The winner of numerous international competitions (Paris, Bilbao, Reine Elisabeth Bruxelles, Clermont-Ferrand, Verviers), Isabelle Kabatu, the Belgian soprano of African origins, won the First Prize of the prestigious Viotti competition, in Varallo, Italy in 1994.
In the same year, she made her career debut in the title role of « La Traviata » in Lisbon.

She quickly established herself on some of the world’s greatest stages: La Scala di Milano, Opéra Bastille Paris, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Arena di Verona, Teatro Communale Bologna, Semperoper Dresden, Staatsoper Vienna, Teatro Real Madrid and the Bunkamura Tokyo as well as the opera houses of Rome, Berlin, Naples, Geneva, Liège, Zurich, Hamburg, Moscow, Taipei, Houston, San Francisco, New York, to name but a few.

Her repertoire mainly covers Italian (Aïda, Tosca, Il Trovatore, Forza del destino, Manon Lescaut…), German (Tannhaüser, Salome, Der Rosenkavalier…) and French (Le Cid, Thaïs, les Dialogues des Carmélites…) opera heroines.

She has sung under the direction of renowned orchestra conductors such as : Yves ABEL, Fabio ARMILIATO, Riccardo CHAILLY, Bertrand de BILLY, Stéphane DENèVE, Asher FISCH, Daniele GATTI, Fabio LUISI, Ingo METZMACHER, Renato PALUMBO, Michel PLASSON, Nello SANTI, Franz WELSER MÖST and renowned stage directors such as Hugo de ANA, Robert CARSEN, Nicolas JOEL, Pier Luigi PIZZI, Andreï SERBAN, Jaco VAN DORMAEL, Francesca ZABELLO and Franco ZEFFIRELLI.

More recently, Isabelle Kabatu has taken on dramatic roles and extended her repertoire with Norma, Abigaille in Nabucco, Lady Macbeth, Gioconda, Didon in The Trojans and Brünnhilde in Wagner’s Ring Cycle.

In parallel to her singing career, Isabelle Kabatu founded DA TEMPESTA, an opera workshop that aims to promote young artists. This workshop has so far produced 14 operas. She is also working on the creation of an opera school/école de chant classique in Africa: VOICE OF AFRICA.