Biography

Ms. Martínez makes her home in Houston, Texas, where her strong relationship with Houston Grand Opera began decades ago. In addition to being named the company’s first-ever Artist Advisor, she is an alumna of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, and the inaugural receipt of the Lynn Wyatt Great Artist Award, which is awarded by HGO and Lynn and Oscar Wyatt. In 1994 she won First Prize in HGO’s Eleanor McCollum Auditions and Awards Competition, and in 2015 established the annul Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award, a financial scholarship which is awarded to a young singer with great artistic promise, as part of that same competition. On the Houston Grand Opera stage Ms. Martínez continues to portray some of her most beloved characters, often under the baton of their Artistic and Music Director, Patrick Summers. It was there that she debuted the title role of Carmen, as well as the role of Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly. She joined them as the title role in Rusalka, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Nedda in Pagliacci, Mimi in La Bohème, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, la Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro, Liù in Turandot, Lucero in the world premiere of Daniel Catán’s Salsipuedes, and as both Rosalba and then in a later production as the title role in Florencia en el Amazonas, both which were recorded for commercial release. During the Covid-19 pandemic she created and starred in two digital installments of “Suite Española” which featured music and dance from Spanish-speaking countries across the world.

Ms. Martínez is delighted to perform season after season with Lyric Opera of Chicago. Recent performances include Donna Elvira in a new Robert Falls production of Don Giovanni, her role debut as Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello, as well as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Mimi in La Bohème, Nedda in Pagliacci, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte and Marguerite in Faust. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she created a virtual program for the Ryan Opera Center alumni, alongside pianist Craig Terry, entitled “Pasión Latina” which featured a dynamic selection of music from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala, Argentina, and Spain. With the Los Angeles Opera she performed as Amelia in Simon Boccanegra and Elisabetta in Don Carlo, both opposite Plácido Domingo and conducted by LA Opera Music Director, James Conlon, as well as the title role in Carmen, Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly, Mimi in La Bohème, Nedda in Franco Zeffirelli’s production of Pagliacci, and Violetta in La Traviata, the last two conducted by Maestro Domingo. She made her role debut as Elisabetta in Don Carlo, with San Francisco Opera conducted by Nicola Luisotti, and also joined them as Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, Micaëla in Carmen, as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. She made her debut with The Metropolitan Opera as Micaëla in Carmen and returned there as Musetta La Bohème and Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly and Don Elvira in Don Giovanni. She joined Washington National Opera as Liù in Turandot, and Cio-Cio San, and she made her debut with Santa Fe Opera as Fiordiligi in Così fan Tutte, and returned there as Rosina in a new production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Mimi in La Bohème, as Cio-Cio San, and as the title role in Carmen.

Notable achievements on stages across Europe include her headline-making role and house debut as Rusalka with the Glyndebourne Festival, a performance that was recording live and released on the Glyndebourne label. She returned to the Festival as the leading role of Paolina in the United Kingdom’s first professionally staged performances of Donizetti’s Poliuto, also recorded live and released on DVD. She made her debut at Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires as Rusalka, and her debut with the Opera National de Paris as Amelia in a new production of Simon Boccanegra, returning as the title role in a new production of Luisa Miller, as Mimi in La Bohème, and for her role debut as Antonia in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffman. She made her debut with the Vienna Staatsoper as Adina in L’elisir d’amore, and returned there as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Micaëla in Carmen, Mimi in La Bohème, Liù in Turandot, and as Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly, conducted by Plácido Domingo. She joined the Bayerische Staatsoper as Cio-Cio San, the title role in Luisa Miller, the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Mimi in La Bohème, the title role in Rusalka, and as Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffman. At the Royal Opera House Covent Garden she debuted her Alice Ford in Falstaff, and portrayed Violetta in La Traviata, Cio-Cio San in Madame Butterfly, and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. She sang Liu in Turandot and Nedda in Pagliacci both with the Dutch National Opera. In the Middle East, she portrayed Mimi in La Bohème with the Abu Dhabi Festival in the United Arab Emirates, for the city’s first ever fully staged opera production.

Ms. Martínez was the inaugural recipient of the Pepita Embil Prize of Zarzuela at the 1995 Operalia II, and in the years since has often shared the concert stage with Plácido Domingo. Highlights of their touring include performances at The White House, HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro for the World Cup Celebration, her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, as well as performances at the Abu Dhabi Festival in the United Arab Emirates, Arena di Verona, Chorégies d’Orange, Teatro Real in Madrid, with the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra in honor of Domingo’s 50th Anniversary, in a special concert event with the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra under the direction of Sir Andrew Davis, and for the inaugural performance at the Dubai Opera House. Their recordings include a Zarzuela DVD recorded live at the Salzburg Festival entitled Amor, Vida de Mi Vida (EuroArts), the Latin Grammy Award® winning recording of Albeniz’s Merlin (Decca), the Grammy nominated recording of Bacalov’s Misa Tango (Deutsche Grammophon), and the DVD Spanish Night (EuroArts) with the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Maestro Domingo. Ms. Martínez has also performed on international concert tours with star tenor Andrea Bocelli.  Standout performances of their collaboration include her appearance on the Emmy nominated PBS TV special and DVD American Dream: Andrea Bocelli’s Statue of Liberty Concert (WNET/Thirteen) with the New Jersey Symphony, as well as her participation in his star-studded performance in New York’s Central Park which was recorded live, entitled Concerto: One Night in Central Park (Verve). She performs the role of Nedda opposite Andrea Bocelli in the recording of Pagliacci (Decca), and portrays the title role in Manon Lescaut (Decca) recorded opposite Andrea Bocelli with Plácido Domingo conducting the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana.