Rebecca Martin Biografie

Biography

The American mezzo-soprano Rebecca Martin was born in Saigon, Vietnam. After completing her study of piano and voice at Goshen College in Indiana, USA, she moved to Germany, where she has established an excellent reputation as an opera, oratorio, and Lied singer.

Her extensive operatic repertoire includes Carmen, Charlotte (Werther), Dorabella (Cosí fan tutte), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Angelina (La Cenerentola), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Idamante (Idomeneo), Niklasse (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Poppea (L’incoronazione di Poppea), and Orlando (Orlando furioso). Her first solo engagement was at the Anhaltisches Theater of Dessau. The most significant engagement followed at the State Theater of Nürnberg and the Gärtnerplatz State Theater in Munich, while her guest appearances included performances of Charlotte in Santander, Spain and of Donna Elvira in Hongkong.

Concerts and recitals have always played an important role throughout her career. She has appeared at the Bachfest in Leipzig, the Rheingau Music Festival, and the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, as well as in the Berlin Philharmonie, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig (with Riccardo Chailly), Munich’s Philharmonie (with Mariss Jansons) and Munich's Herkules Concert Hall (with Nikolaus Harnoncourt), the Festival Hall of Baden-Baden, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, and at the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago. Her concert repertoire includes the passions and oratorios of J. S. Bach, The Messiah and other oratorios by G. F. Händel, Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah, as well as Luciano Berio’s Folksongs. Her recitals have been praised for their fascinating combinations of songs, spanning very traditional to more unususal repertoire, through which she gracefully conveys a huge range of colors and emotions.

Rebecca Martin’s performances have been documented in many live radio broadcasts, as well as on several CDs. Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s recording of Schumann’s oratorio Das Paradis und die Peri (Harmonia Mundi), and Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Windsbach Boys Choir, directed by Karl-Friedrich Beringer (Sony) highlight Ms. Martin as the alto soloist.  More recently, a recording of Bach’s cantatas under the title Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern with Beringer was released, as well as a complete recording of Bach's Christmas Oratorio

Rebecca Martin has been teaching singing at Nürnberg’s Hochschule für Musik since 2004, and has  given masterclasses in the USA and in Argentina.