May 2024

La mezzosoprano madrileña María José Montiel ingresará a la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando como miembro de número el próximo 23 de junio en sustitución de la mezzosoprano Teresa Berganza. Lo hará en una ceremonia que se celebrará en la sede de la entidad en Madrid, ocasión en la que la cantante madrileña leerá su discurso de ingreso que será contestado por el Excmo. Sr. D. Tomás Marco Aragón, director de la Academia y reconocido compositor. Próximamente ofrecerá además un recital con motivo de su ingreso a la Institución.  
Electa como académica en 2023 tras el fallecimiento de Teresa Berganza, María José Montiel es Premio Nacional de Música 2015, catedrática de Canto en la Universität der Kunste de Berlín (Alemania) desde 2019 y de los Cursos Internacionales Universitarios Música en Compostela desde 2021. Ha sido reconocida durante su trayectoria con diversos galardones, como el Premio a la Mejor Cantante Femenina de Ópera en la edición 2011 de los Premios Líricos Teatro Campoamor por su versión de Carmen, de Bizet, en el Gran Teatre del Liceu de Barcelona; Premio Lucrecia Arana; Premio Federico Romero de la SGAE; Premio Ojo Crítico de RNE y el de la CEOE; y Premio Fundación Coca-Cola España al mejor intérprete por “la calidad de su voz, su temperamento expresivo y versatilidad de repertorio”. En 2007, además, fue galardonada con el Premio de Cultura en la modalidad de Música que otorga la Comunidad de Madrid. Desde 2017 es Embajadora de la Fundación Columbus y en 2023 fue nombrada madrina de Ópera sin Fronteras.
Inaugurada durante el reinado de Fernando VI, la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando es hoy en día la institución artística de más larga trayectoria y mayor vigencia cultural en España, con casi tres siglos de historia. Tiene su sede en el palacio de Goyeneche en Madrid y está integrada por 56 académicos de número, personalidades de reconocido prestigio en los campos de la arquitectura, pintura, escultura, música, cine, arte gráfico, fotografía, diseño e historia y teoría del arte, siendo una de las ocho Reales Academias de alcance nacional integradas en el Instituto de España. La institución tiene por objetivo "fomentar la creatividad artística, así como el estudio, difusión y protección de las artes y del patrimonio cultural, muy particularmente de la pintura, la escultura, la arquitectura, la música y las nuevas artes de la imagen".

October 2023

María José Montiel regresa a la Ópera de Tenerife para protagonizar María Moliner, ópera con música de Antoni Parera Fons que abre la temporada del Auditorio canario. Inspirada en la vida de la lexicógrafa aragonesa que da nombre a la obra, el papel fue escrito para la mezzosoprano madrileña, que ya ha cantado en su estreno absoluto en el Teatro de la Zarzuela en 2016, presentándose más tarde en el Teatre Principal de Palma y en el Teatro Campoamor de Oviedo en la misma producción que podrá verse en Tenerife y que firma Paco Azorín.
Con funciones los días 17, 19 y 21 de octubre, la Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife estará dirigida por Víctor Pablo Pérez y acompañarán a María José Montiel, Juan Jesús Rodríguez y Simón Orfila, entre otros.
Antes de finalizar el año, la mezzosoprano madrileña ofrecerá conciertos en Alemania y participará en una nueva producción de La vestale, de Spontini, en el Festival de Tesalónica (Grecia) en el marco del 100º aniversario del nacimiento de María Callas, todo ello alternado con su actividad docente en la Universität der Kunste en Berlin.

September 2023

- La mezzosoprano madrileña regresa este mes de septiembre a San Sebastián, Arantzazu y Bilbao para ofrecer dos conciertos con la Segunda Sinfonía de Gustav Mahler y un recital lírico en el marco del II Festival de Arantzazu a beneficio de la Fundación Columbus.

Septiembre de 2023
Después de un intenso verano concentrada en su actividad docente en la Universität Der Kunste de Berlín y en los cursos internacionales “Música en Compostela”, además de ofrecer recitales en Santiago de Compostela y Mallorca, María José Montiel empieza la temporada en septiembre con una gira de conciertos por el País Vasco a beneficio de la Fundación Columbus, de la que es Embajadora desde 2017.
El 13 de septiembre interpretará en el Kursaal de San Sebastián la monumental Segunda Sinfonía, “Resurrección”, de Mahler junto a la soprano Miren Urbieta, al Orfeón Donostiarra y a la Euskadiko Orkestra Sinfonikoa dirigida por el maestro Ramón Tebar; tres días más tarde afrontará la misma obra del compositor postromántico en el emblemático Santuario de Arantzazu. La mezzosoprano española, todo un referente en la música de Gustav Mahler habiéndola interpretado por todo el mundo y junto a las mejores orquestas, se muestra “emocionada” al volver al País Vasco, “una tierra maravillosa que emana música por los cuatro costados y de la que tan buenos recuerdos tengo cada vez que he actuado; recuerdo con especial cariño las funciones de Carmen, precisamente en el Kursaal de San Sebastián hace algunas temporadas; estoy encantada de regresar ahora con Mahler, cuya música transporta al oyente a otra dimensión; algunas de las experiencias más bonitas de mi vida sobre un escenario han sido cantando Urlicht, ese gran canto que conforma el cuarto movimiento de la Segunda Sinfonía que es un himno a la belleza y a la introspección”, confiesa.
La cantante madrileña también asegura que es “todo un privilegio” y que le llena de felicidad sumarse una vez más “a este proyecto tan grande y emotivo que lleva a cabo la fundación Columbus, de la que tengo el honor de ser su Embajadora, ya que me permite alzar mi voz para unir la música y la ciencia dando amor y entrega a niños que lo necesitan”.
El viernes 15 de septiembre, María José Montiel unirá su arte al del violinista búlgaro Vasko Vassilev –concertino de la Royal Opera House de Londres– y al pianista mallorquín Miquel Estelrich para ofrecer un concierto en la Sociedad Filarmónica de Bilbao con obras de Bizet, Sarasate, Saint-Saëns, Turina, Granados y Falla.
Antes de finalizar el año, ofrecerá un recital dedicado al compositor Ignacio Zuloaga en el Gardenplatz Theater de Múnich junto al guitarrista José María Gallardo del Rey y al pianista Miquel Estelrich; interpretará de nuevo a la protagonista de la ópera María Moliner en la Ópera de Tenerife y participará en una nueva producción de La vestale, de Spontini, en el Festival de Tesalónica (Grecia) en el marco del 100º aniversario del nacimiento de María Callas, todo ello alternado con su actividad docente en Berlín. 

June 2023

- La mezzosoprano madrileña sustituye a la fallecida Teresa Berganza en la institución artística de más larga trayectoria y mayor vigencia cultural en España.

La Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando ha nombrado académica de la institución a María José Montiel, noticia que la cantante española ha recibido “con una emoción inmensa”, según ha afirmado. Inaugurada en 1752 durante el reinado de Fernando VI, la Academia es hoy en día la institución artística de más larga trayectoria y mayor vigencia cultural en España. “Es para mí un honor este nombramiento que reconoce tantos años de carrera sobre los escenarios; me vienen a la mente tantos recuerdos maravillosos que me han acompañado desde la época de estudiante en España y en Viena, pasando por tantas vivencias inolvidables en teatros y auditorios de todo el mundo. Sin duda es una carrera difícil, pero tan satisfactoria; el esfuerzo del estudio y la preparación constante durante todos estos años han cristalizado en premios y reconocimientos como este, el ser elegida académica de la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. Me llena de orgullo formar parte de esta prestigiosa institución”, añade. 
María José Montiel ofrecerá su discurso de ingreso en los próximos meses en una fecha todavía por determinar.
Con sede en el palacio de Goyeneche en Madrid y 281 años de historia, la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando se compone de 56 académicos de número, personalidades de reconocido prestigio en los campos de la arquitectura, pintura, escultura, música, cine, arte gráfico, fotografía, diseño e historia y teoría del arte, y es una de las ocho Reales Academias de alcance nacional integradas en el Instituto de España que tiene por objeto "fomentar la creatividad artística, así como el estudio, difusión y protección de las artes y del patrimonio cultural, muy particularmente de la pintura, la escultura, la arquitectura, la música y las nuevas artes de la imagen". 
María José Montiel, Premio Nacional de Música en 2015 y Catedrática de Canto en la Universität der Kunste de Berlín (Alemania) desde 2019, ha sido reconocida durante su trayectoria con otros galardones como el Premio a la Mejor Cantante Femenina de Ópera en la edición 2011 de los Premios Líricos Teatro Campoamor por su versión de Carmen, de Bizet, en el Gran Teatre del Liceu de Barcelona; Premio Lucrecia Arana; Premio Federico Romero de la SGAE; Premio Ojo Crítico de RNE y el de la CEOE; y Premio Fundación Coca-Cola España al mejor intérprete por “la calidad de su voz, su temperamento expresivo y versatilidad de repertorio”. En 2007, además, fue galardonada con el Premio de Cultura en la modalidad de Música que otorga la Comunidad de Madrid. Desde 2017 es Embajadora de la Fundación Columbus y recientemente ha sido nombrada madrina de Ópera sin Fronteras. 
A la cantante madrileña le espera un verano pleno de actividades: ofrecerá clases magistrales en los Cursos Internacionales Universitarios Música en Compostela; cantará un recital homenaje a la soprano Ana María Sánchez junto al guitarrista José María Gallardo del Rey; regresará un año más a Mallorca con un concierto en el Festival de Santanyí junto al pianista Miquel Estelrich y al violinista Vasko Vassilev, concertino de la Royal Opera House de Londres; iniciará la temporada 2023-24 con una gira de conciertos en el País Vasco (San Sebastián y Bilbao); ofrecerá un recital en Múnich; interpretará a la protagonista de la ópera María Moliner en Tenerife y participará en el estreno de una ópera en Grecia; todo ello alternando con su actividad docente en Berlín. 

May 2023

-La mezzosoprano madrileña protagonizará en junio la popular obra de Moreno Torroba en la producción de Davide Livermore, antes de ofrecer actuaciones en Santiago de Compostela, Mallorca, San Sebastián, Bilbao, Tenerife, Múnich, Alicante y Grecia. 

Mayo de 2023
En una temporada en la que ha triunfado con el estreno absoluto de L’Arxiduc de Parera Fons en el Teatre Principal de Palma y con la Segunda Sinfonía de Mahler en el Teatro São Carlos de Lisboa, María José Montiel vuelve en junio al Teatro de La Zarzuela de Madrid, esta vez para encabezar el reparto de Luisa Fernanda, de Moreno Torroba, sin duda uno de los títulos más importantes del género lírico español. La mezzosoprano española, que ha paseado el rol titular de esta obra maestra del repertorio español por escenarios como el Teatro alla Scala de Milán, las óperas de Los Ángeles y Washington, el Theater an der Wien, el Teatro Real de Madrid o el Teatro Campoamor de Oviedo, asegura que vuelve a él “muy ilusionada porque se trata de un personaje emblemático del que guardo preciosos recuerdos y en el que acumulo una gran experiencia al haberlo hecho un diversos montajes. Además interpretarlo en este queridísimo teatro de mi ciudad, es doblemente grato. La zarzuela es un género adorado por el público de fuera de España, más cuando se trata de una obra de gran calidad musical como esta de Moreno Torroba, y cantarlo en el escenario más importante dedicado al género es un auténtico placer. Recuerdo con cariño las ovaciones después de representar Luisa Fernanda en ciudades como Milán, Viena, Los Ángeles o Washington. Este título representa una de las culminaciones artísticas del género, y prueba de ello son las más de 10.000 representaciones que a día de hoy se han llevado a cabo en todo el mundo. La obra está ambientada en Madrid y Extremadura durante el período isabelino, justo antes de la revolución de 1868, y relata una historia de amor enmarcada en un período de controversias políticas valiéndose de una música bellísima. La zarzuela, como género teatral y musical, pero también como expresión genuina de la cultura de un pueblo, es un patrimonio cultural de un valor inmenso que ha vuelto a poner en valor nuestro querido Teatro de La Zarzuela, que ha hecho y sigue haciendo una gran labor de divulgación de nuestra maravillosa zarzuela; desde el inicio de mi carrera he procurado promover la música española por todo el mundo, tanto en recitales y conciertos como fuera del escenario, en conferencias o en mi actual actividad docente que llevo a cabo en Berlín, enseñando a los jóvenes intérpretes las maravillas de nuestra música”, concluye la mezzo. 
María José Montiel ofrecerá cinco funciones los días 21, 23, 25, 28 y 30 de junio, en una producción con dirección de escena de Davide Livermore, con el maestro Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez al frente de la Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid y del Coro Titular del Teatro de La Zarzuela. 
Tras este compromiso en Madrid, le espera a la cantante madrileña un verano pleno de actividades: ofrecerá clases magistrales en los Cursos Internacionales Universitarios Música en Compostela, cantará un recital homenaje a la soprano Ana María Sánchez junto al guitarrista José María Gallardo del Rey; regresará un año más a Mallorca con un concierto en el Festival de Santanyí junto al pianista Miquel Estelrich y al violinista Vasko Vassilev, concertino de la Royal Opera House de Londres; iniciará la temporada 2023-24 con una gira de conciertos en el País Vasco (San Sebastián y Bilbao), ofrecerá un recital en Múnich, cantará María Moliner, de Parera Fons, en la Ópera de Tenerife y participará en el estreno de una ópera en Grecia; todo ello alternado con su actividad como catedrática de canto en la Universität der Kunste de Berlín, en la que imparte clases desde 2019. 

March 2023

-La mezzosoprano madrileña cantará el 6 de abril la Segunda Sinfonía del compositor post-romántico junto a la Sinfónica Portuguesa. 

Mahler es sin duda uno de los compositores de los que María José Montiel se ha convertido en una auténtica especialista. Del músico alemán la mezzosoprano madrileña ha interpretado durante su carrera la mayoría de sus obras sinfónicas más emblemáticas, desde Das Klagende Lied pasando por los Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen y, por supuesto, sus maravillosas sinfonías 2, 3 y 8, una música con la que la cantante española se siente absolutamente identificada. El próximo 6 de abril, Montiel regresará a Lisboa para ofrecer su Segunda Sinfonía en do menor, “Resurección”; será durante el Concierto de Pascua de la temporada sinfónica del emblemático Teatro São Carlos, junto a la Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa –con la que Montiel ya ha actuado en diversas ocasiones– y dirigida por el maestro Antonio Pirolli. La acompañarán en el escenario la soprano Carla Caramujo y el Coro do Teatro Nacional de São Carlos.
“Mahler me transporta a otra dimensión”, confiesa María José Montiel; “la música romántica había llegado a un grado superlativo de expresividad, y en un momento en el que la sinfonía, como forma musical, ya no podía evolucionar más, Mahler consigue, sin llegar a romper la tonalidad, darle una nueva vuelta de tuerca y crear una música trascendental, con melodías sublimes que llegan directas al espíritu de cada oyente. Interpretando su Segunda Sinfonía he tenido algunas de las experiencias más bellas sobre un escenario; con Urlicht, ese gran canto que conforma el cuarto movimiento como preámbulo del gigantesco final, Mahler sintió la necesidad de introducir la palabra cantada en su música para dar vida a un poema maravilloso de la colección de Lieder aus Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Siento un gran privilegio al poder volverá a interpretarla y estoy encantada de que sea nuevamente en el São Carlos, un teatro en el que he cantado esta y otras obras de Mahler, entre otros compositores, en varias ocasiones”, afirma la mezzo madrileña. 
Próximamente y tras la Segunda Sinfonía de Mahler en Lisboa, María José Montiel volverá a su Madrid natal para cantar el rol principal de Luisa Fernanda, de Moreno Torroba, en el Teatro de La Zarzuela. En julio y agosto ofrecerá clases magistrales en los Cursos Internacionales Universitarios Música en Compostela, en los que también brindará un recital homenaje a la soprano Ana María Sánchez junto al guitarrista José María Gallardo del Rey, además de ofrecer un concierto en el Festival de Santanyí (Mallorca) junto al pianista Miquel Estelrich y al violinista Vasko Vassilev, concertino de la Royal Opera House de Londres; tras el verano ofrecerá una gira de conciertos en el País Vasco y un recital en Munich, todo ello alternado con su actividad como catedrática de canto en la Universität der Kunste Berlín. 

April 2020

Due to the Covid-19 health alert and the state of national emergency declared by the Spanish government, the world premiere of Moreno Buendía’s Stabat Mater programmed for the 3rd April at the Auditorio Víctor Villegas in Murcia has been cancelled.  Activities at the Berlin Universität der Künste, where María José Montiel gives classes in her role of professor of singing, have also been cancelled until further notice.

Highlights among the Spanish mezzo-soprano’s upcoming engagements, which she alternates with her teaching in Germany, include taking the title role in Antoni Parera’s María Moliner once again, this time in its premiere at the Oviedo Teatro Campoamor, a performance programmed for the city’s Spanish Lyrical Theatre Festival.  She will later return to the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, this time to sing Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer.

January 2020

-The Spanish mezzo has been invited to perform in the Donizetti opera as part of the celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of the Teatro Cervantes

February 2020

The Spanish mezzo-soprano María José Montiel has been invited to join in the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the Teatro Cervantes in Malaga and will return to the Romantic bel-canto genre for the occasion.  The outstanding Madrid-born singer will take on the lead female role in Donizetti’s La Favorita, which she performed for the first time in 2002 at the Teatro Comunale in Bolongna (Italy), at that time in the revival of the French version of the opera.  This time the Cervantes is presenting the Italian translation, which is the most often performed version of this Donizetti masterpiece.  Montiel will be joined on stage by two other internationally renowned Spanish opera singers, the baritone from Malaga, Carlos Álvarez and the tenor Ismael Jordi, from Jerez.

For Montiel, the role of Leonora de Guzmán, known as “the King’s favourite” and the title role of the opera is certainly fascinating. “It is one of the great roles for mezzo-soprano, very difficult due to its wide tessitura, its demanding line and the sense of ornamentation in the fast-paced passages.  The music, in any case, is marvellous, with great scenes and arias in the purest bel-canto style.  The ingenious vision of the mature and exacting Donizetti breathed new life into the score which had been originally planned for L’ange de Nisida, a project which never came to fruition.  On the other hand, as in almost all operas, maybe excepting a few such as Carmen or Sanson et Dalila, the woman is oppressed by male power, an aspect which can be clearly appreciated in La Favorita and which I feel is important to draw attention to,” the Spanish singer explains.

María José Montiel will take the lead role in this Curro Carreres production of La Favorita on the 4th, 6th and 8th March, conducted by Antonello Allemandi.

Later the mezzo from Madrid will continue giving classes in her role of Professor at the Berlin, University of the Arts before returning to Murcia (Spain) to perform Moreno-Buendía’s Stabat Mater. She will then take the title role once again in the contemporary opera María Moliner by Toni Parera, this time for its premiere in the Oviedo Teatro Campoamor (Spain) and will perform Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

November 2019

-The Spanish mezzo-soprano will give a recital for the Fundación Columbus at the Prado, and another for the Conciertos de Alicante Society.

November 2019

María José Montiel will be performing in Madrid again in December, this time for a very special occasion.  The Prado Museum, has organised a charity concert jointly with the Fundación Columbus – of which the singer is ambassador – for the 11st December, in order to celebrate the second anniversary of the foundation.  The Fundación Columbus has its headquarters in Valencia and was begun in 2017, with a mission to enable children with cancer or rare diseases to gain access to the most advanced and effective treatments, to improve their quality of life and raise their chances of recovery. As part of the Prado museum´s bicentenary celebrations, the concert will bring María José Montiel together with the pianist Iván Martín and the cellist Ángel Luis Quintana on the unique Il Soldato cello. They will be joined by Dr.Toni Pearson. Although the concert is already sold out, there is a “Row 0” for those who would like to make a donation.

On the 16th December, to see the year out, María José Montiel will return to Alicante, this time to give a recital for the Alicante Concert Society, alongside the French pianist Laurence Verna. The programme includes pieces by Hahn, Schumann, Palomo and Guastavino at the Teatro Principal in Alicante.

In 2020, Montiel will return to the Universität der Künste Berlin, where she is professor of singing and has been teaching since 2019 to then, in March, take the role of Leonora in Donizettti´s La Favorita again, this time at the Teatro Cervantes in Malaga, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary.  María José Montiel made her debut as this emblematic Donizetti character some seasons ago at the Bologna Teatro Comunale (Italy), with the French version, whereas this time, in Malaga, she will be singing the role in Italian.

June 2019

-The Spanish mezzo will perform in Saint-Saëns´ masterpiece at the Teatro Romano, opening the 65th Classical Theater Festival

June 2019

After her triumphs with la Cieca in La Gioconda at the Liceu in Barcelona and Prokofiev´s cantata Alexander Nevsky at the National Auditorium in Madrid within the Spanish National Orchestra and Choir season, María José Montiel returns to French repertoire this month to take the female title role in Samson et Dalila, by Camille Saint-Saëns. The fabulous professor of singing of the Berlin University of the Arts will take the role of Dalila, the intriguing and sensual female lead in this masterpiece of French opera, in the premiere of a production directed by Paco Azorín at the Teatro Romano in Merida as part of the city´s International Classical Theater Festival.  It will be a spectacular co-production with the Seville Teatro de La Maestranza with more than 400 performers on stage, conducted by Álvaro Albiach, at the helm of the Extremadura Symphony Orchestra.  The performances will take place on the 27th, 29th and 30th June, after which Montiel will continue with her activity at the German university.

Later, at the end of August, the Spanish singer will travel to Pollença (Majorca) to give a recital, accompanied by the pianist Miquel Estelrich (on 31st).  She will return to the University of Berlin in the first week of September to give a presentation to introduce people to Spanish concert song in its different types, styles and formats, and highlight the importance of Spanish composers in the world of lied.  Montiel will then travel to Santiago de Compostela where she will perform at a musical evening on the 25th September alongside Iván Martín on piano, premiering a song cycle of verses by Rosalía de Castro that the Galician composer Juan Durán has created especially for her.  On 30th September and 4th and 5th October, she will give concerts in Majorca once again, this time, accompanied by the Balearic Island Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Pablo Mielgo, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Balearic ensemble.

February 2019

The Spanish singer will give a recital in the Andalusian capital and will sing Mahler's Second Symphony on tour with the Orquesta Reino de Aragón before her return to the Liceu in Barcelona with La Gioconda

February 2019

The Spanish mezzo-soprano María José Montiel will give a recital in the Seville Aquarium on the 20th February, organised by the Columbus Foundation, of which she is the ambassador. The musical evening will celebrate the announcement of the Princess of Girona Foundation ReciclARTE prize: for creating a new world recycling the old, which will be awarded the same day, after the jury's meeting.  Montiel, accompanied on the piano by Miquel Estelrich, will be joined on stage by the soprano Auxiliadora Toledano and the pop and flamenco singer, Soleá Morente.

Later María José Montiel will travel to the Auditorium in Zaragoza where she will perform one of her favourite pieces, Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony (28th February), alongside the soprano Carmen Solís, the Orquesta Reino de Aragón and the Orfeón Donostiarra, all conducted by Íñigo Pírfano. On the 1st March the same line-up will perform Mahler's monumental symphony again, at the Kursaal Auditorium in San Sebastian (in aid of Caritas) and once more on the 3rd of the same month at the Baluarte Auditorium in Pamplona (in aid of the Core Foundation, which takes in and integrates immigrants from the Navarre capital who are in danger of social exclusion).

In the spring, from 1st April, Montiel will be singing in eleven performances of the Ponchielli opera, La Gioconda, in a Pier Luigi Pizzi production which will be at the Gran Teatre del Liceu de Barcelona, where her return is eagerly awaited.  Other upcoming engagements include a recital in Granada and a concert which will be part of the National Orchestra and Choir of Spain season at the National Auditorium in Madrid.

December 2018

-The Spanish mezzo will participate in the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the Constitution and in the Christmas concert at the Teatro de La Zarzuela

November 2018

The mezzo-soprano María José Montiel will return to her home town, Madrid. this month for two important engagements.  The Spanish diva will sing at the National Music Auditorium on the 5th December in a concert to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Spanish Constitution.  She will be performing Beethoven´s 9th Symphony alongside the soprano María Espada, the tenor José Pazos and the baritone Juan Jesús Rodríguez, conducted by Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez, who will be at the helm of the RTVE Orchestra and Choir.

Some days later, María José Montiel will return to the Teatro de La Zarzuela, also in Madrid, to take part in the theatre´s traditional Christmas Concert, where she will once again coincide with the baritone, Juan Jesús Rodríguez.  This time they will be accompanied by the soprano Isabel Rey, and the Community of Madrid Orchestra and Choir, conducted by Ramón Tebar. The programme will comprise wide and varied repertoire of the finest zarzuela music and, of course, will include many of the most popular songs of the genre. The concert will take place on the 29th December at the theatre in Jovellanos Street.

After Christmas, on 28th January, Montiel will sing at an opera gala at the Teatro Victoria Eugenia in San Sebastian, in aid of the Columbus Foundation, an organisation which funds innovative scientific projects and access to cutting-edge treatment worldwide for children with cancer and rare diseases.  María José Montiel, as ambassador of the Foundation, has just been on tour in the United States, and given concerts in various cities in order to raise money for this deserving cause.  In San Sebastian she will be accompanied by the Argentinian tenor Marcelo Puente.

October 2018

·         The Spanish singer will participate in the Opera Stars Concert series in Florida and will introduce the Columbus Foundation to North America

October 2018

After beginning the season in Moscow with a recital of García Abril´s cantata Alegrías at the Bolshoi in the Russian capital (27th September), singing Chausson´s Poème de l'amour et de la mer in Caceres and Badajoz alongside the Orquesta de Extremadura (4th and 5th October) and Rossini´s Stabat Mater at the Princess of Asturias Prize concert in Oviedo (18th October), the Spanish mezzo-soprano María José Montiel will set forth on a recital tour of the United States that will take her to the cities of Raleigh (North Carolina), Washington DC and Naples (Florida), this last recital being one of the “Opera Stars Concert” series programmed by Opera Naples.  These performances will be in aid of the Columbus Foundation, of which María José Montiel is ambassador.  The foundation supports scientific innovation which is aimed at giving children with cancer and rare diseases access to cutting edge treatments.

The first stop on this American tour will be on the 7th November with a presentation concert for the Columbus Foundation at the A. J. Fletcher Opera Theater in Raleigh.  Montiel will be accompanied by the pianist Laurence Verna and the cellist Ángel Luis Quintana on this occasion.

Later, on the 12th November, María José Montiel will go to Washington DC to perform at the Carnegie Institute for Science, alongside the maestro Ramón Tebar on piano and, once again, the cellist Ángel Luis Quintana.

The last date of the Spanish singer´s US tour is on the 16th November, with the previously mentioned recital at Opera Naples.  On the occasion she will perform the choicest pieces in her repertoire, once again accompanied by Tebar.

August 2018

·         The Spanish singer will make her debut in the Russian capital before singing with the Orquesta de Extremadura and performing at the Princess of Asturias Prize gala

September 2018

The mezzo-soprano from Madrid will begin the new artistic season with a concert at the Bolshoi in Moscow, where she will be performing the cantata Alegrías, by Antón García Abril, a composer who is very close to Montiel as he has dedicated some of his compositions to her. In her debut in the Russian capital the mezzo will be accompanied by the Concert Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory conducted by Borja Quintas. This will be a gala evening organised by the Colombus Foundation, María José Montiel being the cultural ambassador. Beforehand, at the end of August, she will travel to Majorca to make a recording of great Spanish compositions with the pianist Miquel Estelrich, with whom she has collaborated on concerts and recordings for many years.

Later, among other activities, Montiel will make her debut with the Orquesta de Extremadura with some of her favourite music, Chausson’s Poème de l'amour et de la mer, this time conducted by Álvaro Albiach. This will be the first time that the singer will collaborate with the ensemble from Extremadura and she will be doing two performances with them. The first is on the 4th October at the Manuel Rojas Congress Palace in Badajoz and the next day they will be at the Caceres Congress Palace. The last time María José Montiel performed this piece was in July 2017 with the Royal Symphony Orchestra of Seville, conducted by John Axelrod.

Finally, she has another very special engagement awaiting her: her participation in the Princess of Asturias Prize gala concert, in which she will perform Rossini’s Stabat Mater. This will take place on the 18th October at the Auditorio Palacio de Congresos Príncipe Felipe.

May 2018

The Spanish diva has an eclectic May coming up, with performances of new styles in Lisbon and in San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

• May 2018
  
  Maria José Montiel´s talent for taking on all types of repertoire and making them her own is well known.  In recent years her voice has caressed some of the most emblematic opera roles in her register, such as Carmen, Dalila, Charlotte, Amneris, Leonora, Neris, Federica and La Cieca, but she has also excelled in symphonic-vocal repertoire and song, whether that be Spanish, German, Brazilian or French, and including contemporary music.  To all these genres she brings a unique sensibility for understanding music.  With performances of a mixture of styles in May, which began on the 7th at the Teatro de La Zarzuela with a homage to the genius composer José Padilla –alongside Rubén Fernández Aguirre on piano–, Montiel has now travelled to Lisbon in order to perform Five Neruda Songs with the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Joel.  This is a moving song cycle based on poems by the Chilean Nobel prizewinner, which was composed in 2005 by Peter Lieberson and dedicated to his wife, the mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt, after discovering that she was suffering from terminal breast cancer.  In the words of Lieberson himself, “each of the songs reflects the different faces of love.” The concert will take place at the emblematic Teatro San Carlos in Lisbon on the 13^th May.
  
  In Madrid, once again, on the 25th May, María José Montiel will sing Il Tramonto, by Ottorino Respighi, alongside the RTVE Orchestra and Choir, conducted by Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez at the San Lorenzo de El Escorial auditorium. Composed in 1914, this is a symphonic song or brief cantata for voice and strings, based on verse by Shelley; a marvellous exercise in post-romantic morbidity, linked to the Italian symbolism that developed in the late 19^th century.

March 2018

The Spanish mezzo will give a recital centred on compositions by the creator of the popular song, Violetera

March 2018

The Spanish mezzo-soprano María José Montiel´s keen curiosity has led her to investigate the compositions of José Padilla Sánchez, who wrote famous melodies such as Valencia and La Violetera, songs which will be included in the recital which Montiel will give on the 6th April at the Teatro de La Zarzuela in Madrid.  This event will be a different and intimate evening, with exquisite repertoire which the famous singer, noted for her performance of Verdi, Bizet and Saint-Saëns, will present to her audience.  Many almost forgotten compositions by the genius from Almeria, who created melodies which are stunningly virtuosic, will be among the programme. María José Montiel will be accompanied on the piano by the Basque musician, Rubén Fernández Aguirre, and they promise a night of melancholy and of passion, with repertoire which is sure to be new to many. 

The mezzo´s upcoming engagements include a concert in which she will be accompanied by a select group of soloists from the Orquesta de Valencia and a programme of Five Neruda Songs by Peter Lieberson alongside the National Portuguese Symphony Orchestra conducted by Joana Carnerio at the Teatro Sao Carlos in Lisbon.

February 2018

The diva from Madrid will make her debut in the legendary role in Verdi´s Don Carlos for Ópera de Tenerife

February 2018

The mezzosoprano María José Montiel returns to Santa Cruz in Tenerife to make her debut in the role of Princess Eboli in Verdi´s Don Carlos for the Ópera de Tenerife on the 10th, 14th and 17th March at the capital city´s Auditorium.  The Spanish diva will travel to the island with the Italian composer very much in mind, as she will have just performed Verdi´s Requiem Mass alongside the Barcelona Gran Teatre del Liceu Symphony and Choir at the Palau de la Música Catalana (20th February).  She has travelled all over the world to perform the Mass with the conductor, Riccardo Chailly, a fundamental influence on her career.

Montiel is adding the role of Eboli, which is one of the most emblematic roles for mezzo-soprano, to her repertoire and will be bringing her wide experience and deep knowledge of the style to the role.  She has previously taken on other great Verdi roles such as Amneris in Aida (Bregenz Festival, directed by Graham Vick), Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera (alongside the Israel Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta), the Duchess Federica in Luisa Miller (at the Opéra de París with the conducters Lorin Maazel, James Conlon and Daniel Oren) as well as Maddalena in Rigoletto at various theatres. “Verdi and Schiller´s Eboli is fascinating, but also very complex because she is at the heart of the plot and moves the whole story along” Montiel explains.  “The role demands a wide tessitura and great mastery both of highly ornamented, rapid passages, as well as dramatic and expressive singing.  It´s an exciting challenge.”

This first performance of the role will also be María José Montiel´s opera debut in Tenerife, where she has already performed at the Canary Island International Music Festival on two occasions, singing Rossini´s Stabat Mater, firstly along the Milanese Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly (at the Tenerife Auditorium, 2004) and, later, with the Community of Madrid Orchestra and Choir conducted by José Ramón Encinar (at the Teatro Guimerá, 2011).

October 2017

- The diva from Madrid will return to Mexico in November, this time to take the role of Charlotte in Werther, as well as taking on new debuts this season

October 2017

María José Montiel has had a special connection with Mexican opera-goers since she made her debut in the role of Dalila (in Saint-Säens´ Samson et Dalila) in September 2015 with the Nuevo León Opera (Mexico).  The Spanish singer is returning this autumn for the season organised by Conarte (Nuevo León Arts Council) with more French repertoire, which Montiel adores and which has accompanied her throughout her career.  On this occasion she will take the female lead in Massenet´s Werther, at the Teatro de la Ciudad in Monterrey, on the 10th and 12th November.  The music will be conducted by Guido María Guida, who will be at the helm of the UANL Symphony Orchestra.  According to the renowned mezzo, Charlotte “is a woman from a good family who is faithful to the oath she swore to her mother, which means that she leads a sad and tormented life after having met the young Werther, with whom she falls in love,” Montiel explains.  “She lives in pain and melancholy; in some way I believe she also feels guilty because, in spite of the promise she made to her mother, she does not love Albert, her husband, she loves another man; she has a totally repressed passion inside her and she feels torn.  I believe that love always triumphs: at the last moment, before Werther´s death, the pair kiss, hold each other and recognize that they love each other.  Love is the strongest feeling that a human being can experience.  In any case, when I sing Charlotte, I feel the role with great emotion and passion.”  For the winner of the 2015 National Music Prize awarded by the Ministry of Culture of Spain “the text and Massenet´s marvellous music are perfectly matched, which is something that really helps me to fully immerse myself in the feelings of the character,” she concludes.

Some outstanding moments from her last season include her wildly successful performances of Mahler´s symphonies with the Balearic Symphony Orchestra, the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa and the Malaga Philharmonic; the Cinco canciones negras by Montsalvatge alongside the Community of Madrid Orchestra; her debut of Chausson´s Poème de l'amour et de la mer with the Seville Royal Symphonic Orchestra; her emblematic title role in Bizet´s Carmen, at the Florida Grand Opera (Miami, USA), at the Kursaal in San Sebastian and at the Gran Teatro in Cordoba.  There was also her award-winning version of Antoni Parera´s María Moliner, at the Teatre Principal in Palma, Majorca – for which she won prizes for best female singer in a lead role and the best opera of the year – as well as the recitals she gave at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, accompanied on the piano by Miquel Estelrich and at the Teatro de La Maestranza in Seville, with Rubén Fernández Aguirre on piano.

As well as her return to Mexico, in the new season, the singer will continue to alternate recitals with symphonic concerts and operatic roles.  After having performed Montsalvatge´s Cinco Canciones Negras last September at the Autumn Music Festival in Soria, Spain, and performing in an opera gala with the Region of Murcia Symphonic Orchestra, she will give a concert in Valencia for the recently formed Columbus Foundation (which she is ambassador for and which raises funds for children with serious illnesses and rare diseases), she will give a recital at the Alicante Philharmonic Society (December), she will perform in the DIVAS concert alongside sopranos Ainhoa Arteta and Pilar Jurado at the MadWomanFest in Madrid (January 2018), she will sing Ravel´s Shéhérazade and Falla´s Siete Canciones populares españolas with the Orquesta Nacional de España (January 2018), she will participate in the Opera Stars Concerts season at Opera Naples (USA) with a recital accompanied by Ramón Tebar, and will return to Barcelona with Verdi´s Requiem alongside the Liceu Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Josep Pons (February).  She will also make her debut as Princess Eboli in Don Carlos at Tenerife Opera and will return to the Teatro de La Zarzuela in Madrid with a recital accompanied by Rubén Fernández Aguirre on piano.   

August 2017

-The diva from Madrid will begin the season with a tour of concerts around Spain, to then make her way to Mexico 

July 2017

María José Montiel’s career spans more than two decades which have been lavishly filled with opera repertoire as well as symphonic music and recitals.  In the last season her performances of Mahler’s symphonies were some of the highlights.  She is passionate about the composer and performed his work alongside the Balearic Symphony, the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa and the Malaga Philharmonic; she also sang Cinco canciones negras by Montsalvatge alongside the Community of Madrid Orchestra; and made a debut with Chausson’s Poème de l'amour et de la mer with the Seville Real Orquesta Sinfónica.  To these performances we can add her undisputed triumphs as the emblematic title role in Bizet’s Carmen at the Florida Grand Opera (Miami, USA), at the San Sebastian Kursaal and at the Cordoba Gran Teatro; her flawless version of María Moliner, by Antoni Parera, at the Majorca Teatro Principal – which won the prize for the best Female Rol and Best opera production of the year–; and the recitals that she gave at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, accompanied on the piano by Miquel Estelrich and at the Teatro de La Maestranza in Seville with Rubén Fernández Aguirre on the piano.

After some well-deserved weeks of rest, the winner of the 2015 National Music Prize of Spain will set to work for the new season.  She will be performing Montsalvatge’s Cinco canciones negras on 10th September with the Soria Symphonic Youth Orchestra conducted by Borja Quintas at the Soria Musical Autumn Festival; on the 14th September she will give an operatic concert with the Region of Murcia Symphony with its principal conductor, Virginia Martínez, at the helm; on the 7th October she will participate in the Torrelodones  V Great Concert Cycle  in a recital with Miquel Estelrich on the piano; and by November she will be returning to Mexico, this time to sing the role of Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther, (on the 10th and 12th) at the Nuevo León Opera in Monterrey, where opera goers witnessed her acclaimed debut as Dalila in Saint-Säens’ Samson et Dalila two years ago.

June 2017

-The singer from Madrid will sing Ernest Chausson´s Poème de l'amour et de la mer for the first time in Seville and will return to Madrid and the Balearic Islands

June 2017

Having garnered new triumphs once again in the title role of the opera María Moliner, by Antoni Parera Fons (May) at the Teatre Principal in Palma, Majorca and singing Mahler´s Third Symphony with the Malaga Philharmonic, conducted by its principal conductor, Manuel Hernández Silva (June), María José Montiel is readying herself for a summer full of engagements and new challenges: once again the Spanish diva will be joining her talent with that of the pianist Miquel Estelrich, with whom she has collaborated assiduously for many years.  The pair will be starting rehearsals for the recording of their new CD which comprises a careful selection of songs by Majorcan composers; they will both give a recital at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes in San Fernando in homage to Father Federico Sopeña (15th June).  In July Montiel will return to Majorca, this time to appear once again at the Santinyí International Music Festival (1st July).  After her performance in the Balearic Islands, where she has appeared every summer for the last several years, she will perform the exquisite song-cycle Poème de l'amour et de la mer for voice and orchestra, by Chausson.  This will be her first performance of this music and she will be joined by the Seville Real Orquesta Sinfónica conducted by John Axelrod (13th and 14th July), thereby adding yet another element to her already extensive French repertoire.  “Using the Romantic and exceptional verses by Maurice Bouchor, Ernest Chausson evoked all the mysterious beauty of the sea in this piece,” the mezzo-soprano explains.  "This is music that entraps us and moves us, with all the strength that the sea has for me.  I fell in love with the piece as soon as I listened to it and I am really excited to have the opportunity to perform it for the first time alongside the maestro Axelrod and the fantastic Seville Symphony Orchestra,” she concludes.  

March 2017

The Spanish mezzo-soprano, in the female leads of María Moliner in Palma and Werther in Palermo

April 2017.

After her triumph in Carmen at the Gran Teatro in Cordoba, the Madrid-born mezzo-soprano María José Montiel will sing two of her favourite roles: María Moliner in the opera of the same name at the Teatre Principal in Palma, Majorca and Charlotte in Werther at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo.

The Spanish diva, who is currently one of the most important Hispanic representatives of opera, will once again perform the role of María Moliner in the Majorcan capital. The role was created especially for her and the opera had its world premiere at the Teatro de La Zarzuela last April. María Moliner is by the Majorcan composer Antoni Parera, and produced by the director and acclaimed scenographer Paco Azorín. Montiel was leading lady in the world premiere and now takes the role again at the Principal. For the Spanish singer Moliner is “a very complex character, whose work should be more widely known. She was a strong woman whose struggle took place during a very difficult period in Spanish history and who, despite the situation of political repression that she found herself in, managed to make some incredible achievements, such a publishing a dictionary.” According to Montiel, this contemporary opera has meant that the life and work “of this very special woman has had a revival nowadays. I hope that more theatres within Spain and also on the international panorama will be interested in programming it.” The dates for the performances in Palma are the 5th, 7th and 9th May and will use the spectacular and acclaimed set by Paco Azorín, adapted specially for the stage of the Teatre Principal.

Later, María José Montiel will go to Sicily (Italy) to perform Charlotte, in Werther, one of the French composer Jules Massenet’s masterpieces. The singer confesses that she has a weakness for this character, who, owing to the circumstances that Goethe created for her in the novel that inspired the opera, “lives a very sad and tormented life, full of pain and melancholy. She has a completely repressed passion within her. Certainly, when I sing Charlotte, I feel her with enormous emotion and passion. The text and the marvellous music by Massenet are a perfect mix, something which really helps me to get into the feelings of the character.” There will be two performances on the 27th and 31st May.

February 2017

- The mezzo from Madrid will be accompanied by the pianist Rubén Fernández Aguirre and will include a wide range of repertoire in the programme

February 2017

After three months spent in the shoes of one of her pet characters, the title role of Bizet´s Carmen, with which she triumphed at Miami Opera and at the Saint Sebastian Kursaal, María José Montiel will return to Seville on the 25th February to give a recital with the pianist Rubén Fernández-Aguirre, an expert in accompanying great singers.  The engagement falls within the opera recital cycle which the Maestranza in Seville has programmed over the last few years, and will include repertoire that Montiel knows very well: songs by Enrique Granados – in the 150th anniversary year of his birth – as well as pieces by other Spanish composers such as Ernesto Halffter and Joaquín Turina.  There will also be classical Brazilian songs by the composers Jayme Ovalle and Heitor Villa-Lobos, and French song by Reynaldo Hahn, Claude Debussy, Ambroise Thomas and Camille Saint-Saëns.  This will be María José Montiel´s latest appearance in Seville, where she performed most recently in April 2016 in an Opera Gala to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Teatro de La Maestranza.

Upcoming engagements will take her to the Basque Country to perform Mahler´s Second Symphony alongside the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa at the Palacio Euskalduna, to Cordoba to sing her famous version of Bizet´s Carmen once again, and to Palma, Majorca, to take the title role of María Moliner, by Antoni Parera Fons and Paco Azorín, an opera which had its world premiere last year at the Teatro de La Zarzuela in Madrid with Montiel in the role of the great Spanish lexicographer.

December 2016

·      The Spanish mezzo-soprano will once again take the title role in Bizet´s popular opera in San Sebastián after her triumphant return from the United States in the same role

December 2016

Reviewers were unanimous: María José Montiel´s Carmen at the Florida Grand Opera in Miami (United States) was “unforgettable”.  The Spanish diva, winner of the 2015 National Music Prize, opened the season at the American opera house in November in the title role of Bizet´s popular opera, to great personal success with critics and audiences alike.  “Spanish mezzo Montiel in her FGO debut…. credibly portrays a woman who would choose death over the loss of independence. The audience are goners the moment that saucy voice launches into the iconic melody of ‘Habanera’ as if she is pouring some rich thick liquid from a silver chalice. Exuding a joie de vivre, Montiel´s Carmen impudently rolls consonants as if her tongue is savouring a gourmet dish.  Even if someone turned off the spotlight, she would glow.” (Bill Hirschman for Florida Theater on Stage). 

The emblematic role has become one of the acclaimed singer´s calling cards over the five continents, and in February she will be Carmen again in Spain when she performs in the San Sebastián Auditorium Kursaal in the Opus Lírica season (on the 10th and 12th February).  This will be an Ekaitz González Urretxu production which opts for a “contemporary vision of the character, while at the same time fully respecting Bizet and Merimée´s opera,” according to sources reporting on the production.  The opera will be conducted by Andrea Albertin, and María José Montiel will share the stage with the tenor Eduardo Sandoval (Don José) and the director of Opus Lirica, Ainhoa Garmendia (Micaëla).

Beforehand, on the 25th January, María José Montiel will give a recital in Madrid at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, accompanied on the piano by Miquel Estelrich.  They will be paying homage to the musicologist and historian Federico Sopeña.

October 2016

-The Spanish diva will open the American city´s season with the character that has made her famous throughout the world

Florida Grand Opera in Miami (United States) will open its season towards the end of November with the Madrid-born mezzo-soprano María José Montiel as the supreme leading lady: The Spanish singer returns to America with her sensual, temperamental and unparalleled rendition of operas most famous gypsy, the title role of Bizet´s Carmen. With this role, Montiel, winner of the Spanish National Music Prize 2015, has performed in some of the most prestigious theatres in Europe, Asia and the USA. She is recognised as one of the great performers of this complex role. Last year she opened the season at the legendary Teatro di San Carlo in Naples (Italy) with Carmen, conducted by Zubin Mehta, and this year she will be opening the new season at this up and coming American company. “They will be unforgettable performances, that is for sure, because I have heard a lot about how effusive Miami opera-goers are. That is why I am really pleased that my debut in this fantastic city will be with Carmen, a character I really love and who I know will please everyone, especially as in Miami a large percentage of the audience are Hispanic. Also, it is an honour for me to open the season,” the singer affirms.

María José Montiel is one of the greatest singers of Carmen of her generation; her version of the role at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona earned her the Campoamor Prize for Best Singer of the Spanish season. “Ever since I made my debut as Carmen she has become my sister. We have travelled all over the world together and I have been Carmen in dozens of productions, each one with a different point of view. I am very interested in the personality from a psychological point of view, because of her race, because she is a brave woman. She is ahead of her time and loves her liberty above all things, even though this costs her her life. For this reason, I find her fascinating.”

Performances will take place on the 12th, 15th and 19th November and the 1st and 3rd December, the first opera in the FGO season, which has chosen María José Montiel as its image for its entire opera year.

October 2016

       - The Spanish mezzo-soprano will open the Illes Balears Symphony Orchestra season by performing Mahler´s Third Symphony

Her affinity with Gustav Mahler´s music has taken the mezzo to the main concert halls of Spain, Italy and Portugal to perform work by the bohemian composer.  This time María José Montiel, winner of the 2015 National Music Prize, will take her passion for Mahler to Palma de Mallorca, with the Illes Balears Symphony Orchestra, where, conducted by Pablo Mielgo, she will perform the monumental Third Symphony.  The Madrid-born diva knows the piece very well, having performed it most recently in Milan (Italy). “Mahler moves me as much as he impassions me”, the renowned artist explains, “and his symphonies are a compendium of all his revolutionary musical language, but also his quality as a human being, with his many problems and anxieties.  This is why I feel he is so close and universal.  He is certainly one of my favourite composers.” The performance will take place at the Palma Auditorium on the 20th October. Montiel will be accompanied by the Illes Balears Coral Universitat, the Acadèmia Simfònica and the ​Coral Infantil Onzequinze Joventuts Musicals de Palma choirs.

August 2016

- The diva from Madrid will be performing in her home city again, before returning to the United States with her exemplary Carmen, by Bizet.

Montiel, winner of the Spanish 2015 National Music Prize, gave a tour of concerts and recitals in July and August in various venues around Spain including the Benicàssim Opera Festival, alongside soloists from the Orquesta de Valencia, the Chopin Festival in Valldemossa (Majorca) and the Santander International Festival. This September María José Montiel will perform a concert with the Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid conducted by Víctor Pablo Pérez with pieces by Alberto Ginastera and Enrique Granados at the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid (27^th September). On the 7^th and 8^th October she will open the RTVE Orchestra and Choir season with an early opera by Puccini, Edgar, conducted by Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez, at the Teatro Monumental in the Spanish capital.

This month, on the 20^th, the mezzo will perform the Third Symphony by Gustav Mahler, one of her favourite composers. This will be alongside the Orquestra Simfònica de Balears conducted by Pablo Mielgo at the Palma de Majorca Auditorium, all of this before travelling to the Florida Grand Opera (Miami, United States) to perform her sought after Carmen by Bizet.

May 2016

-The mezzo from Madrid will be awarded her medal on the 1st June by TRH the King and Queen of Spain, and she will later embark on a recital tour of Spain.  

Still basking in her triumph as the title role in the opera María Moliner by Antoni Parera Font in its world premiere at the Teatro de La Zarzuela, and her subsequent return to the Teatro Real in Madrid (Luisa Miller), to the Palau de la Música in Valencia (concert with the Orquesta de Valencia) and to the Teatro de La Maestranza in Seville (gala to celebrate the opera house´s 25th anniversary), the Spanish mezzo-soprano María José Montiel will be awarded the National Music Prize at a ceremony on 1st June in Palencia Cathedral, presided over by TRH the King and Queen of Spain.  The award recognizes a career which is always progressing and has great international reach.   “I feel grateful and honoured by this prize, which comes to me at a very positive time which is bringing me a lot of success.  I would like to thank the jury, here, for thinking about me and my professional career,” the diva from Madrid notes.

Afterwards, María José Montiel will go on tour, giving recitals in various cities in the country, beginning in Asturias, where she will give a recital alongside the renowned soloist Iván Martín –one of the great Spanish pianists– they will premiere pieces by the composer Guillermo Martínez at the Selgas Fagalde Foundation in Cudillero (Asturias).  Later she will go to Segovia to perform alongside Miquel Estelrich on piano; to the Benicassim Opera Festival where she will sing a programme of songs and arias accompanied by the soloists from the Orquesta de Valencia before returning to the Valldemossa Chopin Festival (Majorca) where she will once again perform alongside Miquel Estelrich.  Montiel will end the tour – and the summer – at the Santander International Festival, this time accompanied by Rubén Fernández Aguirre on piano.

May 2016

- The Spanish diva will sing a spectacular selection of her French repertoire alongside the Orquesta de Valencia at the Palau de la Música of Valencia

May 2016

After her acclaimed performances in the title role of María Moliner in the world premiere of the Antoni Parera Font opera at the Teatro de La Zarzuela, as Queen Federica in Luisa Miller (Verdi) at the Teatro Real and at the gala to celebrate 25 years of the Teatro de La Maestranza and the Seville Royal Symphonic Orchestra and 20 years of the Maestranza Choir, the mezzo-soprano María José Montiel, winner of the 2015 National Music Prize of Spain, returns to the  Palau de la Música in Valencia on the 5th May to perform a selection of arias and concert material from her French repertoire alongside the Orquesta de Valencia conducted by Jordi Bernàcer.

Montiel will arrive in Valencia on a wave of excitement at a job well done at the two opera houses of Madrid.  In both she gained unforgettable triumphs in the space of a few days.  Full of energy, she now returns to the Orquesta de Valencia season with Shéhérazade, the delicious cycle of symphonic songs by Ravel, as well as a selection from her French operatic repertoire: “Connais-tu le pays” from Mignon by Thomas, “Va! Laisse couler mes larmes”, from Werther by Massenet, “Mon Coeur s’ouvre à ta voix” from Samson et Dalila by Saint-Saëns and, of course, a taste of the role that has made her famous all over the world, Carmen, by Bizet, from which she will perfom the “Chanson Bohème”.

On the 7^th May, with the same programme and also in Valencia, the singer will participate in a homage to the legendary Teresa Berganza. Upcoming engagements include solo recitals in Cudillero (Asturias), Valldemossa (Majorca) and at the Santander International Festival. 

April 2016

-The star from Madrid will perform in April at the two most important theatres in the Spanish capital while she finishes off her next record.

Spanish mezzosoprano María José Montiel, winner of the 2015 National Music Prize, returns to her city of birth in April for two important productions. Firstly, from 13th to 20th April she will be the leading lady in the world premiere ofMaría Moliner, an opera by the composer Antoni Parera with libretto by Lucía Vilanova, which will take place at the Teatro de La Zarzuela and is inspired by the famous Spanish lexicographer. Later, on the 23rdand 26th April, she will appear at the Teatro Real in Luisa Miller, by Giuseppe Verdi.

With regard to the new opera, a commission from the Teatro de La Zarzuela itself, María José Montiel explains that “the music is very demanding, especially taking into account that my character is always on stage. It is a fascinating role, as Moliner was a very strong woman with a great deal of fortitude and determination, and it was a dreadful historical injustice that she was blocked from entering the Royal Spanish Academy just because she was a woman. The text and music are adapted to perfection. I have had to study for many hours, but being already very familiar with Antoni´s music and aesthetic has helped me a lot as I have sung many of his song cycles. The opera has very attractive melodies and I think that all sorts of different people will like it a lot.  His music is very expressive, full of soul and feeling. The great luxury of this production is that I can work on the music and the character directly with the composer, which does not often happen in opera.”

After this world premiere, the Spanish diva will once again take the stage at the Teatro Real, this time to take the role of Federica, from the opera Luisa Miller, by Giuseppe Verdi. The opera will be performed in concert format and conducted by James Conlon with Leo Nucci in the role of Miller.

Later on, in May, María José Montiel will perform once again in the Orquestra of Valencia season, in which she will sing Ravel´s Shéhérazade, in the Valencia Palau de la Música.

October 2015

October 2015
After being awarded the 2015 National Music Prize by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and garnering triumphs in an intense start to the season which included her debut as the female lead in Samson et Dalila (Saint-Saëns) in Mexico and a recital for the Concert Society of Alicante alongside the French pianist Laurence Verna, María José Montiel is returning to Milan (Italy), this time to perform Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem in the regular annual engagement which she has had for several years with the Milan Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra (LA Verdi). The Italian composer’s immortal masterpiece is included among the closing events of the 2015 Milan Expo, with performances on the 29th and 30th October and on the 1st November in the city auditorium. The diva from Madrid will share the stage the soprano Sara Rossi Daldos, the tenor Danilo Formaggia, the bass Enrico Iori and the La Verdi orchestra and choir, conducted by Jader Bignamini.
Noteworthy among María José Montiel’s upcoming engagements is her debut at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples with one of her pet roles, the title role of Bizet’s Carmen, conducted by Zubin Mehta, with whom she has already performed the opera in Israel.

October 2015

- The Spanish National Institute of Performing Arts (Inaem) has just announced that the National Prizes for Music have gone to the Spanish mezzo in the performance category, and the composer, Alfredo Aracil, (Composition).  The jury has highlighted the singer’s wide repertoire and international reputation.

6th October 2015
According to a statement from Inaem, both the mezzo-soprano María José Montiel in the performance section, and Alfredo Aracil in the composition category have today been awarded National Music Prizes for the year 2015. These prizes, presented annually by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, bestow €30,000 each.  
The jury, in a majority vote, decided to choose María José Montiel as winner of the National Prize “due to her triumph and recognition on an international level; her creation through performance of a wide repertoire which encompasses opera, as well as Lied, specialising particularly in Spanish music and Contemporary composers.  The jury highlights recent international success in cities such as Paris, Beijing, Palermo, Madrid, Barcelona, Vienna and Milan, among many others.”

September 2015

-A recital in Alicante and Verdi´s  Requiem Mass  in Milan are marked in the Spanish diva´s diary for the following weeks

September 2015
After garnering great personal triumph with her debut as the female lead of Samson et Dalila (Saint-Saëns) in Mexico, María José Montiel returns to Spain to give a recital at the Alicante Concert Society on the 7th October, accompanied by the French pianist Laurence Verna. The programme combines the Spanish song genre (Falla and Montsalvatge) with Brazilian music and, of course, opera arias.  Founded in 1972, the Alicante Concert Society organises musical events featuring outstanding international artists such as Pinchas Zukerman, Grigory Sokolov, Maria João Pires, Christian Zacharias, Joshua Bell, András Schiff and Christian Gerhaher.
Later on, the Spanish mezzo-soprano returns to Milan (Italy), this time to perform Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem in the regular engagement she has every year within the Milan Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra (LA Verdi) season. The Italian composer’s masterpiece will be included in the Milan Expo 2015 closing ceremonies.  Performances take place on the 29th and 30th October and the 1st November in the city’s auditorium.  
Most noteworthy among María José Montiel’s future engagements is her upcoming debut at the Naples Teatro San Carlo (Italy) with one of her pet roles, the leading lady of Bizet’s Carmen, conducted by the great Zubin Mehta, with whom she has already performed the role in Israel.

July 2015

-The diva from Madrid begins the 2015-16 season by taking on the leading female role in Saint-Saëns´ Samson et Dalila, in her Mexican opera debut

July 2015
María José Montiel will begin September “very excited about taking on the character of Dalila for the first time. Its vocal line and beauty have meant that it has always been one of my dream roles,” explains the Spanish mezzo-soprano about her debut as Dalila in Mexico. “In fact this has happened at the best possible time,” she continues. “French music, both from opera and song repertoire, has always come naturally to my own repertoire, and Saint-Saëns´ heroine, logically, seemed to be coming closer and closer to me, so now I am taking on the role with great enthusiasm. It will also be my first time singing an opera in Mexico, so everything is coming together to make me feel really happy,” she adds.  Montiel will debut this sensual character at the Nuevo León Opera House, in Monterrey, a theatre which, with the support of the Mexican Ministry of Culture, has had the privilege of witnessing the careers of local artists with great international careers such as the tenor Javier Camarena.
The Spanish singer will give two performances of Saint-Säens´ great opera, on the 18th and 20th September, sharing the stage with Rodrigo Garciarroyo, Guillermo Ruiz, Oscar Martínez and Charles Oppenheim, the Nuevo León Opera Choir and the UANL Symphony Orchestra, all conducted by Guido Maria Guida.
María José Montiel will arrive in Mexico after having made her debut in the role of Ulrica from Verdi´s Un ballo in maschera in Israel, conducted by Zubin Mehta. After the performances of de Samson et Dalila she will give a recital at the Concert Society of  Alicante (7th October), she will sing Verdi´s Requiem alongside the La Verdi Orchestra in Milan as part of the events celebrating the end of the Milan Expo Milano 2015 (29th and 30th October and 1st November) and she will make her debut at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples with one of her pet characters, the leading lady of Bizet´s Carmen, once again conducted by Zubin Mehta.

June 2015

- The Spanish singer will travel to Tel Aviv and Haifa to make her debut in this emblematic role from Un ballo in maschera alongside the Indian conductor and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

June 2015
In July the mezzo-soprano María José Montiel will add another title to her wide opera repertoire: Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera, in which she will take the role of Ulrica on the 14th, 16th, 18th and 20th July alongside the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Zubin Mehta, with whom she has collaborated regularly over a few seasons and with whom she has sung other operas such as Cherubini’s Medea (Palau de les Arts de Valencia) and Bizet’s Carmen (also with the Israeli ensemble which is based in Tel Aviv, twice in the current season). “I am passionate about the role of Ulrica and have been preparing myself for it conscientiously since the maestro Mehta proposed the idea” the singer explains, adding that the working relationship that she has established with the Indian conductor is certainly “one of those marvellous things that happen to one in life and I try to enjoy every moment of it; he is an exceptional musician and I feel really blessed and enthusiastic about working with him on this new Verdi role in my repertoire.”
Montiel has had a 2015 full of engagements so far: after singing in Valencia (a recital in the Palau de la Música and Rossini’s Stabat Mater at the Palau de les Arts), Barcelona (Siete Canciones populares españolas, by Falla, at the Palau de la Música), Madrid (Verdi’s Requiem , an Opera Gala with the RTVE Orchestra and Choir, a recital in aid of the Centre for Applied Medical Research at the University of Navarra and another in the XXI Lied Cycle at the Teatro de La Zarzuela), Pamplona (recital at the Teatro Gayarre), Lisbon (Mahler’s Third Symphony with the Portuguese Symphony), Tel Aviv (Carmen alongside Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic), Milan (Mahler’s Third Symphony  with LA VERDI) and Barcelona (recital in homage to the soprano Victoria de Los Ángeles). 

May 2015

-The Spanish diva returns to Madrid after giving concerts in Palau de les Arts de Valencia and in the La Verdi season in Milan (Italy)

May 2015
The Spanish mezzo-soprano María José Montiel’s ceaseless activity continues.  Since the start of 2015 her engagements have taken her to Murcia, Valencia, Barcelona, Madrid, Pamplona, Lisbon, Tel Aviv and Milan, and now she is to return to her home city for a while to give concerts and recitals.
On the 22nd May she will participate in the 50th anniversary of the RTVE Orchestra and Choir in an opera gala which will take place in the Teatro Monumental. On this occasion she will be joined by the soprano Raquel Lojendio, the tenor Aquiles Machado and the baritone Lucio Gallo, with Guillermo García Calvo on the podium. “I am really excited about being present at this celebration; the RTVE Orchestra and Choir is an ensemble that I particularly love and with which I have had a strong link since the beginning of my career. In fact, I have just sung a marvellous Verdi Requiem with them and soon a CD of opera arias which we recorded together is going to be released, and for a project like that, something so intimately mine, I was sure that it had to be this orchestra that accompanied me... Artistically they are in the premier league and I am sure that we will have a thrilling evening on the 22nd May,” states the singer.
At the end of the month the diva from Madrid will give a recital in aid of the Navarra University Centre for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), which opened in 2004.  Alongside the pianist Miquel Estelrich, Montiel will be giving of her best in order to help scientific research, a worthy cause which the whole of society should support. Among the illnesses being researched into by CIMA are well-known and rare diseases, solid and haematological tumours, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cardiovascular diseases and liver cancer and cirrhosis, among others.  “I feel really strongly about having the opportunity to collaborate with this recital in aid of CIMA.  Since I began my career I have done my best to bring my support to different charitable institutions because I feel that it is necessary; helping others brings me great happiness and satisfaction, and especially if I can do it through my art and my voice.  I thing that human beings should always help each other, so I am looking forward to this recital with a great deal of excitement and affection”  The event takes place on the 30th May at the Teatro de La Zarzuela in Madrid.
She will later return to the same theatre on the 15th June for her debut in the CNDM Lied Cycle, a performance in which she will be accompanied by the pianist Josep Colom. Her engagements will be rounded off on June 21st with a recital in homage to Victoria de Los Ángeles in Sant Cugat (Barcelona), this time accompanied by the pianist Rubén Fernández Aguirre.

February 2015

-The mezzo from Madrid, who has just ended a tour with the Ciudad de Elche Symphonic Orchestra, will give recitals and concerts in Valencia, Barcelona, Zaragoza and Pamplona and will sing Verdi´s Requiem in Madrid and Mahler´s Third in Lisbon before she returns to Israel in the title role of Carmen.

After an extraordinarily successful tour of concerts with the Ciudad de Elche Symphony Orchestra and the Crevillentina Choir this January (in Abarán, Cieza and Murcia), the Spanish diva María José Montiel adds more engagements to her already publicized diary of recitals and concerts, adding the cities of Barcelona and Zaragoza to the list. These will be two performances with the Classical Concert Chamber Orchestra, a California (USA) based ensemble led by the violinist Ashot Tigranyan. In February they will be on a concert packed tour of various Spanish cities on which María José Montiel will join them in Barcelona (Palau de la Música Catalana, 18th February) and Zaragoza (Zaragoza Auditorium, 28th February). The programme includes the Seven popular Spanish songs, by Manuel de Falla, as well as music by Vivaldi, Mozart and Sarasate to be performed by the orchestra.
Earlier, on the 10th February, María José Montiel will give a recital in the Palau de la Música in Valencia with the pianist Miquel Estelrich with pieces by Montsalvatge, García Abril, Ravel, Massenet, Saint-Saëns, and others.
As previously publicized, on the 26th and 27th February, Montiel will once again perform one of the pieces which has brought her most international renown, Giuseppe Verdi´s Requiem Mass. On this occasion she will be conducted by Carlos Kalmar at the Teatro Monumental in Madrid and the concert will be part of the Spanish Radio and Television (RTVE) Orchestra and Choir season.
In early March the mezzo from Madrid will travel to Pamplona to give a recital in the Teatro Gayarre accompanied on the piano by Laurence Verna (3rd March). Some days later she will return to Lisbon to perform Gustav Mahler´s Third Symphony in the Belém Cultural Centre alongside the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra (8th March), all this before her return to Tel-Aviv (Israel), where she will once again be conducted by Zubin Mehta in two performances of Carmen with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (15th and 22nd March). María José Montiel returns to the orchestra´s season, in which she performed last December, as the title role of Bizet´s Carmen, again under the baton of Mehta, one of her favourite conductors and with whom she has collaborated on many occasions.  

November 2014

- The Spanish diva will take the leading role in Francesca Zambello´s production in Beijing and will later travel to Israel with the Indian conductor.  In February she will make her debut in the CNDM Lied concert cycle at the Teatro de La Zarzuela in Madrid

November 2014

The mezzosoprano from Madrid, Maria José Montiel has travelled to Beijing to premiere Francesca Zambello´s production of Carmen at the China National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) on the 29th November.  The opera will be conducted by Zhang Guoyong and will be Montiel´s debut in China.  “I have sung in Japan several times, but I still have not had the opportunity to visit China”, the singer comments, “and I love being able to make my debut there with this role and in a production which I find really interesting from a theatrical and aesthetic point of view.”  The performances at the NCPA will continue until the 3rd December.

Later, Montiel, will travel to Israel once again to take her star role as Bizet´s gipsy in Tel-Aviv.  On the 20^th and 22^nd December the Spanish singer will be performing alongside the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Zubin Mehta, with whom she already collaborated in the opera Medea at the Palau de les Arts de Valencia in 2012.  This fusion between the art of Montiel and the conductor Mehta will re-occur this season, in March 2015, with more performances of Carmen in Tel-Aviv, and she will also return to the city in June to participate in Un ballo in maschera, once again conducted by the Indian genius. 

On the 2^nd December María José Montiel will make her debut at the 21st Lied concert cycle which is organised by the National Centre for Musical Diffusion (CNDM) at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid.  She will perform pieces by Montsalvatge, Halffter, Santoro, Villa-Lobos, Ovalle, Hahn, Debussy and Massenet, as well as the world premiere of Empfänger unbekannt (four Lieder) by the Majorcan composer Antoni Parera Fons. Montiel will be accompanied on the piano by Josep Maria Colom and the programme will include some of the pieces from her latest CD, El día que me quieras, which is a collection of Latin American song, including some of the most popular tangos, boleros and Brazilian classics.

Beforehand, at the beginning of 2015, María José Montiel will make a tour of the Community of Murcia which, accompanied by the Elche Symphonic Orchestra and the Crevillentina Choir, will take her to the cities of Abarán (18^th January), Cieza (22^nd January) and Murcia (24^th January) to give opera and zarzuela gala concerts in each city.  Later on, and among other engagements, she will give a recital at the Palau de la Música in Valencia, a Verdi Requiem with the RTVE Symphony Orchestra and Choir at the Monumental Theatre in Madrid, a recital at the Gayarre Theatre in Pamplona and Mahler´s Third Symphony with the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra in Lisbon and with the Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra in Milan.

October 2014

The Spanish mezzosoprano begins the 2014-15 season with one of her great characters, the title role of Carmen, by Bizet, which she will perform in Madrid and then in Tel-Aviv (Israel), where she will be conducted by Zubin Mehta

Carmen is a role which has made a huge impact on the Spanish singer María José Montiel's career, and for which she was awarded the prize for the Best Female Opera Singer in the 2011 Campoamor Opera Prizes, the most prestigious opera awards in Spain (for the Calixto Bieito production at the Liceu in Barcelona), being the first Spanish woman to win this prize. Montiel has trod the boards in the shoes of Bizet's famous gipsy at some of the most emblematic opera houses in Switzerland, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Japan and the United States. This year the Spanish diva will take the role again in her home city of Madrid, no less, in a new production by the Teatro de la Zarzuela, which is shaping up to be the highlight of the Madrid listings and will be conducted by the Chinese conductor Yi-Chen Lin and directed by Ana Zamora.  Premiering on 10^th October, the singer will give various performances of the opera throughout the month.

Some days after this Madrid debut, on the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th November Montiel will give master classes at the Víctor Ullate School in Madrid.  On the 2^nd December, also in the Spanish capital, she will give a recital accompanied by the pianist Josep Maria Colom, making her debut in the XXI Lied Cycle which is being organized by the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid and the National Centre for the Diffusion of Music.  The Cycle is a series of recitals which, after a two decade long history, is now one of the most important events in Spanish musical life. María José Montiel will perform a programme with pieces by Xavier Montsalvatge, Ernesto Halffter, Antoni Parera Fons, Claudio Santoro, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Jaime Ovalle, Claude Debussy, Reynaldo Hahn and Jules Massenet.

Also in December (on the 20^th and 22^nd) and to top off the year, Montiel will once again take on the role of Carmen, in Tel-Aviv (Israel) this time, and alongside the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra which will be conducted by the impressive Indian conductor Zubin Mehta, an engagement which the mezzo is looking forward to with great excitement and which she will repeat in 2015, also in Israel and with Mehta at the helm, with more performances of Bizet´s opera as well as other performances of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera.

July 2014

After the recording of a CD with the RTVE Orchestra and choir in June, the mezzo-soprano María José Montiel will perform with the ensemble again in a concert in the city of her birth on 4th July. The superb programme, which will be performed at the Teatro Monumental in Madrid, includes arias from opera, romanzas from zarzuela and song and is shaping up to be the highlight of the summer music programme for opera-lovers. Conducted by Manuel Hernández Silva, Montiel will be singing the most joyous repertoire in a historical jaunt which goes from Händel´s baroque majesty, performing the popular “Ombra mai fù”, from the opera Serse by the German composer, passing through the purist Romantic bel canto with “O mon Fernand”, from Donizetti´s La Favorite, and to the sensual harmonies of “Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix”, from Samson et Dalila, by Saint-Säens. In the second half the mezzo-soprano will perform her exemplary version of Cinco canciones negras, by Xavier Montsalvatge – a composer with whom the singer has worked on various occasions -, to then move on to very popular terrain for the Spanish audience, a revisiting of the most popular romanzas from zarzuela, a field in which Montiel is unrivalled: her DVD of Madrileña Bonita, a show produced in Teatro Real in 2005 including the most emblematic songs of the genre, achieved record sales and was awarded a Gold Disc. She will perform two of the jewels from it in this concert “De España vengo” from Luna´s El niño judío, and Chotis del Elíseo from La Gran Vía, by Chueca. The RTVE orchestra and choir will also play overtures and choral fragments from operas and zarzuelas by Mozart, Verdi, Saint-Saëns, Bizet, Chueca and Moreno Torroba.

After the concert in Madrid, María José Montiel will travel to Majorca (11 July) to participate in the II Santanyi International Music Festival with a recital accompanied on the piano by Miquel Estelrich. She will also sing one of her favourite pieces, Verdi´s Requiem, in the Italian city of Piacenza (20th July).

March 2014

It is clear that the Spanish mezzo María José Montiel has a special affinity with this Gustav Mahler symphony; in January she performed the bohemian composer’s Second Symphony: Resurrection as soloist in the Milan Auditorium to huge acclaim. This is a new collaboration between Montiel and “La Verdi” (Milan Giuseppi Verdi Foundation Symphony Orchestra and Choir), with which she works almost every season. In April, Montiel will pack her bags again, this time to travel to Lisbon, where she will revisit Mahler’s music and his Second Symphony.

The singer will be travelling to Portugal after first touring Spain, giving recitals in Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia. She will make her re-encounter with symphonic repertoire thanks to this monumental opus, whose 4th movement, Sehr feierlich, aber Schlicht. Urlicht, with words by Mahler himself, she will be performing alongside the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra (OSP) and the Lisbon São Carlos National Theatre choir. They will be conducted by Joana Carneiro on the 6th April at the Belém Cultural Centre (Lisbon).

January 2014

Considered to be one of the stars of the Spanish opera scene, the mezzo from Madrid, María José Montiel has just chalked up another achievement in her career, this time with the musical magic of the Bohemian composer Gustav Mahler at the Milan Auditorium, performing his Second Symphony, Resurrection. This is a new collaboration between the Spanish diva and the Verdi Foundation (Milan Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra and Choir).

Over the next few weeks Montiel will go on a tour of recitals, visiting Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia, beginning at the Campos Elíseos Theatre - Antzokia in Bilbao as part of its Joaquín Achúcarro piano season (30th January), and alongside the pianist Rubén Fernández Aguirre. The programme includes pieces by Mendelssohn, Wagner, Montsalvatge and García Abril, as well as some zarzuela romanzas.

On the 5th February, again with Fernández Aguirre, the singer will go to the March Foundation in Madrid to participate in its recital season, this time with a wide repertoire including songs by women composers such as Clara Schumann Wieck, Matilde Salvador, Mélanie Bonis and Nadia Boulanger, as well as other pieces by Schumann, Halffter, Debussy, Hahn, Massenet and, once again, Xavier Montsalvatge: “I often remember the maestro Montsalvatge and the lovely friendship we had, as well as the number of countries in which I have sung his songs with piano or orchestra. I think I’ve done it in every continent except Africa! He also wrote Eufonia, which I myself premiered in Cadaqués. It was an honour for me to collaborate with him and count on his trust in me, when I was so young”, the Spanish opera star affirms.

And from Madrid to Valencia: María José Montiel will perform for the Valencian Philharmonic Society in the Iturbi Hall at the city’s Palau de la Música on the 11th February. This time the format will be completely different: she will be accompanied on the harp by Luisa Domingo.

Before the end of the month, on the 23rd February, María José Montiel will return to the National Auditorium in Madrid to participate in a charity recital alongside the legendary Italian baritone Ruggero Raimondi; both artists will be joined by the tenor Aquiles Machado and accompanied by the maestro Edelmiro Arnaltes on the piano and will perform a repertoire which includes Spanish and Neapolitan song as well as selections from operas by Mozart (Don Giovanni) and Bizet (Carmen).

December 2013

María José Montiel will begin 2014 with Gustav Mahler: she will perform the Bohemian composer´s Second Symphony in the Auditorium of Milan (24th and 26th January) alongside the Verdi Foundation Symphony Orchestra and the Milano Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Choir, which the Spanish singer has been collaborating with for a decade.

After her Milanese engagements, María José Montiel will begin a tour of recitals in Spain which will take her to Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia, beginning her journey at the Bilbao Philharmonic Society on the 30th January, where she will be accompanied by Rubén Fernández Aguirre on piano. The programme includes the marvellous Wesendonk-Lieder as well as pieces by Falla, Montsalvatge and Debussy, among others.

On the 5th February, again with Fernández Aguirre and with a similar programme, she will travel to the March Foundation in Madrid before heading to the Valencia Philharmonic Society on the 10th to perform in a completely different format, this time accompanied on the harp by Luisa Domingo.

Some days later, on the 23rd February, Montiel will once again sing for Madrid concert goes at a charity performance alongside the legendary Ruggero Raimondi at the National Auditorium; both artists will be accompanied on the piano by Edelmiro Arnaltes.

November 2013

Two CD's by María José Montiel that were discontinued return to the market this month in new editions by Discmedi. The first one of these is Toldrà recital live, a work recorded live by Radio Nacional de España at the Madrid March Foundation on May 17, 1995, with a repertoire centered around the work of Eduard Toldrà, in which the Spanish diva performs with the unmistakable piano accompaniment of the master of masters Miguel Zanetti. "In fact I accepted this re-issue not only because of the value of the recorded repertoire, but also as a tribute to the great pianist that was Miguel Zanetti, an exceptional and generous musician, a great connoisseur of piano and a good friend", Montiel affirmed.

The second disc to be re-released is Modinha, Brazilian Songs, a selection of Brazilian songs of various genres and including not only songs by composers already qualified as classics such as Heitor Villa-Lobos, from whom are included various pieces, but also popular pieces with unique arrangements for voice and piano. The genre known as modinha that titles the CD and of which various examples were collected in this recording is considered one of the first styles to be born in Brazil --in the seventeenth century--, a derivation of the melodic and courtly Moda that came from Portugal and that became popular after being the Brazilian imperial court's favorite. The singer from Madrid recorded Modinha in May 1999 together with Brazilian pianist Luiz de Moura Castro --author of some of the arrangements as well--, a work that became a Grammy finalist in 2002.

September 2013

María José Montiel’s diary continues to be very busy at the start of this new season. Her opening of the 2013-14 season at the Teatro de La Zarzuela with La Tempranica, by Gerónimo Giménez, conducted by the great Frühbeck de Burgos was a resounding success amongst critics and opera-goers. In October she will travel to Bilbao for four performances of her suggestive Maddalena in Rigoletto at the ABAO-OLBE season, after having performed it earlier, in this year of Verdi’s Bicentenary, at the Teatro de La Maestranza in Seville last June. This character marks the Spanish mezzo´s debut in Bilbao, where she will take on this Verdi opera alongside artists such as Leo Nucci (Rigoletto), Elena Mosuc (Gilda) and Ismael Jordi (Duke of Mantua). Daniel Oren – who conducted Montiel´s acclaimed Cieca in La Gioconda at the Opéra National de Paris - will conduct, and the director is Emilio Sagi in a co-production of the ABAO-OLBE and the Lisbon Teatro Nacional São Carlos.

After this Rigoletto in Bilbao, three performances of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem await her in November, with the Symphony Orchestra of Milan Giuseppe Verdi.

September 2013

The mezzo-soprano from Madrid, María José Montiel, will tread the boards at the Teatro de La Zarzuela once again, opening the 2013-14 season on the 21st and 22nd September, with the lead role in La Tempranica, by Gerónimo Giménez. This is a one act zarzuela with a libretto by Julián Romea which premiered in the same theatre 113 years ago on the 19th September 1900. The performances will be in concert format and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos will be wielding the baton, having postponed the concert from last season to this upcoming September due to health problems.

For Montiel, singing in her home city “is marvellous, I cannot describe it in any other way. Because of my engagements in other cities it is a long time since I have sung in Madrid, and this reencounter is very special: being a home-grown zarzuela, since it premiered in this same theatre”. Montiel will be joined on stage by Carlos Bergasa, Ricardo Bernal and Virginia Wagner, among others, alongside the Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid and the Teatro de La Zarzuela choir, a musical evening which will also include pieces by Joaquín Rodrigo (Homage to La Tempranica) and Isaac Albéniz (a selection from his Spanish Suite).

July 2013

This July the Spanish mezzo-soprano María José Montiel is embarking on a tour of recitals, a format which the singer adores, and for which she always finds space in her agenda. After some intense opera activity with her acclaimed Cieca in La Gioconda at the Paris Opéra National (May) and her Maddalena in Rigoletto at the Teatro de La Maestranza in Seville (June), the singer will once again give a series of recitals. On the 11th July she will pay homage to the Aragonese composer Antón García Abril with a musical evening in Santiago de Compostela to commemorate his 80th birthday, accompanied by Alejandro Zabala on the piano. She will perform a programme with a Galician flavour, including some of his Canciones Xacobeas (Jacobean Songs) with lyrics by medieval writers, as well as others inspired by poems by Rosalía de Castro, Ramón del Valle-Inclán and Antonio Gala, among others. After her recital in Galicia and for the second consecutive year, Montiel will give two recitals in the Balearic Islands: the first will be on the 16th July at the Royal Charterhouse in Valldemossa (Majorca) with the pianist Miquel Estelrich, whilst for the second –on the 19th- she will travel to Manacor for a fundraising recital in aid of the Riera Ferrari Foundation in the Serenates A l’Auba Festival, being accompanied on the piano by Dani Espasa this time and with a programme of songs by Latin American writers.

To begin the next season, and early in the month of September, Montiel will return to her home city, Madrid, to take the lead role in two performances of La Tempranica conducted by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos at the Teatro de La Zarzuela.

June 2013

María José Montiel’s busy spring diary never stops. The month of May was crowned by her resounding public and critical triumph at the Parisian Bastille Opera with her portrayal of the role of La Cieca in La Gioconda. In June the Spanish mezzo-soprano continues with her international engagements, this time taking the part of Maddalena in Rigoletto, and thus joining in the celebrations of Verdi Year which the majority of opera houses throughout the world are commemorating in this bicentenary year of the Italian composer’s birth. She will sing Maddalena at the Teatro de La Maestranza in Seville, with an attractive cast which also includes artists of the calibre of Celso Albelo, Mariola Cantarero and Leo Nucci, among others. The Seville Royal Symphonic Orchestra and the Friends of the Teatro de La Maestranza Choir will be conducted by Pedro Halffter and the director of the production is Stefano Vizioli.

After Rigoletto in Seville, in July María José Montiel will give recitals in Santiago de Compostela – a homage to the composer Antón García Abril-, at the Royal Cartuja in Valldemossa (Majorca) and in Manacor (Majorca) –in the Serenates a l'Auba Festival-, will sing La Tempranica at the Teatro de La Zarzuela in Madrid in September conductedby Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Rigoletto at the ABAO's season (Bilbao) and a concert with harp accompaniment in Valencia. In 2014 important engagements include her renowned Carmen in Israel conducted by Zubin Mehta.

March 2013

The Spanish mezzosoprano María José Montiel continues with her international career, this time returning to this season at the Opéra National de Paris to make her debut in a role as complex dramatically speaking as it is difficult musically: that of la Cieca, from the opera La Gioconda, by Amilcare Ponchielli. After performing Verdi´s Requiem at the Milan Auditorium, Montiel will once again meet a Parisian audience in this particular role, a sorceress in every sense of the word. “The truth is that this is a role that I love but which is very demanding. It is exciting to debut it before such an affectionate and knowledgeable audience as that of the Paris Opera”, the singer affirms. The new production, which Paris Opera is co-producing with the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Gran Teatre del Liceu de Barcelona, will be conducted by Daniel Oren and directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi.

On this occasion Montiel will share the huge stage of the Bastille with Violeta Urmana, Marcelo Álvarez and Luciana D’intino, among others (Performances: May 2, 7, 10, 13, 17, 20, 23, 26 and 31).

February 2013

This March, the Auditorium di Milano (Milan, Italy) will once again include the Spanish mezzo-soprano María José Montiel in its programme, in one of the central celebrations for Verdi Year in the Italian city: the performance of the famous Verdi Messa da Requiem. The singer will once again perform with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, on the 7th, 8th and 10th March. “This is one of Verdi’s most complete works”, comments María José Montiel, “and each time I sing it I discover new details, new colours. This Requiem will be very special, as it is one of the Verdi Year events: it commemorates the bicentenary of the Italian composer’s birth, one of the fathers of opera, and so everything will have a very special and emotional feel”.

The Verdi Requiem is one of the pieces most performed by Montiel and it became her official calling card when she began to collaborate with the conductor Riccardo Chailly, always with the Requiem, one of Verdi’s most popular works.

After getting back from Milan, Montiel has La Gioconda at the Opéra National de Paris, and Rigoletto in the Teatro de La Maestranza in Seville in her diary, among other engagements.

December 2012

On the 28th January the Spanish mezzo-soprano María José Montiel will return to the United States, after her acclaimed Carmen which she performed in Atlanta last November. This time she will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, an organization which was founded in Los Angeles in 1973 and which has its headquarters in Washington and whose objective is to promote health and well-being in Hispanic communities in the United States. In fact it is the source of information on the health of Hispanics in the USA and a champion of science and research focussed on that community.

In order to celebrate four decades of activity, they have opted for the artistry of María José Montiel, accompanied by the Majorcan pianist Miquel Estelrich, at a musical gala at the Kennedy Center in Washington.

November 2012

After an intense November in which María José Montiel made her American debut of Carmen to great public and critical acclaim, the mezzo from Madrid is returning to Spain to take part in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony which the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía de Valencia has programmed for December. The Spanish singer will once again be working with the Italian conductor Riccardo Chailly, with whom she has collaborated frequently since he discovered her more than a decade ago. Chailly will be conducting the Community of Valencia Orchestra and the Valencian Generalitat Choir. The soprano Julia Bauer, the tenor Steve Davislim and the baritone Rudolf Rosen will be sharing the stage with Montiel and they will be giving two performances of Beethoven´s masterpiece, on the 14th and 16th December. After this the singer will once again travel to the United States to give a recital in Washington to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, on which occasion she will be accompanied by the Majorcan pianist Miquel Estelrich.

November 2012

The Spanish mezzosoprano María José Montiel will make her debut at the Atlanta Opera (and in the United States) on the 10th November with one of the roles which has brought her most satisfaction over her career: the title role of the popular opera Carmen, by Georges Bizet. She first sang this role over a decade ago in the Teatro Verdi in Pisa (Italy): from then on she has taken her free-spirited gipsy to the principal theaters in Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain and Japan, being awarded the Prize for Best Singer 2011 at the Campoamor Opera Awards (the most important opera award bestowed in Spain) for her vision of this fascinating character in the Barcelona Liceu, directed by Calixto Bieito.

Upcoming engagements for María José Montiel include performances in the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Milan Auditorium, the Opéra National de Paris-Bastille and the La Maestranza theater in Seville.

July 2012

After a June during which María José Montiel shone especially in her performance of Neris, in Cherubini´s Medea, conducted by Zubin Mehta at the Palau de les Arts de Valencia, the mezzo from Madrid is looking at a summer in which a tour of recitals in the Balearic Islands stands out amongst her engagements. She will be accompanied all the way by her friend, the pianist Miquel Estelrich. On the 20th July they will make their way to Bellver Castle in Palma de Majorca for a musical evening in the patio of the emblematic castle. On the 28th of the same month they will give another recital in the Teatre Principal in Maó (Menorca), which is organized by the Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth, the Menorca Diari newspaper and the theatre itself in aid of the Children´s Home.

On the 3rd August, and continuing with the Spanish singer´s work in aid of various charitable causes, she will participate in the Serenades to the Auba Music Festival in Manacor (Majorca), an initiative which includes a series of concerts organized by the Riera Ferrari Cultural Association which offers “help to the most needy through quality cultural events” according to the organization. Other philanthropic artists such as Juan Pons and María del Mar Bonet will also be participating in this project.

In these summer recitals, Montiel will delve into a repertoire which she has taken all over the World, including pieces by composers such as Ravel, Debussy, Hahn, Falla, Turina, Montsalvatge, Villalobos and Ovalle.

June 2012

After a winter and spring of intense activity around the world, appearing on stage in the Republic of Buryatia, Madrid, Milan, Palermo, Vienna, Oviedo, Lecce and Lisbon, the Spanish mezzosoprano María José Montiel is getting ready for a summer with a Spanish accent: at the end of May she will travel to Valencia to take on four performances - on the 12th, 17th, 21st and 24th June- of the opera Medea, by Cherubini, alongside Violeta Urmana in a new production by the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía directed by Gerardo Vera and conducted by Zubin Mehta, no less.

February 2012

After being awarded the prize for Best Female Singer of the 2011-2012 season,on the 17th February, bestowed by the Oviedo Teatro Campoamor Opera Prize Foundation, María José Montiel faces a month packed with engagements. On the 7th and 10th March she will once again take on the role of Bizet´s Carmen, one of the characters who has brought her the most joy and success over the last few years and who the Spanish singer especially adores; this will take place in the Teatro Politeama Greco di Lecce (Italy) and will be conducted by Filippo Zigante. Also in Italy, Montiel will be appearing on the 15th, 16th and 17th with the Milan Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra - a regular engagement- this time they will be performing Das klagende Lied, by Mahler; afterwards she will travel to Lisbon to perform in Rossini´s Petite Messe Solennelle on the 24th March, and finally will go to Madrid, her city of birth, to give a recital which will end the Turina in Paris concert cycle on 28th at the March Foundation. The concerts have been programmed by the Foundation in homage to the years the Spanish Composer spent in the at that time highly creative and musical French Capital at the beginning of the 20th Century.

February 2012

The mezzo-soprano from Madrid is making the final preparations for her performance in the upcoming Teatro Campoamor Opera Awards Gala. These are the most important opera prizes in Spain and are awarded each year in the Campoamor Theatre, which is located in Oviedo. The Award Ceremony will take place on Friday 17th February and Montiel will receive the prize for Best Female Singer in the 2010-2011 season.

“For me, this award means recognition for my deep love of music, my vocation and my unconditional surrender to art” the singer declared, adding “I would like to thank everyone who has made this possible”.

Montiel, who hails from Madrid, has been awarded the prize for her performance in the role of Carmen in the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona in October 2010, being the first Spanish singer to be selected in this category since the awards began.

January 2012

The mezzosoprano María José Montiel, who hails from Madrid, is now in rehearsal for the opera Andrea Chénier, by Giordano. She will portray the character of Madelon, and the production will open on the 28th January in a world class opera house, the Vienna Staatsoper. Her appearance in this dramatic role marks a return to the Austrian capital, where she has previously performed in Verdi´s Requiem in the Konzerthaus conducted by Riccardo Chailly, as the lead in Luisa Fernanda alongside Plácido Domingo in the Teather an der Wien, and has given two recitals in the famous Musikverrein.

In this return to Vienna, Montiel will be conducted by Pinchas Steinberg and fellow cast members include the tenor Johan Botha, the soprano Norma Fantini and the baritone Sergey Murzaev.

In the upcoming months the Spanish singer will go back to Italy with her acclaimed Carmen by Bizet (Lecce), an opera which she has just performed in Palermo, and as soon as the performances are over she will travel to Milan to join the Giuseppe Verdi Orchestra, with which she is to perform Mahler´s Das Klagende Lied. Afterwards she will return to Madrid, where she will give a recital of Turina en París as part of the series of recitals which the March foundation have dedicated to the Spanish composer Joaquin Turina.

Beforehand, on the 17th February, she will take part in the Campoamor Opera Awards Gala, where she will receive the prize for Best Opera Singer for the Spanish 2010-11 opera season for her performance of Carmen in the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

November 2011

Mezzosoprano María José Montiel has won the prize for best female singer in the 2011 Teatro Campoamor Opera Award Ceremony, where the most important awards of this kind in Spain are handed over every year in Oviedo. The singer, who hails from Madrid, has been awarded the prize for her Carmen in the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, in October 2010, being the first Spanish singer to have been given a prize in this category in the history of the awards.

María José Montiel recently debuted in the Teatro Massimo in Palermo also as Bizet´s gypsy in a co-production of the Italian theatre company and the Barcelona Liceu directed by Calixto Bieito, who also won a prize for this production. Her next engagement is in her home city where she is to perform in Dvorak´s Stabat Mater which the RTVE Symphony Orchestra has programmed for the 1st and 2nd December in the Teatro Monumental, Madrid. After that, the Spanish mezzo will return to Italy to join the cast of artists who will be performing Beethoven´s Ninth Symphony with the Milanese Giuseppe Verdi Orchestra in the Milan auditorium on the 29th, 30th and 31st December and the 1st January.

Once these engagements in Italy are over, Montiel will travel to Vienna to perform in a production of Giordano´s Andrea Chénier, in which she will take the role of Madelon and which will take place in the Vienna Staatsoper on the 28th and 31st January and on the 3rd and 6th February 2012.

In the following months the singer will once again join the Giuseppe Verdi Orchestra to perform Mahler´s Das Klagende Lied, and will then return to Madrid, where she will give a recital of Turina en París as part of a season of concerts that the March Foundation has dedicated to the Spanish composer Joaquin Turina. Before that, on the 17th February, she will perform at the Campoamor Opera Awards prizegiving ceremony.

October 2011

The Spanish mezzosoprano María José Montiel will travel to the Sicilian capital to perform her own personal take on Bizet´s Carmen for the first time there. She has already taken the lead role in this Calixto Bieito production at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

The singer, who hails from Madrid, is currently one of the most sought-after performers of opera´s most famous gipsy, having sung the role in prestigious theatres in Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, Japan and Italy, where she has previously performed in cities such as Pisa, Lucca, Livorno, Trieste and Udino.

Montiel will be Carmen on the 19th and 22nd November and her Don José will be Jorge de León, from the Canary Islands; they will be joined by other soloists and the orchestra and choir at the Teatro Massimo and conducted by Karel Mark Chichon.

October 2011

Home again after taking the lead role in Carmen in the Republic of Buryatia, the mezzosoprano María José Montiel, who hails from Madrid, is getting ready to give a recital in which she will perform pieces by Falla and Debussy. The musical evening will take place on the 21st October in the National Auditorium in Madrid and the singer will be accompanied on the piano by the maestro Josep María Colom.

Afterwards, María José Montiel will travel to Italy, a country where she is regularly invited to sing, to perform Verdi´s Requiem with the Symphonic Orchestra and Choir of Milano Giuseppe Verdi, conducted by Aldo Ceccato. The three performances will take place on the 3rd, 4th and 6th November in the Milan Auditorium, where the Italian ensemble is based.

September 2011

The mezzosoprano María José Montiel has been invited to sing Bizet´s Carmen on the 1st and 3rd October in Ulan-Ude, capital of Buryatia, one of the Siberian Republics in the Russian Federation. The Spanish singer has portrayed the role of the most famous gypsy in opera in prestigious stages around Europe: in Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Now she will be performing the role in the Russian steppes, in an region which adjoins Mongolia, and she will be the first Spaniard to perform it in this remote area. She will then sing the role again at her debut in the Teatro Massimo in Palermo (Italy).