MARTA FONTANALS-SIMMONS
mezzo-soprano
Equally at home on the concert and operatic stages, Marta Fontanals-Simmons has emerged as a 'strong artistic personality and an unflinchingly direct communicator on the international stage' (Presto Music).
Current and future engagements of Marta Fontanals-Simmons include ZWEITE DAME Die Zauberflöte, and LINDA Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Festen* Royal Ballet and Opera, LUCY 4.48 Psychosis and TITLE ROLE The Monstrous Child* RBO Linbury, THERESA HART in Missy Mazzoli’s Galloping Cure*(cover) Scottish Opera, VLASTA Die Passagierin City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Mozart’s Requiem BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and MARTA Francisco Coll’s Enemigo del Pueblo* Les Arts Valencia and Teatro Real Madrid.
Recent engagements include Carlos Simon’s Songs of Separation 1&2 Brussels Philharmonic (Kazushi Ono), MATRIOSHA War and Peace, ERSTE MAGD Elektra Grand Théâtre de Genève, ZWEITE DAME Die Zauberflöte and LAPAK The Cunning Little Vixen, JACQUET Ethel Smyth’s The Wreckers Glyndebourne Festival and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, CHERUBINO Le Nozze di Figaro Garsington Opera and Théâtre de Champs Elysées, SIEBEL Faust Royal Ballet and Opera, MARTA in David Matthews’ Anna* Grange Festival, TITLE ROLE Gavin Higgins’ The Faerie Bride* Aldeburgh Festival, VLASTA Die Passagierin Teatro Real Madrid, EURIDICE WOMAN Birtwistle’s The Mask of Orpheus English National Opera, and AMANDO Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.
She has sung with Aurora Orchestra at the BBC PROMS, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC NOW, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker and BBC Last Night of the Proms.
Marta has performed with Graham Johnson, Iain Burnside, Roger Vignoles, Sholto Kynoch, Christopher Glynn, Simon Lepper, Bengt Forsberg and her trio The Erda Ensemble at Wigmore Hall Bath International Music Festival, Lammermuir Festival, Juan March Foundation, Madrid, Oxford International Song Festival, Life Victoria Barcelona, Zeist Lieder Festival, Netherlands, Barber Institute Concert Series, Opéra de Lille, BBC Radio 3, Aldeburgh Festival, Den Norske Opera, Leeds Lieder, Roman River Festival and Presteigne Festival.
Marta graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and was a Jerwood Artist at Glyndebourne Festival and Jeune Ensemble Member at Grand Théâtre de Genève. She was awarded prices at Le Concours international de chant-piano Nadia et Lili Boulanger Paris,was a finalist in the Paris Opera Competition and Kathleen FerrierAward. Her debut album with collaborator Lana Bode I and Silence; Women’s Voices in American Song had five star reviews.
Current and future engagements of Marta Fontanals-Simmons include ZWEITE DAME Die Zauberflöte, and LINDA Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Festen* Royal Ballet and Opera, LUCY 4.48 Psychosis and TITLE ROLE The Monstrous Child* RBO Linbury, THERESA HART in Missy Mazzoli’s Galloping Cure*(cover) Scottish Opera, VLASTA Die Passagierin City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Mozart’s Requiem BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and MARTA Francisco Coll’s Enemigo del Pueblo* Les Arts Valencia and Teatro Real Madrid.
Recent engagements include Carlos Simon’s Songs of Separation 1&2 Brussels Philharmonic (Kazushi Ono), MATRIOSHA War and Peace, ERSTE MAGD Elektra Grand Théâtre de Genève, ZWEITE DAME Die Zauberflöte and LAPAK The Cunning Little Vixen, JACQUET Ethel Smyth’s The Wreckers Glyndebourne Festival and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, CHERUBINO Le Nozze di Figaro Garsington Opera and Théâtre de Champs Elysées, SIEBEL Faust Royal Ballet and Opera, MARTA in David Matthews’ Anna* Grange Festival, TITLE ROLE Gavin Higgins’ The Faerie Bride* Aldeburgh Festival, VLASTA Die Passagierin Teatro Real Madrid, EURIDICE WOMAN Birtwistle’s The Mask of Orpheus English National Opera, and AMANDO Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.
She has sung with Aurora Orchestra at the BBC PROMS, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC NOW, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker and BBC Last Night of the Proms.
Marta has performed with Graham Johnson, Iain Burnside, Roger Vignoles, Sholto Kynoch, Christopher Glynn, Simon Lepper, Bengt Forsberg and her trio The Erda Ensemble at Wigmore Hall Bath International Music Festival, Lammermuir Festival, Juan March Foundation, Madrid, Oxford International Song Festival, Life Victoria Barcelona, Zeist Lieder Festival, Netherlands, Barber Institute Concert Series, Opéra de Lille, BBC Radio 3, Aldeburgh Festival, Den Norske Opera, Leeds Lieder, Roman River Festival and Presteigne Festival.
Marta graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and was a Jerwood Artist at Glyndebourne Festival and Jeune Ensemble Member at Grand Théâtre de Genève. She was awarded prices at Le Concours international de chant-piano Nadia et Lili Boulanger Paris,was a finalist in the Paris Opera Competition and Kathleen FerrierAward. Her debut album with collaborator Lana Bode I and Silence; Women’s Voices in American Song had five star reviews.
Marta is originally from Somerset, England with dual British and Spanish nationality, Marta gained her Bachelor of Music degree at Birmingham University where she continued piano and voice training at Birmingham Conservatoire and continued to play violin in the university orchestras. She then achieved her MMus, MPerf and Artist Diploma at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London with professor Marilyn Rees. Marta is proud to be a Trustee for the Jackdaws Educational Trust, a mentor for SingersResound Charity and gives her time advocating for music and song at events, competitions and masterclasses for singers of all ages.
*world premiere
*world premiere
© Marta Fontanals-Simmons 2023, all rights reserved