Ana María Martínez

Martínez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico; she is the daughter of Puerto Rican opera singer Evangelína Colón[1][2] and Cuban psychoanalyst Ángel Martínez. Martínez' grandparents originated in Spain and France, and migrated to the Caribbean islands. Martínez grew up with a strict Catholic upbringing.[3] She briefly attended the Boston Conservatory as a musical theater major, but dropped out and later received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from the Juilliard School.[4]

After winning first prize in the 1994 Eleanor McCollum Competition, Martínez joined the Houston Grand Opera's studio in the 1994/95 season, during which she performed Micaëla in Carmen and the title role in Sāvitri.[5]

In November 2005 Martínez debuted with the Metropolitan Opera in Carmen as Micaëla.[6] In 2006 she was featured in Salzburg Festival's production of Così fan tutte as Fiordiligi.[7]

In February 2016 she was Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera.[8]

She returned to Così fan tutte as Fiordiligi at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in February 2018.[9] In April, she took up the title role in Florencia en el Amazonas at Florida Grand Opera.[10] In July she performed in Falstaff at the Royal Opera, London as Alice Ford.[11] She portrayed Élisabeth de Valois in Don Carlos opening on 22 September at the Los Angeles Opera.[12]

In January 2019 she brought performances of Florencia to Houston Grand Opera.[13] In February she was appointed Houston Grand Opera's first-ever artistic advisor.[14] In May she portrayed Soleá in El gato montés at Los Angeles Opera.[15]

In 2020, she was announced to join Shepherd School of Music as a professor in the Department of Voice effective as from 1 July 2021.[16]

On 11 March 2016, Martínez sang Bach/Gounod's "Ave Maria" and "Pie Jesu" from Fauré's Requiem during the funeral services of Nancy Reagan.[17][18]

She provided the singing voice for Monica Bellucci's character, Alessandra 'La Fiamma', in the third season of Mozart in the Jungle.[19]

Martínez met tenor Chad Shelton in 2000; they married and had one son. They divorced about seven years later.[2] She has been living in Houston since December 2002.[20]

Martínez has won prizes including the Pepita Embil Award, Operalia, and first prize at the Eleanor McCollum Awards.[21] She won a Latin Grammy in 2001 for Classical Album for Isaac Albéniz's Merlin with Carlos Álvarez, Plácido Domingo, Jane Henschel and conductor José de Eusebio with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid.[22] She is honored in the 15th annual Opera News Awards.[23]

• List of Puerto Ricans
• History of women in Puerto Rico

• Official website