ABOUT | Iria Perestrelo

Portuguese soprano Iria Perestrelo appeared recently as Sophie in Werther at Grange Park Opera, UK. Sparkling and fresh (Opera Today) A delight, such a pure tone (British Theatre Guide). Last season she performed at Bühnen Bern in Switzerland.

London based for almost two decades, Iria Perestrelo has performed at major opera festivals and with professional choirs in the UK and abroad. Collaborations with Grange Park Opera, Wexford Festival Opera, Choir of the Age of Enlightenment and Philharmonia Chorus have taken Iria to the greatest concert halls including Royal Albert Hall (notably in the BBC Proms), Royal Festival Hall, The National Theatre in the UK. In Europe on stages such as Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and Palau de la Música València. Highlights include memorable engagements with some of the world's leading artists namely Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Jeffrey Tate, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Andris Nelsons, Marin Alsop, Daniel Harding, Sir Bryn Terfel, Sir Simon Keenlyside, Joseph Calleja.

In the field of opera Iria has sung the roles of Giulietta

I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Susanna Le nozze di Figaro,

Zerlina D.Giovanni, Despina Così fan tutte, Adele Die Fledermaus,Taumännchen Hänsel& Gretel, Genovieffa Suor Angelica, Serpina La serva padrona, Amore Orfeo ed Euridice. Other credits Gingerbread woman Village Romeo and Juliet (Wexford Festival), Moth Midsummer Night’s Dream (Barbican), Cis Albert Herring (Silk Street Theatre).

PRESS KIT

"A WONDERFULLY DYNAMIC AND VOCALLY BEAUTIFUL PERFORMANCE OF SUSANNA IN OUR 2018 PRODUCTION OF THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO. WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT OPPORTUNITY TO INVITE IRIA TO SING FOR US!"

BRIAN MACKAY Artistic Director, ZêzereArts Festival

REPERTOIRE

As an ENOA artist, Iria participated in workshops and masterclasses at Teatr Wielki in Warsaw and at Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, working with distinguished mentors such as:

Anita Garanča (Latvian National Opera)

Andrejs Žagars (Latvian National Opera)

Dmitry Vdovin (Bolshoi Theatre)

Eytan Pessen (Semperoper Dresden)

Izabella Kłosińska (Teatr Wielki Opera Narodowa)

Claudio Desderi (Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation)

At Teatr Wielki Iria performed staged scenes from Donizetti's L’elisir d’amore (Adina) and Die Fledermaus (Adele).

Iria graduated from the prestigious Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, where she then completed a Masters in Historical Performance. She received regular coaching from Dame Emma Kirkby and was a soloist with the Guildhall Baroque Orchestra (c. Pavlo Beznosiuk) and her own baroque ensemble The Prince and Pauper Consort. Performances include Purcell The Fairy Queen (Night, Juno), Monteverdi L’incoronazione di Poppea (Drusilla), Handel Aminta e Fillide (Aminta), appearing at the London Handel Festival, St. Martin-in-the-fields, Brighton Early Music Festival, National Portrait Gallery. Other highlights include a staged version of St. Mathew Passion at the London National Theatre, directed by Sir Jonathan Miller. Recently Iria has given the first UK performance of San Ignacio (Zipoli) with El Parnaso Hyspano "Soprano Iria Perestrelo was a wide-eyed Xavier, androgynously pure" (The Tablet).

“All were impressive, although I slightly favoured the warm and gentle timbre of Iria Perestrelo, her voice blending well into the instrumental consort.”

EARLY MUSIC REVIEW

Bach: Ich habe genug, St. Martin-in-the-Fields

IRIA MADE HER WIGMORE HALL DEBUT SINGING ÓXIDO OP. 9, BY FRANCISCO COLL. IRIA'S PREMIÈRE WAS RECOGNIZED WITH THE PRIZE JOVENS CRIADORES BY CLUBE PORTUGUÊS DE ARTES E IDEIAS & INSTITUTO PORTUGUÊS DA JUVENTUDE.

"Iria was without a doubt the protagonist that night at the Wigmore."

"I had written a piece knowing that very few sopranos could do it, but Iria did a wonderful job and the première at London's Wigmore Hall was a huge success.

I was really surprised by the beauty and power of her voice, as well as her versatility."

FRANCISCO COLL Composer, Faber Music

"Iria managed to provoke the minds of those present by singing in an easy way a role that demanded a really wide and colorful voice range."

FRANCISCO COLL

Composer, Faber Music

Iria is twice recipient of the Instituto Camões' grant in promotion of the concert Songs from Portugal, exploring Portuguese vocal repertoire from the 18th to the 20th century.

Songs from Portugal has been presented in the UK at historical venues such as Handel House and Fenton House

and most recently in Paris at the Atelier Von Nagel and Maison du Portugal – Cité internationale universitaire de Paris

"Iria is on track to become a real ambassador for Portuguese Music and Culture."

ARMIN ZANNER Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Sarah Walker CBE

MENU

Iria Perestrelo

"A WONDERFULLY DYNAMIC AND VOCALLY BEAUTIFUL PERFORMANCE OF SUSANNA IN OUR 2018 PRODUCTION OF THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO. WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT OPPORTUNITY TO INVITE IRIA TO SING FOR US!"

“All were impressive, although I slightly favoured the warm and gentle timbre of Iria Perestrelo, her voice blending well into the instrumental consort.”

Iria Perestrelo