MARTA HERMAN

Mezzo soprano Marta Herman's singing has been described by Opernglas as “extraordinarily beautiful and well-managed”; a voice with an “impressively warm, soulful, mezzo sound” (OMM), whose “great vocal flexibility and distinctive timbre are enchanting” (Die deutsche Bühne).

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Marta's current and future engagements include Erste Norn / Die Götterdämmerung and Schwertleite / Die Walküre in Benedikt von Peter's new Ring cycle at Theater Basel, Grimgerde / Die Walküre at Oper Leipzig, and the leading role of Anastasio in Vivaldi's Il Giustino at Theater Luzern. Most recently, she returned to Staatstheater Kassel under the leadership of Intendant Florian Lutz and GMD Francesco Angelico in 22/23, making her debut as Polina in Pique Dame, reprising Erste Norn, Grimgerde, and Floßhilde in the Ring Cycle, and portraying Blanka Zmigrod, a victim of far right extremist violence, in an interdisciplinary music/theatre production entitled Operation Abendsonne, created with director Christiane Pohle.

 

After her studies at the University of Toronto, Marta's first engagement in Germany was as a member of the Oper Frankfurt Young Artist Program. She then became a house soloist at Staatstheater Kassel under the leadership of Intendant Thomas Bockelmann, where she made important debuts as Suzuki / Madama Butterfly, Bradamante / Alcina, Erste Norn / Götterdämmerung, Floßhilde / Rheingold, Götterdämmerung, Grimgerde / Walküre, Hänsel / Hänsel und Gretel, Brigitta / Die tote Stadt, Cherubino / Le nozze di Figaro, and Dritte Dame / Die Zauberflöte. In addition to Bradamante, Marta's repertoire in Kassel also featured other leading roles in a series of rarely performed baroque operas under the baton of baroque specialist Jörg Halubek: Emone / Antigona (T. Traetta, 1772), Tierra / Los Elementos (A. de Literes, 1718), and Alto Solo in B.A.C.H (staged Bach cantatas).

 

Marta's Wagner debuts in the new Kassel Ring cycle of director Markus Dietz and conductor Francesco Angelico 2018-2020 garnered much attention. She made her debut at Oper Leipzig as Grimgerde in 19/20, returning in 20/21 and 21/22, and in 2022 made her debut at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl in the same role, in the new Ring cycle directed by Brigitte Fassbaender, conducted by Erik Nielsen. Other operatic engagements include Dutch National Opera for Poulenc's Les mamelles de Tiresias, the Landestheater Salzburg as Linetta in Haydn's Il mondo della luna, Bradamante at the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern, Dritte Dame at Staatstheater Braunschweig, and returns to Oper Frankfurt as Zweite Dame / Die Zauberflöte, Third Nymph / Rusalka, and multiple roles in Martinu's Julietta.

 

The music of the 20th and 21st centuries has an important place in Marta's repertoire; she has performed contemporary works at renowned venues, including the Darmstadt International New Music Festival, the Tonhalle Zürich, the tonArt Festival Esslingen, and with Stuttgart's celebrated ExVoCo Ensemble, as well as having created leading roles in the world premieres of operas for the Toronto Luminato Festival and Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg. In Canada, Marta has also appeared with the The Music Gallery Toronto, Tapestry New Opera, the U of T New Music Festival, and the Toy Piano Composers Collective, with a wide range of contemporary repertoire including many Canadian and emerging composers. She has been performed her unique recital program combining baroque and new music for voice and guitar entitled Tales of Love, Murder and (other) Nonsense for several recital series including Harbourfront Summer Music and Hart House Concerts, both in Toronto.

 

Marta is the recipient of the Staatstheater Kassel Fördergesellschaft Prize 2019, which recognizes outstanding artistic achievement by a young artist, as well as awards from the Solti Foundation, the Da Ponte Foundation, the Ontario Arts Council, and Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques. Herman is a first-generation Polish-Canadian born in Toronto, Canada, and studied at the University of Western Ontario with Torin Chiles and the University of Toronto Opera School with Mary Morrison.