SUSANNA BRANCHINI
Soprano
Susanna Branchini, born in Rome to Italian father and Caribbean mother, graduates with honors at the F. Morlacchi Music Conservatory in Perugia, and then participates successfully in many international competitions: she’s finalist in both Toulouse and As.Li.Co. and wins the Mattia Battistini contest. In 2002 she debuts at Teatro dell’Opera in Rome asMicaelainCarmen, soon followed byLiùinTurandotandMimì inLa Bohème.
Her fast vocal evolution allowes her to approach quickly a more incisive repertoire, as Verdi’s heroines, going fromAida,TrovatoreandDon Carloto thesoprano drammatico d’agilitàroles such asOdabellainAttilaandLadyinMacbeth(in which she just opened the Season 2012/13 at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona), characters that show her artistic temperament and her acting skills.
Susanna Branchini feels comfortable both in psychological deepness of Puccini’s lyricism ofTosca,Madama Butterfly,TabarroandSuor Angelicaand in “verismo” repertoire where she can range fromPagliaccitoCavalleria rusticana.
Ms. Branchini performes on numerous prestigious stages, including Teatro dell'Opera in Rome; Arena di Verona; Teatro Regio in Parma; Teatro San Carlo in Naples; Teatro Massimo in Palermo; Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari; Opera de Nice; Vlaamse Oper in Antwerpen; Oper Leipzig; Savonlinna Festival; Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv; Hong Kong Opera and Bunkamura Teatre in Tokyo. She collaborates with such conductors as Maurizio Arena, Maurizio Barbacini, Niksa Baresza, Andrea Battistoni, Maurizio Benini, Giampaolo Bisanti, Massimo De Bernardt, Gabriele Gelmetti, Marco Guidarini, Julian Kovatchev, Vladimir Jurowski, Günther Neuhold, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Oren, Stefano Ranzani, Donato Renzetti, Omer Wellber and directors as Giancarlo Del Monaco, Renzo Giacchieri, Peter Konwitschny, Pierfrancesco Maestrini, Lorenzo Mariani, Francesco Micheli, Franco Ripa di Meana, Ivan Stefanutti and Franco Zeffirelli.
Among her recent and future engagements:LeonorainIl trovatoreat the Arena Sferisterio in Macerata, theVerdi-Wagner Galaat Arena di Verona beside Placido Domingo,Toscain Antwerpen, Venice and Macerata, Leonora inIl trovatorein Sao Paulo,Aidaat the Arena,LadyMacbethinMacbethat Theatre de Champs-Elysees under the baton of Daniele Gatti,Aidaand the debut asAbigailleinNabuccoat the Arena, againAbigaillein Cagliari, Bari and Florence,Toscain Bari,Aidaat the Arena and Pechino,Macbethin Detroit, Pechino and Salerno,Nabuccoin Florence and in Salerno,La forza del destinoin Tel Aviv.
Ainhoa Arteta
Soprano
A native of Tolosa in the Spanish Basque Country, soprano Ainhoa Arteta came to international attention when she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and Plácido Domingo’s Operalia International Competition, resulting in engagements with some of the world’s most important opera houses. She has since been heard at such theaters as the Royal Opera House – Covent Garden, Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Teatro Real in Madrid, Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, Dutch National Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper and Grand Théâtre de Genève, amongst others. In the 2017/18 season, Arteta will sing the title role in Manon Lescaut at the Bolshoi, Maddalena in Andrea Chenier with Ópera de Oviedo, Verdi’s Requiem with the Liverpool Philharmonic, Nedda in Pagliacci at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the title role in Adriana Lecouvreur at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, and the title role in Tosca at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Arteta’s engagements for the 2016/17 season included Toscaat the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Dusseldorf, Manon Lescautat the Bolshoi Theatre and Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, and the title role in Falstaff in A Coruña, Spain. In the 2015/16 season, she sang Alice Ford in Falstaff at the Teatro di San Carlo, the Toscaat the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and Welsh National Opera, and Manon Lescaut with Asociacon Bilbaina de Amigos de la Opera in Bilbao, Spain. Her engagements for the 2014/15 season included Alice Ford at Covent Garden and Tosca at the Theatro Municipal de São Paulo and Quincena Musical in San Sebastian, Spain.In the 2013/14 season, Arteta returned to the San Francisco Opera as Alice Ford and sang the title role inLa Wallyat the Grand Théâtre de Genève and Tosca at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna.
Other performances in recent seasons include Marguerite in Faustat the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich (with the tenor Rolando Villazón and conducted by Friedrich Haider), her debut as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin at the Palau de la Música in Valencia, her debut as Musetta in La Boheme at the Arena di Verona and at the Trieste Theatre, as well as Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife. Other notable performances include Mimi and Musetta inLa Boheme, Violeta inLa Traviata, Micaela in Carmen and Olga in Fedoraat the Metropolitan Opera (telecast on PBS’ Live from the Met series), Magda inLa Rondineat the Washington Opera (telecast on PBS’ Great Performances), Leila inLes Pecheurs de Perlesin Bordeaux, Bilbao and Seattle, Violetta inBarcelona, San Sebastián, and Sevilla, Micäela in Carmenat the Scottish Opera, Gilda inRigolettoat the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, Violeta inLa Traviataand Marguerite inFaustin Cincinnati, Violetta at the Dutch National Opera, Gilda at the Michigan Opera Theater, Mimi and Marguerite at the Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Carolina in Il Matrimonio Segretoat the Perelada Festival and Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figarowith Opera Pacific.
A critically acclaimed recitalist, Ms. Arteta gives dozens of recitals and concerts yearly. Among innumerable concerts, she has performed in Carnegie Hall with Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony, the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona, the Metropolitan Opera, the Perelada Festival, the Antibes Festival, and in Graz and Vienna. The soprano has also sung in concert at the White House and has appeared frequently with Plácido Domingo, including performances in Berlin, Hamburg, Istanbul, Leipzig, Madrid, Paris, Munich, Valencia, Brazil and London.
Ainhoa Arteta’s awards include “Best classical music artist” at the 5th Spanish Music Awards, the ONDAS Prize, the “Federico Romero”, the award by the Autor Foundation for her international career, “Universal Basque” by the Basque Government, Member of the Board of the Winterthur Foundation, Academician of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Cádiz, Member of the Board of the Orfeó Catalá-Palau de la Música Foundation, the Gold Medal of the Palau de la Música de Valencia and Artist in Residence of the Cadaqués Symphony Orchestra.