Jacobine van Laar was born in The Netherlands and started her musical career as a flautist. During her final year at the Sweelinck Conservatoire in Amsterdam she started her vocal studies with Wout Oosterkamp at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. Jacobine continued her vocal studies at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London as a postgraduate student with Laura Sarti. After this she continued to study privately with Angela Hickey. She took part in masterclasses with the Wagnerian Danish tenor Stig Andersen. Jacobine performed both solo and in opera productions in many venues throughout the UK, The Netherlands and France.
Having started out as a lyric soprano, Jacobine's recently made the transgression into the mezzo-soprano repertoire. 

Jacobine enjoys making chamber music with members of the Royal Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra but equally loves working with local choirs as a soloist.

Jacobine is open to recital, chamber music, opera and oratorio work. 

What others say...

Review Music in Marlow
It was followed by more Pärt, the movingly romantic and deeply sad song "Es sang vor langen Jahren", in which Jacobine van Laar's sumptuous tone was accompanied by Dan Cornford on viola and Cormack Browne on violin.

Review Battle and Rye Observer
The second piece though was arguably the highlight of the second half. Jacobine van Laar’s melancholy and evocative soprano,  took the audience to new levels of emotion , yet without straying into sentimentality.

Review Tubantia (Dutch newspaper)
'Jacobine made her voice sound warm-blooded in the famous Habanera from the opera Carmen by George Bizet and supple and round in Grieg's Cradle Song and Schubert Lieder.

James Conway, Musical Director English Touring Opera
Jacobine van Laar has a particular, interesting voice that seems to me to have much beauty. The top is certainly very bright - sometimes a little surprisingly so - given the dark colours  in the middle of the voice. Sorry, sounds like I am talking about wine - but there is something of a complex wine in her voice, at least to me. 

Paul Hamburger, vocal coach Guildhall School of Music London
I have had the pleasure, and indeed the honour, of working with Jacobine van Laar during the last year at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She is an outstanding soprano of beautiful natural sound used with immaculate technique throughout a wide range of evenly produced notes both in sustained and florid passages. She is also capable of much variation in colour, thus enabling her to fully characterise individual composers as well as differing songs and arias. Jacobine is also highly intelligent, musical and hard-working, and equally at home in music of many styles and periods. She is equally good in singing lieder, melodies, oratorios and operas, and will, I am sure, make a considerable career. I should be happy to know that all possible assistance is being given to this exceptional artist.

Tony Biggin, composer
If Only moved me to tears.

Hans Diepeveen, a happy listener
Bach's music (Schafe können sicher weiden), the way you start, and then that melody, the way you sing it, it sounds like it was composed in heaven.