She conducted last summer the opening concert of the Edinburgh International Festival with the epic eight-hour-long The Veil of the Temple by Sir John Tavener, together with the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, National Youth Choir of Scotland, NCOS Chamber Choir, Monteverdi Choir and Royal Scottish National Orchestra. She returns to the Edinburgh International Festival in summer 2026 with an American choral programme.
Recent highlights include appearances with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra and New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. Choral collaborations include the RIAS Kammerchor Berlin, Swedish Radio Choir, Nederlands Kamerkoor, DR VokalEnsemblet, Coro Casa da Música, Chamber Choir Ireland and São Paulo Symphony Choir.
For her last season as Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers, Jeannin leads rich and varied programmes together with New Zealand Voices, and also with the Academy of Ancient Music for Bach’s Mass in B minor. Jeannin is regularly at the BBC Proms with the BBC Singers. Under her leadership, the ensemble has premiered works by Missy Mazzoli, Shiva Feshareki and Nico Muhly. Notable collaborations include one with the Academy of Ancient Music and South Asian dance company Akademi, exploring the dances of Rameau with classical and contemporary Indian dance; with British-Indian Soumik Datta and his work Awaaz, weaving Indian classical music, Bengali folk, Tagore and Partition songs; with South African cellist and vocalist Abel Selaocoe; and another featuring Poulenc’s iconic choral work Figure humaine with jazz interpolations from BBC New Generation Artist Misha Mullov Abado.
This season, Jeannin brings Ars Nova Copenhagen for concerts celebrating Arvo Pärt and Palestrina anniversaries across Denmark, as well as in Flagey Brussels and Barcelona. Jeannin’s post as Music Director of la Maîtrise de Radio France – the choir favoured by Messiaen and Dutilleux – gives her musical and pedagogical responsibility for 180 choristers. This season marks Jeannin’s 18th season with them and also their 80th anniversary. With la Maîtrise, Jeannin has commissioned multiple new works, collaborating with composers such as Kaija Saariaho, Peter Eötvös, John Adams, Thierry Escaich and Olga Neuwirth, and gives regular broadcasts on France Musique.
Committed to education and outreach work, Jeannin has worked with the chorus and orchestra of Kinshasa, Congo, and has also been involved in El Sistema, Greece, since early 2017. She regularly gives workshops and masterclasses around the world.
Jeannin studied conducting and singing at the Stockholm Royal College of Music, the Nice Conservatoire and then at the Royal College of Music, London, with Paul Spicer, and prepared the Chorus for conductors including Bernard Haitink, Peter Schreier and David Willcocks.
She is an Officer de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2025), Officer de l’Ordre des Palmes académiques (2018), and Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite (2021). She was awarded the Grand Prix Antoine Livio 2023 by the International Music Press Association, in recognition of her work with la Maîtrise de Radio France. In recognition of distinguished achievements in choral directing, she was also awarded the highest honour of the Royal College of Organists, the RCO Medal, in 2024.
2025/26 season only. Please contact HarrisonParrott if you wish to edit this biography.
