Catherine Forbes
Soprano
Catherine Forbes has performed internationally on opera, musical theater and concert stages. She is acclaimed by the Chicago Sun-Times as having a “voice that is clear, fluid and sonorous” and by The Columbia Record as “proving it is possible to sing well, look beautiful, and be funny all at the same time.”
Having successfully made the transition into full lyric repertoire, notable roles in her repertoire include Arabella/ Arabella, Butterly/ Madame Butterfly, Desdemona/Otello, Tosca/ Tosca, and Ellen Orford/ Peter Grimes. The South Carolina soprano made her operatic debut in her home state, where she premiered the title role of Jules Massenet’s Cendrillon. Concert and opera performances followed, including appearances as Fiordiligi in Cosí fan tutte and Countess in The Marriage of Figaro. She was featured as Pamina in Chamber Opera Chicago’s production of The Magic Flute and appeared with Central City Opera as Musetta in La Bohème and the comic Lady Mary in The Vagabond King. She was the soprano artist in residence for Indianapolis Opera, where she sang Micaela/ Carmen, Nedda/I Pagliacci, Donna Elvira/Don Giovanni and coveredMimi/ La Bohème.
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Mr. Martinez’s performance credits include principal roles in Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly, Lucia de Lammermoor, La Boheme, Faust, Idomeneo, The Merry Widow, and partial principal roles in Rigoletto, Aida, Tosca, and La Traviata. Recently, he made his New York and East Coast debut in the role of Jason in Milhaud’s Medee with Vertical Player Repertory, and his Bronx Opera debut as Don Jose in that company’s Spring 2007 production of Carmen. Upcoming engagements include his first Riccardo in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera with Pacific Repertory Opera in the Fall of 2007.
Equally at home on the concert stage, Mr. Martinez has been a featured soloist in concert performances of Handel’s The Messiah (2006 is the 5th consecutive year with the same organization), Ariel Ramirez’ Misa Criolla and Navidad Nuestra, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, Saint-Saenz” Christmas Oratorio, and numerous opera galas, benefits and fundraisers. An ardent lover of Latin-American music, especially from his native country Perú, Mr. Martinez often performs piano arrangements of popular songs from Peru (valses, huayno, tondero), Argentina (tango), México (mariachi), and from the “homeland” Spain (Zarzuela).
Mr. Martinez spent the summer of 2005 at the prestigious Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Singer Program, where he sang the role of Anatoly in scenes from Barber’s Vanessa. Also in 2005, Mr. Martinez was an Apprentice Artist at Sarasota Opera for their winner Festival, where he covered and sang the role of Federico in Verdi’s Stiffelio, and performed in scenes from Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte and Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann. Mr Martinez holds Performance and Teaching Diplomas from the Accademia Internazionale de Canto in Pesaro, Italy, and a Performance Diploma from the Accademia Del Teatro, Cagli, Italy.
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