Julia Portela Piñón

Spanish mezzo-soprano Julia Portela Piñón has given solo and chamber recitals in Spain and the United Kingdom, most recently a performance of Elgar’s Sea Pictures with the City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra at the West Road Concert Hall.

Born in Lugo, Spain, Julia moved to London at a young age to continue her music studies at the Guildhall School of Music & and Drama and later at the Royal Academy of Music where she has recently graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Performance. Her singing teachers and mentors throughout her career include Diana Somkhieva, Juan and Carmen Durán, Kathleen Livingstone and Iain Ledingham.

Julia has worked with remarkable musicians such as Alberto Zedda, who was teaching a masterclass in A Coruña; Semyon Bychkov, conducting the Royal Academy Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a performance of Mahler’s 2nd Symphony at the Royal Festival Hall; and Esa-Pekka Salonen, conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus in a performance of Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder at the Basilique de Saint Denis in Paris and at the RFH in London.

Julia’s solo performances include Haydn’s Missa Cellensis at the St Michael and All Angels Church of London; Bach’s Cantatas Nº 24, 44 & 134 at the Duke’s Hall of the Royal Academy of Music; Mozart’s Requiem, Pergolesi’s Magnificat and Caldara’s Stabat Mater at the St Thomas’ Church of Lymington; Falla’s The Three Cornered Hat at the West Road Concert Hall of Cambridge; Bach’s St John Passion at the Leith Hill Musical Festival in Dorking Halls; and Bruckner's Requiem at the St Paul's Church, Covent Garden.

In 2017, Julia performed her first staged opera as part of the chorus of the Royal Academy Opera’s production of Offenbach’s Orphée aux enfers at the Hackney Empire. The same year, she was commended in the Marjorie Thomas Award and also became a member of the Josephine Baker Trust. She is also a member of the Philharmonia Chorus and RAM’s new series “Bach the European”.

Julia is currently studying a Master of Arts at the Royal Academy of Music under the guidance of two renowned mezzosopranos: Caitlin Hulcup and Yvonne Howard.