Welcome to website of Marta Herman - Polish Canadian mezzo-soprano

Marta Herman

MEZZO SOPRANO

869 Windermere Ave, Toronto, ON, M6S 3M8, Canada

Mobile cell: (647) 216-3730 Email: marta.j.herman@gmail.com

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Having made her European debut as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro last summer in Germany, Mezzo-soprano Marta Herman is making her mark as a compelling emerging artist. In the first half of 2010, she will be reprising her success with Le Nozze di Figaro as Cherubino for the Guelph Symphony Orchestra, in addition to appearing as a soloist with the Kindred Spirits Orchestra. Her 2010 season also includes performances in a song recital at the Harbourfront Centre, and concerts as a soloist with gamUT, Toronto’s new ground-breaking contemporary music orchestra.

At the young age of 22, Ms. Herman has garnered acclaim for her performances as Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel (Humperdinck), The Secretary in The Consul (Menotti), and Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte (Mozart) . Opera Canada commented on her performance as Dritte Dame that “Marta Herman sang superbly”, and that in The Consul, she was “delightful as an obnoxious secretary who finally becomes human”.

Currently Marta is a member of the University of Toronto Opera School, where notable roles include The Old Lady in Candide (Bernstein), and Lisetta in Il Mondo Della Luna (Haydn).

Marta is dedicated to the performance of new music. She has appeared as Dame Doleful in the Canadian premiere of Edwin Penhorwood’s opera Too Many Sopranos, and she created the role of Tessie in the premiere of The Lottery, a Canadian opera by Anthony Aceti. She is a frequent soloist with new music ensembles, including gamUT, and Das Studium Postmoderner Musik. As a first generation Polish-Canadian, she is also passionate about Eastern European art song and opera.

This past fall she performed with the Celebrity Symphony Orchestra at Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre, performing Polish opera arias and giving the Canadian premiere performance of Zapamietaj tamten wrzesien by Boleslaw Szulia, a work written for the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War.

In addition to being the winner of the University of Western Ontario Gold Medal 2009, Marta is supported by the Canadian Polish Millennium Fund and the Moniuszko Foundation. She is also the recipient of awards from the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and is the recipient of numerous awards from the Canadian Operatic Volunteers Committee, including the Blanche Carragher Award and the John and Margaret Eros Memorial Award.

Marta has had the opportunity to hone her craft by working with respected artists such as Joan Dornemann, Mignon Dunn, and currently studies with Mary Morrison. She has been a student at prestigious operatic training programs, including Opera NUOVA and the International Vocal Arts Institute in Montreal. She has been invited to spend summer 2010 as a member of the Queen of Puddings Contemporary Opera Summer Studio, and at the International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv. March, 2010