Julia Portela Piñón

Julia Portela Piñón is a Spanish mezzosoprano based in London. She is currently finishing the Opera course at the Royal Academy of Music, where she also holds a Master of Arts with Distinction and a Bachelor of Music in Performance. She is generously supported by the Norman Ayrton Award and is an Associate Artist of Camerata Lírica de España, the Philharmonia Chorus and the DNA Contemporary Music Festival.

Prizewinner at the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg International Competition (Berlin, 2020) and the Marjorie Thomas Art of Song Prize (London, 2017), Julia has also been preselected in competitions such as Neus Stimmen (2021) and the Montserrat Caballé International Singing Competition (2021). This summer she is one of the finalists for the Certamen Nacional "VIII Estepona CREA-2022" Lírica in Spain.

Operatic appearances include cover of Komponist in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos (2022), Concepcion in Ravel's L'heure espagnole (2021), Zita in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (2021), Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (2021) and Puck in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream (2020) with Royal Academy Opera in London. Other operatic experience includes Mercédès in Bizet's Carmen (2019), Prince Orlofsky in Strauss' Die Fledermaus (2019), the title role in Handel's Giulio Cesare (2018) and Suzy in Puccini's La Rondine (2018) as part of the Royal Academy Opera Scenes; additionally Julia has also performed Angelina in Rossini's La Cenerentola, Meg in Verdi's Falstaff and Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo (2019) at Iain Ledingham's Opera Scenes Summer School in Italy. Chorus performances include Massenet's Chérubin (2020) and Offenbach's Orphée aux enfers (2017) with Royal Academy Opera.

Julia performs regularly in the United Kingdom. She has recently participated in a masterclass with Dame Sarah Connolly at the Royal Academy of Music and has performed the alto solo in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Audentia Ensemble at St James's Church in London. In 2018, Julia was delighted to be the soloist in Elgar's Sea Pictures accompanied by the City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra and the soloist in Manuel de Falla's The Three Cornered Hat with the Anstieg Symphony Orchestra, both at the West Road Concert Hall in Cambridge. The same year, Julia performed Janáček's The Diary of One Who Disappeared and Ríkadla and Ryan Wigglesworth's premiere of Echo and Narcissus as part of the Oxford Lieder Festival. In 2020, Julia made her Italian debut in Florence as part of the New Generation Festival run by the Mascarade Opera Studio. Julia has also made several appearances in recitals in the Spanish cities of Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña and Lugo.

Oratorio solo performances include Mozart's Requiem at the Church of St Thomas the Apostle in Lymington, Beethoven's Choral Fantasia and Mozart's Coronation Mass at the West Road Concert Hall in Cambridge, Bach's St John Passion at the Leith Hill Music Festival in Dorking, Mozart's Vesperae Solennes de Confessore and Haydn's Missa in Angustiis at St Swithin's Church in Bath, Haydn's Missa Cellensis at the St Michael & All Angels Church, Bruckner's Requiem at the St Paul's Church Covent Garden and BWV 24, 44 & 134 at the Duke's Hall in London. In 2020, Julia was excited to be making her oratorio debut in Spain with Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 conducted by Maximino Zumalave in A Coruña and Vigo but it was unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19.

During the pandemic, Julia performed the title role in G&S's Iolanthe for a virtual production with Green Opera and was also one of the soloists in Mahler's Symphony No. 8 virtual project with Audentia Ensemble conducted and produced by Ryan Bair.

Julia has worked with remarkable musicians such as Alberto Zedda for a masterclass in A Coruña, with Semyon Bychkov in a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 2 at the Royal Festival Hall in London, and Masaaki Suzuki who conducted a performance of Bach's B minor mass at the Duke's Hall of the Royal Academy of Music. This summer Julia will be back at the Royal Festival Hall to perform once again Mahler's Symphony No. 2 but this time under the baton of Santtu-Matias Rouvali.

Future engagements include Tirinto in Handel's Imeneo with Royal Academy Opera and Nerone in Monteverdi's L'incorazione di Poppea with Ensemble OrQuesta at Grimeborn Festival this summer in London.