Ana María Martínez (born 1971) is a Puerto Rican

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Early life

Martínez was born in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...

; she is the daughter of Puerto Rican opera singer Evangelína Colón 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 The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

upbringing. She briefly attended the

Boston Conservatory Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a private performing arts conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founded ...

as a musical theater major, but dropped out and later received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

Career

After winning first prize in the 1994 Eleanor McCollum Competition, Martínez joined the Houston Grand Opera's studio in the 1994/95 season, during which she performed Micaëla in '' Carmen'' and the title role in '' Sāvitri''. In November 2005 Martínez debuted with the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

in '' Carmen'' as Micaëla. In 2006 she was featured in

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...

's production of '' Così fan tutte'' as Fiordiligi. In February 2016 she was Cio-Cio San in '' Madama Butterfly'' at the

. She returned to ''Così fan tutte'' as Fiordiligi at the

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria ...

in February 2018. In April, she took up the title role in ''

Florencia en el Amazonas ''Florencia en el Amazonas'' (English title: ''Florencia in the Amazon'') is an opera in two acts composed by Daniel Catán. It contains elements of magical realism in the style of Gabriel García Márquez and uses a libretto by Marcela Fuentes-B ...

'' at

Florida Grand Opera Florida Grand Opera (FGO) is an American opera company based in Miami, Florida. It is the oldest performing arts organization in Florida and the seventh oldest opera company in the United States. FGO was created in 1994 from the consolidation of ...

. In July she performed in ''

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

'' at the Royal Opera, London as Alice Ford. She portrayed Élisabeth de Valois in ''

Don Carlos ''Don Carlos'' is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the dramatic play '' Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Fried ...

'' opening on 22 September at the Los Angeles Opera. In January 2019 she brought performances of Florencia to Houston Grand Opera. In February she was appointed Houston Grand Opera's first-ever artistic advisor. In May she portrayed Soleá in ''

El gato montés ''El gato montés'' ("The Wild Cat") is an opera in three acts composed by Manuel Penella who also wrote the Spanish-language libretto. It premiered on 23 February 1916 at the Teatro Principal in Valencia. The opera enjoyed great success in S ...

'' at Los Angeles Opera. In 2020, she was announced to join

Shepherd School of Music The Shepherd School of Music is a music school located on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas. From its inception in 1974Ericson, R."Unafraid, a New Music School Opens; NOT JUST MOSTLY MOZART" ''The New York Times'', March 10, 1974, ...

as a professor in the Department of Voice effective as from 1 July 2021.

Special performances

On 11 March 2016, Martínez sang Bach/Gounod's "

Ave Maria The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Annunciation) and Mary's ...

" and " Pie Jesu" from Fauré's '' Requiem'' during the funeral services of Nancy Reagan. She provided the singing voice for

Monica Bellucci Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (; born 30 September 1964) is an Italian actress and model. She began her career as a fashion model, modelling for Dolce & Gabbana and Dior, before making a transition to Italian films and later American and French f ...

's character, Alessandra 'La Fiamma', in the third season of ''

Mozart in the Jungle ''Mozart in the Jungle'' is an American comedy-drama streaming television series developed by Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, Alex Timbers, and Paul Weitz for the video-on-demand service Amazon Prime Video. It received a production order in ...

''.

Personal life

Martínez met tenor

Chad Shelton Chad Shelton (born 1970 in Orange, Texas) is an American operatic tenor. Particularly associated with the Houston Grand Opera (HGO), Shelton has excelled in performances of contemporary American operas and in the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart a ...

in 2000; they married and had one son. They divorced about seven years later. She has been living in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

since December 2002.

Awards

Martínez has won prizes including the Pepita Embil Award,

Operalia Plácido Domingo's Operalia, The World Opera Competition is an annual international competition for opera singers. Founded in 1993 by Plácido Domingo, the competition's varied prizes have been given to known artists such as Joseph Calleja, Rol ...

, and first prize at the Eleanor McCollum Awards."Featured Artists in Mozart's ''Così fan tutte''"
at

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

She won a

Latin Grammy The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been ...

in 2001 for Classical Album for

Isaac Albéniz Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the Post-Romantic era who also had a significant influence on his conte ...

's '' Merlin'' with Carlos Álvarez,

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French ...

Jane Henschel Jane Henschel (born 2 March 1952) is an American operatic mezzo soprano. Henschel, who was born in Wisconsin, studied at the University of Southern California, and then pursued further studies in Germany, where she has made her home. Her numero ...

and conductor

José de Eusebio José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

with the

Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid The Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid (unofficial English name, Madrid Symphony Orchestra), founded in 1903, is the oldest existing Spanish symphony orchestra in Spain not owned by an opera house or theater. Background and history In 1903, the orch ...

. She is honored in the 15th annual

Opera News Awards ''Opera News'' is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to engender the appreciation of opera and also suppo ...

Discography

*''

Glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...

: La Belle et la Bête'',

Nonesuch __NOTOC__ Nonesuch may refer to: Plants * ''Lychnis chalcedonica'', a wildflower * ''Medicago lupulina'', a wildflower Places and structures *Nonesuch, Kentucky *Nonesuch Island, Bermuda *Nonesuch Mine, Michigan *Nonesuch Palace, mis-spelling of ...

, 1995 *'' Sheng: The Song of Majnun – A Persian Romeo and Juliet'', Delos, 1997 *''Albéniz: Merlin'',

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

, 2000 *''Glass: Symphony No. 5'', Nonesuch, 2000 *'' Bacalov: Misa Tango'',

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

, 2000 *''American Dream:

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fr ...

's Statue of Liberty Concert'', (TV/DVD) WNET/THIRTEEN, 2000 *''Glass: Philip on Film'', (Box Set) Nonesuch, 2001 *''

Rodrigo Rodrigo is a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian name derived from the Germanic name '' Roderick'' (Gothic ''*Hroþareiks'', via Latinized ''Rodericus'' or ''Rudericus''), given specifically in reference to either King Roderic (d. 712), the last Vi ...

: 100 Años – La Obra Vocal, I y II'',

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

, 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 Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...

, 2003 *''

Castelnuovo-Tedesco Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (3 April 1895 – 16 March 1968) was an Italian composer, pianist and writer. He was known as one of the foremost guitar composers in the twentieth century with almost one hundred compositions for that instrument. In ...

: Naomi and Ruth'', Naxos, 2003 *''Spanish Night from the Berlin

Waldbühne The Waldbühne (''Woodland Stage'' or ''Forest Stage'') is a theatre at Olympiapark Berlin in Berlin, Germany. It was designed by German architect Werner March in emulation of a Greek theatre and built between 1934 and 1936 as the Dietrich-Eckar ...

'', (DVD) with

and Sarah Chang, Naxos, 2003 *''Albéniz: Henry Clifford'', Decca, 2003 *''

Catan ''Catan'', previously known as ''The Settlers of Catan'' or simply ''Settlers'', is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber. It was first published in 1995 in Germany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlag (Kosmos) as ''Die Siedler von Catan''. P ...

'', Albany, 2003 *''

Levy Levy, Lévy or Levies may refer to: People * Levy (surname), people with the surname Levy or Lévy * Levy Adcock (born 1988), American football player * Levy Barent Cohen (1747–1808), Dutch-born British financier and community worker * Levy ...

: Masada (Canto de Los Marranos) for the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music'', Naxos, 2004 *'' Weisgall: T'Kiatot: Rituals for

Rosh Hashana Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , " ...

'', 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 , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

, 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 Glyndebourne () is an English country house, the site of an opera house that, since 1934, has been the venue for the annual Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The house, located near Lewes in East Sussex, England, is thought to be about six hun ...

, 2010 *'' Concerto: One Night in Central Park'' with Andrea Bocelli (TV/DVD/CD) WNET / THIRTEEN, 2011 *''

Manon Lescaut ''The Story of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut'' ( ) is a novel by Antoine François Prévost. Published in 1731, it is the seventh and final volume of ''Mémoires et aventures d'un homme de qualité'' (''Memoirs and Adventures of a Ma ...

'' with Andrea Bocelli, Plácido Domingo conducting, Decca 2014

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Ana Maria 1971 births Living people People from San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican operatic sopranos Grammy Award winners Operalia, The World Opera Competition prize-winners Juilliard School alumni Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent Puerto Rican people of French descent Puerto Rican people of Cuban descent 20th-century American women opera singers 20th-century Puerto Rican women singers 21st-century American women opera singers 21st-century Puerto Rican women singers