Maria Alejandres: Rising star Mexican soprano to sing lead role at Palm Beach Opera

Maria Alejandres - photographer: Ana Lourdes Herrera

Will make Palm Beach Opera debut in title role  Mexican soprano Maria Alejandres has just made debuts at major opera houses around the world including La Scala in Milan and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London. She is currently in town making her Palm Beach Opera debut in the title role in Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor which runs at the Kravis Center March 23-25.

Lucia di Lammermoor runs March 32-25, 2012 at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. Unable to be with the man she loves and forced to marry someone she detests, Lucia slowly becomes unhinged and is driven to murder. The opera culminates in opera’s most famous “mad scene,” which is often regarded as a litmus test for sopranos.   www.pbopera.org. 

ABOUT MARIA ALEJANDRES Born in Mexico City, the young soprano Maria Alejandres is already proving herself to be an important artist of the new generation by winning First Prize and the Zarzuela Prize at the 2008 Placido Domingo Operalia Competition, as well as the Carlo Bergonzi Prize at the Francisco Viñas International Competition. In the 2010-2011 season, Alejandres made her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Juliette in Roméo et Julietteconducted by Daniel Oren. As Juliette she also made her debut at Teatro alla Scala and Opera de Lausanne. In the 2011-2012 season she will perform at San Antonio Opera in Roméo et Juliette. Her future engagements also include Teatro alla Scala’s Japan Tour where she will be Gilda in Rigoletto. Maria Alejandres made her European debut as Juliette in St. Etienne and in May of 2009 sang her first performances of Gilda inRigoletto in Mexico City. In June 2009 she appeared as Gilda on tour with the Teatro Regio of Parma in Beijing. Engagements during the 2009/2010 season included appearances as Juliette inRomeo et Juliette at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste as well as in concert in Moscow. She sang her first performances of Lucia Di Lammermoor for Florida Grand Opera and made her debut at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples as Valencienne in The Merry Widow. She returned to China with Teatro Regio of Parma for more performances of Rigoletto, and also sang The Princess of Navarra in Donizetti’s Gianni di Parigi at the Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca, Italy.

Ms. Alejandres began her musical education at the age of 3 studying violin and piano followed by vocal studies at the Superior School of Music in Mexico City, and has recently been a member of the Los Angeles Opera’s Domingo-Thornton Young Artists Program.

As the recipient of the Ramón Vargas-Pro Opera scholarship for distinguished young singers, she studied with Maestro Gabriel Mijares as well as with Mr. Vargas, and has appeared with the famed tenor in concerts of opera arias and duets in Mexico City’s Nezahualcóyotl Hall with the Minería Symphony Orchestra, and again at the Palacio de Bellas Artes with the Opera Symphony Orchestra.

Since her professional debut in 2004 as Serpina in Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona, with the Chihuahua Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Carlos García, Maria Alejandres has appeared throughout North America in opera and concert. Her debut at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City was in the role of Stéphano in Gounod’s Romeo and Juliette, featuring Rolando Villazón and Anna Netrebko. She also appeared at the Morelia International Festival, playing the leading female role in Carlos Gomes’ opera Il Guarany under the direction of Maestro Fernando Lozano as well as sang as soprano soloist in Haydn’s St. Nicholas Mass.

Other recent highlights for the artist have been Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor at the Teatro Helénico in Mexico City, as well as returning to Bellas Artes as Musetta in La Bohéme, under the direction of Enrique Patrón. In the past two seasons, she performed at the Guadalajara International Festival in Melesio Morales’ Ildegonda, in May 2007, and Marzelline in Beethoven’sFidelio, in May 2008, and was also heard as soloist with the Oaxaca Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Javier García Vigil.

Since 1961 Palm Beach Opera has been dedicated to producing world-class opera and diverse educational programs which play an integral role in the artistic and overall enrichment of the communities it serves. It is a proud member of the Palm Beach Cultural Council.