Marta
Fontanals-Simmons
Welcome to the website of award winning
British-Spanish mezzo soprano.
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BIOGRAPHY
Highlights in the 2018/19 season for British-Spanish mezzo-soprano Marta Fontanals- Simmons include two roles at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Siébel in David McVicar's producion of Faust and Hel in the world premiere of Gavin Higgins The Monstrous Child at the Linbury Theatre, followed by Amando Le Grand Macabre with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester and Alan Gilbert and a return to Glyndebourne Festival Opera for Zweite Dame Die Zauberflöte. Recent highlights include her debut at the Teatro Real, Madrid as Jennie Hildebrand in Weill Street Scene, Zweite Dame Die Zauberflöte for Garsington Opera, the European premiere of Alasdair Nicolson Shadows on the Wall – Five Hauntings at the Barbican, and Berlioz La Captive with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pascal Rophé. In future seasons, Fontanals-Simmons will make her debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona and for Monte-Carlo Opera and return to the Teatro Real, Madrid.
Recent operatic highlights also include Cherubino Le nozze di Figaro for Garsington Opera and at the Théâtre Champs Elysées, Paris, her Glyndebourne debut as Lapák The Cunning Little Vixen, the title role La Cenerentola for Diva Opera and Kate Pinkerton Madama Butterfly for the Glyndebourne Tour and for Grange Park Opera. On the concert platform, recent highlights include Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music with Sakari Oramo at the Last Night of the Proms, Mendelssohn Elijah with CBSO at Birmingham Symphony Hall, Mahler Das Lied von der Erde at Oxford Lieder Festival, Vivaldi Gloria at the Royal Festival Hall with the Philharmonia Orchestra, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges with Stéphane Denève and the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, Mozart Requiem with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bach Mass in B Minor with Ryan Wigglesworth at the St Endellion Festival, Mozart Mass in C Minor at St John's Smith Square, and Handel Messiah with Lawrence Cummings at the London Handel Festival, Stravinsky Les Noces at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Haydn Harmoniemesse with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and a concert at St John's, Smith Square celebrating the music of Michael Hurd.
A keen exponent of contemporary music, Fontanals-Simmons most recently premiered the role of Ursula in the Royal Opera House and Glyndebourne co- production of David Bruce Nothing, recorded two new songs cycles (Damsel, Wife, Witch by Glyndebourne composer in residence Lewis Murphy and Letters from Home by award-winning composer Benjamin Ellin), and performed Jonathan Harvey Songs of Li Po with Richard Baker at Barbican Hall which was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. She is also a passionate recitalist and has performed at the Wigmore Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, and St James's Piccadilly. Fontanals-Simmons trained at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London, where she was awarded the Gold Medal, and was a Jerwood Artist at Glyndebourne for the 2015/16 season.
Recent operatic highlights also include Cherubino Le nozze di Figaro for Garsington Opera and at the Théâtre Champs Elysées, Paris, her Glyndebourne debut as Lapák The Cunning Little Vixen, the title role La Cenerentola for Diva Opera and Kate Pinkerton Madama Butterfly for the Glyndebourne Tour and for Grange Park Opera. On the concert platform, recent highlights include Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music with Sakari Oramo at the Last Night of the Proms, Mendelssohn Elijah with CBSO at Birmingham Symphony Hall, Mahler Das Lied von der Erde at Oxford Lieder Festival, Vivaldi Gloria at the Royal Festival Hall with the Philharmonia Orchestra, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges with Stéphane Denève and the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, Mozart Requiem with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bach Mass in B Minor with Ryan Wigglesworth at the St Endellion Festival, Mozart Mass in C Minor at St John's Smith Square, and Handel Messiah with Lawrence Cummings at the London Handel Festival, Stravinsky Les Noces at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Haydn Harmoniemesse with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and a concert at St John's, Smith Square celebrating the music of Michael Hurd.
A keen exponent of contemporary music, Fontanals-Simmons most recently premiered the role of Ursula in the Royal Opera House and Glyndebourne co- production of David Bruce Nothing, recorded two new songs cycles (Damsel, Wife, Witch by Glyndebourne composer in residence Lewis Murphy and Letters from Home by award-winning composer Benjamin Ellin), and performed Jonathan Harvey Songs of Li Po with Richard Baker at Barbican Hall which was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. She is also a passionate recitalist and has performed at the Wigmore Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, and St James's Piccadilly. Fontanals-Simmons trained at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London, where she was awarded the Gold Medal, and was a Jerwood Artist at Glyndebourne for the 2015/16 season.
© Marta Fontanals-Simmons 2019, all rights reserved
