Mezzo-soprano and harpist, Sophie Leleu initially turned towards opera, both in the traditional repertoire and in contemporary creation. After studying singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and at the Universität der Künste in Berlin, she performed roles throughout Europe, the United States, and Asia: Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice in Berlin, Pesson’s Pastorale at the Théâtre du Châtelet, A. Markeas’s Re: Walden at EMPAC in New York, Adams’s Nixon in China at the Théâtre du Châtelet, De Falla’s El Amor Brujo, Gounod’s Le Médecin malgré lui at L’Opéra de Saint-Etienne, the title role in Bizet’s Carmen and then the title role in Saint-Saëns’s Frédégonde at the Opéra de Saigon in Vietnam, Verdi’s Il Ballo in Maschera at the Opera d’Orvieto in Italy, etc…
As a composer and improviser, she also makes her mark in creation. She wrote songs early on, accompanying herself on the harp, which she performed in numerous concerts, and later composed for live performances.
Artistic director of the company Des Lieux & Des Êtres, with a desire to bring artists together, Sophie creates shows centered around the voice, offering different aesthetics and blending repertoire with her own creations.
During the lockdown, she joined J. Pontier’s composition class at Pôle Sup’93 – CRR d’Aubervilliers and obtained her DEM in June 2023. She then furthered her studies in Aurélien Dumont’s class at the CRR de Créteil.
Sophie writes various pieces for prestigious ensembles such as Court-Circuit, 2E2M, and Accroche Note.
The Philharmonie de Paris commissioned her first creation, Solstice-chant à la lune, in March 2023, a lyric poem that she premiered alongside the Multilatérale ensemble. She was named a laureate of the Territoires en création program launched by the Ars Nova ensemble, which commissioned works from her for the 2023-24 season. Notably, the creation of a lyrical work for contralto voice, string quartet, and piano: Sur l’étoffe de mon âme, based on a poem by Tahéré Qurrat al-Ayn, and Vision, for choir, organ, and instrumental ensemble, based on texts by Hildegard Von Bingen, premiered in October 2024 as part of the Royan-Orgues festival.
In the autumn of 2024, Sophie began a collaboration with the ensemble L’Instant Donné, for which she wrote a quartet for flutes, bass clarinet, violin, and cello: Prima Materia, which premiered in December 2024 at the CRR de Créteil.

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