The training behind Christine: from Mexico's Conservatorio Nacional to Brussels and London

A role like Christine Daaé is not cast on charm. The part sits in the most demanding register of musical theatre — a lyric soprano who has to act through every note — and behind it there are, in Lina de la Peña's case, some twenty years of accumulated vocal training.

Her path runs through three countries. In Mexico, the Conservatorio Nacional de Música gave her the classical foundation. In Belgium, the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel — one of Europe's historic conservatories — took that foundation into international repertoire. And in the United Kingdom she trained with Janice Chapman, the Australian-born voice teacher whose work on primal sound reshaped how classical singing is taught.

The stage tested that training before the Phantom did: in 2024 she was Cosette in Les Misérables at the Teatro Telcel, and in 2026 she stepped into Christine at the Teatro Insurgentes.

That same formation is the basis of her upcoming academy: singing for musical theatre, taught the way she was taught. The academy page has the details — and a mailing list for those who want to hear first when it opens.