Sara Braga Simoes

Sara Braga Simões (born 1975 in Braga) is a Portuguese operatic soprano who has sung in the world premieres of four 21st century operas: Nuno Côrte-Real's 'Banksters', Pedro Amaral's 'O Sonho', Jose Eduardo Rocha's 'Os fugitivos' and Luís Tinoco's'Evil Machines'.

Career

After receiving her diploma in singing from the Escola Superior de Música in Porto, Sara Braga Simões trained for four years with the Estúdio de Ópera da Casa da Música in Porto. She made her operatic debut as Volpino in Haydn's Lo speziale with the Orquestra de Câmara Musicare, conducted by Bertrand Broder.^[1] In March 2004 she sang the leading role of Marta in the world premiere of José Eduardo Rocha's opera Os fugitivos (Lisbon, Teatro da Trindade), which was later broadcast on Portuguese television.^[2] The following year, she won second prize in the 2005 Concurso Nacional de Canto Luísa Todi singing competition.^[3] Simões made her debut at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos as Lady-in-waiting in Verdi's Macbeth in June 2007 and has since returned to the opera house as Pamina in a special young people's version of Mozart's The Magic Flute^[4] and as a soloist in the concert inaugurating the theatre's 2007/2008 season.^[5] The summer of 2007 also saw Simões singing in the premiere as a "work-in-progress" of Pedro Amaral's opera O sonho at the Culturgest arts centre in Porto.^[6] On 12 January 2008, Simões sang in the world premiere of Evil Machines, an opera composed by Luís Tinoco to a libretto by Terry Jones (Lisbon, São Luiz Municipal Theatre).^[7] In 2010, she made the world debut of Pedro Amaral's opera 'O Sonho' in london, with London Sinfonietta. In the same year, she made her debut as Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni. In 2011 she played the female leading role in Nuno Côrte-Real's opera 'Banskters' in Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, the Lisbon Opera House.

Recordings

In October 2008 Sara Braga Simões and pianist Luís Pipa recorded a CD of the complete works for voice and piano by 20th century Portuguese composer, Eurico Thomaz de Lima, to be released later in the year.^[8] Simões also appears in Ópera aberta, a documentary film by Leonor Areal on the 2004 world premiere of Os fugitivos.^[9]

Operatic roles

• Volpino (Lo speziale, Haydn) - Orquestra de Câmara Musicare
• Pamina (Die Zauberflöte, Mozart) - Lisbon, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
• Susanna (Le mozze di Figaro, Mozart)
• Zerlina (Don Giovanni, Mozart) - Faro, Teatro Municipal de Faro
• Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel, Humperdink)
• Despina (Così fan tutte, Mozart)
• The Governess (The Turn of the Screw, Britten)
• La Princesse (L'enfant e les sortilèges, Ravel)
• Rowan (The Little Sweep, Britten)
• Lauretta (La donna di génio volubile, Marcos Portugal)
• Spinalba (La Spinalba, F. António de Almeida)
• Principessa (La bella dormente nel bosco, O. Respighi)
• Marta (Os fugitivos, José Eduardo Rocha)
• Dama (Macbeth, Verdi)
• Aia (O sonho, Pedro Amaral)

Concert performances

• Des Knabem Wunderhorn, Gustav Mahler
• Ein Deutsches Requiem, Johannes Brahms
• Nuits d'étè, Hector Berlioz
• E vo, Luciano Berio
• Trois poèmes de Stephan Mallarmé, Maurice Ravel
• Te Deum, Antonín Dvořák
• Shîr, João Pedro Oliveira
• Magnificat, Antonio Vivaldi
• Christmas Oratorio, Saint-Saëns
• Stabat Mater, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
• Lacrymosa, Yanov-Yanovsky
• Lied der Waldtaube, Arnold Schoenberg
• Madrigals (Book I), George Crumb
• D’une saison… l’autre, A. Lemeland (World First)
• Dixit Dominus, Vivaldi
• Gloria, Vivaldi
• Credo, D. Pedro IV
• The Devil’s Suite, Peter Maxwell Davies
• Stabat Mater, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
• Haddock’s Eyes, David Del Tredici

References

1. ^ Artist's Biography, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian. Cached version accessed 5 November 2008.
2. ^ "A 2 transmite esta noite a ópera 'Os Fugitivos' de Rui Zink", Diário de Notícias, June 19, 2005. Accessed 5 November 2008.
3. ^ Câmara Municipal de Setúbal, Premiados do Concurso de Canto Luísa Todi, June 27, 2005. Accessed 5 November 2008
4. ^ Bernardo Mariano, "Uma ópera para encher o São Carlos de crianças", Diário de Notícias, February 27, 2008. Accessed 5 November 2008.
5. ^ Bernardo Mariano, "Temporada abre com árias soltas", Diário de Notícias, September 28, 2007. Accessed 5 November 2008
6. ^ "Música: Fragmento da ópera "O sonho" em estreia na Culturgest", Expresso, August 2, 2007. Accessed 5 November 2008.
7. ^ Evil Machines cast list on the official web site of the opera's composer, Luís Tinoco. Accessed 5 November 2008.
8. ^ PNET Literarura, "Sara Braga Simões e Luís Pipa gravam integral para canto e piano de Eurico Thomaz de Lima", October 5, 2008. Accessed 5 November 2008.
9. ^ Catalogue of the City of Lisbon Music Library (Fonoteca Municipal de Lisboa). Accessed 5 November 2008.

External links

• Sara Braga Simões' blog (in English).
• Video of the dress rehearsal of Evil Machines, BBC News.

Persondata
Name	Simoes, Sara Braga
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Date of birth	1975
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