corona. She also conceived numerous concert programs, including Onweerstaanbaar, Die Goldenen Zwanziger, A Homage to Bernstein, Wenn ich in deine Augen seh’ (a concert-plus about Schumann), the children’s opera Koco in de wolken by Marijk Greweldiger, and Brecht & Brel (A Search for Utopia).

From 2007 to 2021, Fenna was the driving force and director of the Stichting Muziek Jong voor Oud. Since its inception, she has been the artistic director of the Zomerfestival Voerendaal, which celebrated its ten-year anniversary in 2025.

Fenna Ograjensek first studied classical singing and opera at the Maastricht Conservatoire with Yvonne Schiffelers, and continued her studies at The Juilliard School in New York with Edith Bers, where she earned her graduate diploma. She is currently coached by Gemma Visser. During her studies, Fenna attended masterclasses with Leontyne Price, Rudolf Piernay, Malcolm Martineau, Thomas Hampson, and Marilyn Horne.

Fenna has worked with conductors such as Laurence Cummings, Ed Spanjaard, Masaaki Suzuki, Bernhard Kontarsky, Steward Robertson, Jan Stulen, Robert Hollingworth, Steuart Bedford, Per-Otto Johansson, Enrico Delamboye, Maurice Luttikhuis, Stefan Veselka, and many others.