Praised for her ‘warm mezzo’ and ‘velvet voice’ (The Telegraph), British-Spanish mezzo-soprano Marta Fontanals-Simmons recently made critically acclaimed house and role debuts at the Royal Opera House as Siébel in David McVicar’s production of Gounod’s Faust, and as Hel in the premiere of Gavin Higgins’s The monstrous child at the ROH Linbury Theatre.

Recent operatic highlights include house debuts at the English National Opera in Daniel Kramer’s iconic production of Birtwistle’s The mask of Orpheus, and at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in Weill’s Street scene, as well as performances at Glyndebourne Festival, the Teatro Real (Madrid), Garsington Opera, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Diva Opera and Grange Park Opera, among others.

In concert Fontanals-Simmons has emerged as a ‘strong artistic personality and an unflinchingly direct communicator’ (Presto Music) and as an interpreter of a broad range of repertoire. Career highlights include her debut album with long-time collaborator Lana Bode, I and silence: Women’s voices in American song, which received five-star reviews; the European premiere of Alasdair Nicolson’s Shadows on the wall with the BBC Symphony Orchestra; Verdi’s Requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra; Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music with Sakari Oramo at the Last Night of the Proms; Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the CBSO; Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges with Stéphane Denève and the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart; a tour of Elgar’s Sea pictures with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Bach’s Mass in B minor with Ryan Wigglesworth at the St Endellion Festival; Handel’s Messiah with Laurence Cummings at the London Handel Festival; Stravinsky’s Les noces at Queen Elizabeth Hall; and Mozart’s Requiem with Gerald Wirth at St Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna.

In recital Fontanals-Simmons performs with artists including Roger Vignoles, Simon Lepper, Bengt Forsberg and Iain Burnside, and is an associate member of the Quantum Ensemble at the Auditorio de Tenerife. She was awarded the Prix de Lied at the Concours international de chant-piano Nadia et Lili Boulanger in Paris, and was a finalist in the 2014 Kathleen Ferrier Awards. Fontanals-Simmons is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama where she was awarded the prestigious Gold Medal, and in the 2015/16 season was a Jerwood Artist at Glyndebourne.