Marta Fontanals-Simmons | Mezzo Soprano

Following a successful performance of Dominick Argento From the Diary of Virginia Woolf as part of the 26th Annual Conference on Virginia Woolf at Leeds Trinity, Marta Fontanals-Simmons and Lana Bode developed a collaboration that has seen them perform at some of London's most prestigious venues, including the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, St Martin in the Fields, St James's Piccadilly and the Wigmore Hall.

The duo have built on their mutual love of contemporary music with songs by Judith Weir, George Crumb, Andrew Norman & Peter Lieberson alongside core repertoire by Schubert, Debussy, Berg and Britten.

They are proud to have reached the semi finals in the 2017 Wigmore Hall International Song Competition and as a result of a performance residency on 'Atmospheric Programming' at Snape Maltings, Aldeburgh, the duo embarked on a further year-long residency with devised concert-series at Britten's home, The Red House, exploring new programming ideas, the vocal recital tradition and the relationship between performer and audience.

Marta and Lana recorded their debut album 'I and Silence' at the Britten Studio, Snape Maltings in 2017 which was released with Delphian Records in 2019 to critical acclaim. Their follow up disc 'Somnia' will be recorded with Delphian Records in 2025. Their first R&D performance of this programme will take place at The Red House, Aldeburgh as part of the Britten Pears Arts concert series in November 2024. The programme and poetry for this concert can be found here: Somnia

THE ERDA ensemble

The Erda Ensemble is a collaborative and flexible ensemble with three founding members: Marta Fontanals-Simmons (voice), Chloë Vincent (flute) and Olivia Jageurs (harp).

Following a chamber performance of Mahler’s Das Lied Von Der Erde in 2022, the three musicians were inspired by the wonderful cadenzas of the final movement and discovered a shared passion for storytelling and rediscovering neglected works for female composers and commissioning new music for this unusual combinations of instruments.
The Ensemble were invited to perform their first concert at the Roman River Festival the following year, an evening championing chamber music by female composers. The programme included works for trio by Rosy Wertheim, Cecile Chaminade, Grace Williams and Ina Boyle. The Erda Ensemble is now working on several new concert programmes using these composers as a starting point, exploring and arranging further repertoire by Amy Beach, Ralph Vaughan-Williams, Debussy, Elizabeth Maconchy, Roxanna Panufnik and Anna Meredith as well as commissioning new works for the ensemble.

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About Chloë and Olivia

A Miyazawa Artist, Chloë Vincent is a graduate of the Guildhall School and performs with the BBC Symphony, English National Opera, Scottish Chamber, Paraorchestra and London Contemporary Orchestra. Recitals include Henley Festival, Banff, Barbican, Dartington and Tivoli Concert Hall and as a soloist with Malmö Symphony. Chloë has recorded for artists including Sault, Hannah Peel and Little Simz as well as film and TV scores.

Olivia Jageurs is an accomplished harpist who is highly sought-after for performances, collaborations, and recordings as well as freelancing with orchestras such as LPO and The Glyndebourne Sinfonia. She has been involved in numerous recording projects for musicians such as Jacob Collier, Steven Isserlis, Jess Gillam, and VOCES8.. In recent years Olivia has been invited to perform Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, Canticle V with Allan Clayton and Britten’s Suite for Harp at Snape Maltings.