Ana María Martínez

Ana María Martínez
Martínez in Florencia en el Amazonas at the Florida Grand Opera in 2018
Born	Ana María Martínez Colón 1971 (age 53–54) San Juan, Puerto Rico
Occupation	Operatic soprano
Years active	1992–present
Website	anamariamartinez.com

Ana María Martínez (born 1971) is a Puerto Rican soprano.

Early life

Martínez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico; she is the daughter of Puerto Rican opera singer Evangelína Colón[1][2] and Cuban psychoanalyst Ángel Martínez. Martínez' grandparents originated in Spain and France, and migrated to the Caribbean islands. Martínez grew up with a strict Catholic upbringing.[3] She briefly attended the Boston Conservatory as a musical theater major, but dropped out and later received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from the Juilliard School.[4]

Career

She joined Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires as Rusalka,[5] Opera National de Paris as Luisa Miller, Mimi in La bohéme and for her role debut as Antonia in Les Contes d'Hoffman. She made her debut with the Vienna Staatsoper as Adina in L'elisir d'amore and returned there as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Micaëla in Carmen, Mimi in La bohéme, Liù in Turandot and as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly.[6] In 2006 she was featured in Salzburg Festival's production of Così fan tutte as Fiordiligi.[7] In 2019 she was appointed Houston Grand Opera's first-ever artistic advisor.[8] In 2020, she was announced to join Rice University's Shepherd School of Music as a professor in the Department of Voice effective as from 1 July 2021.[9]

Special performances

On 11 March 2016, Martínez sang Bach/Gounod's "Ave Maria" and "Pie Jesu" from Fauré's Requiem during the funeral services of Nancy Reagan.[10][11]

She provided the singing voice for Monica Bellucci's character, Alessandra 'La Fiamma', in the third season of Mozart in the Jungle.[12]

Martínez proudly represented her birthplace of Puerto Rico as an honoree and performer in the 62nd Annual Puerto Rican Day Parade in NYC. [13] She performed in tribute to operatic legend Justino Díaz at the 44th Annual Kennedy Center Honors (CBS).[14]

Personal life

Martínez met tenor Chad Shelton in 2000; they married and had one son. They divorced about seven years later.[2] She has been living in Houston since December 2002.[15]

Awards

Martínez has won prizes including the Pepita Embil Award, Operalia, and first prize at the Eleanor McCollum Awards.[16] She won a Latin Grammy in 2001 for Classical Album for Isaac Albéniz's Merlin with Carlos Álvarez, Plácido Domingo, Jane Henschel and conductor José de Eusebio with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid.[17] She is honored in the 15th annual Opera News Awards.[18]

Discography

• Glass: La Belle et la Bête, Nonesuch, 1995
• Sheng: The Song of Majnun – A Persian Romeo and Juliet, Delos, 1997
• Albéniz: Merlin, Decca, 2000
• Glass: Symphony No. 5, Nonesuch, 2000
• Bacalov: Misa Tango, Deutsche Grammophon, 2000
• American Dream: Andrea Bocelli's Statue of Liberty Concert, (TV/DVD) WNET/THIRTEEN, 2000
• Glass: Philip on Film, (Box Set) Nonesuch, 2001
• Rodrigo: 100 Años – La Obra Vocal, I y II, EMI, 2002
• Rodrigo: 100 Años – La Obra Vocal, IV y V, EMI, 2002
• Introducing the World of American Jewish Music for the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music, Naxos, 2003
• Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Naomi and Ruth, Naxos, 2003
• Spanish Night from the Berlin Waldbühne, (DVD) with Plácido Domingo and Sarah Chang, Naxos, 2003
• Albéniz: Henry Clifford, Decca, 2003
• Catan: Florencia en el Amazonas, Albany, 2003
• Levy: Masada (Canto de Los Marranos) for the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music, Naxos, 2004
• Weisgall: T'Kiatot: Rituals for Rosh Hashana, Naxos, 2004
• Soprano Songs and Arias: Ana María Martínez, Naxos, 2005
• American Classics – Beveridge/Marriner for the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music, Naxos, 2005
• Mercurio: Many Voices, Sony, 2006
• Mozart: Così fan tutte, (DVD) Decca, 2007
• Leoncavallo: Pagliacci, Decca, 2007
• Amor, Vida de mi Vida, (DVD) with Plácido Domingo, Euroarts, 2009
• Dvorak: Rusalka, Glyndebourne, 2010
• Concerto: One Night in Central Park with Andrea Bocelli (TV/DVD/CD) WNET / THIRTEEN, 2011
• Manon Lescaut with Andrea Bocelli, Plácido Domingo conducting, Decca 2014

See also

• List of Puerto Ricans
• History of women in Puerto Rico

References

1. "Evangelina Colón". Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
2. von Rhein, John (January 16, 2013). "'La Boheme' star Ana Maria Martinez is no diva offstage". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
3. Feature Opera Lady Ana María Martínez Archived March 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, hispaniconline.com
4. Barnes, Scott (October 2014). "The Passions of Ana María". Opera News. 79 (4). Retrieved 16 April 2015.
5. "Rusalka arriba al Teatro Colón". Mundoclasico.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-12-19.
6. Salazar, David (2018-12-03). "How to Watch Live Stream of Vienna State Opera's 'Madama Butterfly,' Starring Ana María Martínez". OperaWire. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
7. Tommasini, Anthony (5 August 2006). "A Light Mozart Opera Refitted With a Hard Edge". The New York Times.
8. "Houston Grand Opera Announces Concert Of Arias 2019 Winners and Appoints Ana Maria Martinez As Artistic Advisor". BroadwayWorld. 2 February 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
9. McCaig, Amy (2020-06-15). "Ana María Martínez to join Rice Shepherd School as professor of voice". Rice University.
10. "CultureMap Houston". houston.culturemap.com. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
11. "Ana María Martínez singing Pie Jesu-Requiem during Nancy Reagan's Funeral Service" Youtube, 11 March 2016
12. "An Aria for the Long Island Lolita on Mozart in the Jungle by Michael Cooper, The New York Times, 7 December 2016
13. https://www.facebook.com/anamariamartinezsoprano/videos/422697875235742/
14. Harris, Paul (2021-12-06). "Joni Mitchell, Bette Midler, Lorne Michaels, Berry Gordy, Justino Díaz Feted as Kennedy Center Honors Returns to In-Person Event". Variety. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
15. Womack, Catherine (15 September 2017). "Q&A: Carmen, the Wonder Woman of opera? A soprano on playing the poster girl for freedom". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
16. "Featured Artists in Mozart's Così fan tutte" at National Public Radio
17. "Latin Grammys (Finally!) Announced" Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, eonline.com
18. Guinther, Louise T. (April 2020). "The Fifteenth Annual OPERA NEWS Awards: Ana María Martínez". Vol. 84, no. 10.

External links

• Official website