Spotlight on Winona Martin, mezzo-soprano

Allegro recently caught up with Winona Martin, our talented young mezzo-soprano soloist for Elgar’s The Music Makers. Winona hails from Dallas, Texas; she is an alumna of the Wolf Trap Opera Studio Artists program and is currently a Cafritz Young Artist at the Washington National Opera. City Choir audiences in November 2022 were lucky enough to hear Winona sing Rossini’s very operatic solos in the Petite Messe Solennelle; we are thrilled to welcome her back in June!

Allegro wondered whether Winona takes different approaches when she sings pieces like the Elgar vs. oratorio vs. an opera role. In fact, she explained, “honestly I approach it all the same way! I spend time learning the text and the meaning of the text (if it’s in non-modern English like this, I’ll spend time with subtext and colloquial meaning of the text), then dive into the meat of the music (rhythm and pitches) and then combine it all. The only thing that really makes me approach music differently is in researching style and listening to singers of the past that have sung the music I’m working on. I’ve been listening to Sarah Connolly’s work with the Elgar since she’s a singer I really admire.”

A typical day for Winona is action-packed. She starts her day with a workout (“I love biking and running!” she told us, and then takes a little time for coffee and breakfast while going through emails. Then, she said, “I head up to the WNO studios to warm up and practice, and I usually have coachings, language courses, rehearsals and voice lessons that fill out the rest of the workday. My evenings are spent catching up with all my long-distance friends (common in this industry), cooking, and yoga to wind down from a busy day of using my instrument (my body!).”

Winona has an exciting year ahead: “Following my performance with y’all,” she told us, “I’ll make the drive to Cooperstown, NY where I’ll be joining The Glimmerglass Festival for the summer. I’ll be singing Il Destino and Linfea in Cavalli’s La Calisto, which’ll be my first dive into early baroque opera. And next season (May 2-5 2025) I’m most excited to sing the role of Laurene Powell Jobs in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at Washington National Opera. It’s an opera I was in at Utah Opera, where I sang the role of The Teacher, sang in the chorus, and covered the role of Laurene Powell Jobs. So it’s a cool return to a piece I know intimately.”

We were curious what roles are on Winona’s bucket list, and after her tour-de-force solos in Petite Messe Solonnelle were not surprised to learn that she is drawn to Rossini. A dream role is Rosina in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Winona explains, “She’s one of the few lead mezzo roles and she’s cunning and witty, and the music is way fun to sing. I also love Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, which is a role I’ve done before, but it’s just one of those ones that fits like a glove and I’ve loved revisiting it at different stages of my career and learning what parts of it feel different as my voice has grown and changed.” 

Winona says, “I can’t wait to rejoin y’all for another performance. This music is absolutely beautiful and it’s been so exciting preparing for this concert.” City Choir singers are delighted to sing with Winona again, and are so glad that our audience will have another opportunity to hear this rising young star on June 2.