Hailed as a "piercing, muscular soprano" (Washington Post) and a "smoldering soprano" (Superconductor) Shaina Martinez is quickly establishing herself as an up and coming soprano in the opera and concert world.
She recently made her acting debut with the Bermuda Festival as the First Soprano (Sophie) in Terrence McNally’s Masterclass. Previous credits include playing the title role in Floyd’s Susannah with the Lighthouse Opera Company in NYC, as well as Donna Elvira in their production of Don Giovanni. With the Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater she has performed as Saffi in Der Zigeunerbaron as well as Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte. She has performed as Salud in de Falla’s La Vida Breve with the In Series company, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mollicone’s Children of the Sun with the Little Patuxent Opera Institute, Marie (cover) in La fille du regiment and La cugina in Madame Butterfly with the Martina Arroyo Foundation Prelude to Performance, and Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflote and Le Prince Charmant (cover) in Massenet’s Cendrillon with the Siena Music Festival.
As a concert artist she has a special interest in nonstandard Latin American and Spanish vocal repertoire, which she has put to use in her performance of Joaquin Turina’s Poema en forma de canciones in collaboration with conductor, Perry So, and the MSM Philharmonic, as well as her performance with Craig Rutenberg in Opera America’s Emerging Artist Recital Series. She has collaborated with the NYC group Voces Unidas to bring Spanish repertoire to new listeners in an effort to fundraise for families torn apart at the US-Mexico border. She also collaborates with the Underground Salon, a group aimed with giving talented singers a platform to perform for industry professionals and supportive audiences before the start of audition season each year.
Ms. Martinez is an active competitor. In 2019, Ms. Martinez was awarded 1st place in the Russell C. Wonderlic Voice Competition; 2nd place in the both the Opera NEO Voice Competition as well as in the American Prize Friedrich & Virginia Schorr Memorial Awards Competition (Women in Art Song); 3rd place in the Washington International Competition as well as in the Young Patroness of the Opera Junior Division; was a finalist in the 31st Annual Opera at Florham Vocal Competition & Musicale Honoring Violetta DuPontas well as the American Prize Friedrich & Virginia Schorr Memorial Awards Competition (Women in Opera); and was a semifinalist in the New York Lyric Opera Theatre Voice Competition as well as the Harold Haugh Light Opera Competition.
In 2018, Ms. Martinez was awarded 1st place in the Talents of the World International Competition and the Eisenberg-Fried Concerto Competition (Voice); 2nd place in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Rocky Mountain Regionals; 3rd place in both the XXI Concurso International de Canto Lirico in Trujillo, Peru, and the Alan M. & Joan Taub Ades Competition; was a Finalist and selected Alternate in the DC Vocal Arts Society Art Song Discovery Competition as well as a finalist in the Altamura Caruso International Competition: and was a semifinalist in the Lyra Mozart Competition.0Other awards include 2nd place in Friday Morning Music Club Sue Goetz Ross Competition 2014 and Third Place in 2015, as well as being a finalist in the UMSO Concerto Competition2014.
In the summer of 2019 she joins the Grant Park Music Festival as part of their Project Inclusion Fellowship. She also joins the Florida Grand Opera Young Artist Studio for their 2019-2020 season where she will be performing the following assignments: covering Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, performing as Kate Pinkterton and study-covering Cio Cio San in Madame Butterfly, performing as Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto, and performing as Elisetta in Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto.
In the summer of 2019 she joins the Grant Park Music Festival as part of their Project Inclusion Fellowship. She also joins the Florida Grand Opera Young Artist Studio for their 2019-2020 season where she will be performing the following assignments: DonnaAnna (cover) in Don Giovanni, Kate Pinkterton and Cio Cio San (study cover) in Madama Butterfly, Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto, and Elisetta in Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree from University of Maryland and a Master’s degree from Manhattan School of Music. In her spare time you can catch her cooking on her Instagram show Kitchen Shainanegans.
