Biography

Castellano
Català

Education

Maria Bañeras began her musical training precociously through the Suzuki method with Jaume Fargas and gave her first singing recital at the age of two. She continued her vocal education with Ulrike Haller at El Musical, with Ferran Gimeno at Escola Luthier and with tenor Dalmau González, complementing it with violin and musical language studies until completing her professional degree. She perfected her vocal technique with Ofelia Sala in the master’s degree in Operatic Interpretation at Conservatorio Superior de Música “Joaquín Rodrigo” in Valencia (2021-2022) and with Gianni Fabbrini in the advanced bel canto course at Conservatorio di Musica “Luigi Cherubini” in Florence (2023). In addition, during this 2024-2025 she has completed the master’s degree in Lied “Victoria de los Ángeles” at Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (Barcelona) with Francisco Poyato, Assumpta Mateu, and Pep Surinyac. She is currently adviced by mezzo-soprano Rinat Shaham and pianist Rubén Fernández Aguirre.

She has attended different international advanced courses, such as the Lotte Lehmnann Woche (2018 and 2019) and Akademie (2020), the International Course for the Interpretation of Lied (2021), the Matisse Opera Atelier (2022, 2023 and 2024), the Taller de Canto de Daroca (2022, 2023 and 2024) or the Lied the Way (2025). She has had the opportunity to receive numerous master classes: amongs them, in the operatic repertoire, Christa Ludwig, Mariella Devia, Ana Luisa Chova, Isabel Rey, Ernesto Palacio and José Miguel Pérez Sierra; and, in the Lied field, Felicity Lott, Marlis Petersen, Wolfram Rieger, Anne Le Bozec, Pauliina Tukiainen and Erika Switzer.

Finally, she has a double degree in Chemistry and Spanish Language and Literature from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where she has worked as an associate professor in the Department of Spanish Philology.

Carles Cardelús

Experience

The soprano has had professional experience both in opera and zarzuela productions and in the song genre in several languages. She debuted in the zarzuela Cançó d’amor i guerra as Catrineta, a production that was offered in several Catalan towns (2012-2015). In 2015, she also played Madame Silberklang in a school adaptation of Der Schauspieldirektor and Norén in the premiere of Tibidabo lake, by X. Canut. During the years 2017-2018, she participated in the production of Il Convito (D. Cimarosa) by Òpera Jove as Checco, which toured multiple theaters in Catalonia.

In the following years, she debuted the roles of Francina in Cançó d'amor i guerra (Teatre-Auditori de Llinars, 2019) and Rosita in Luisa Fernanda (Auditori Pere Quart, 2019). In addition, she was selected to represent Clorinda in La Cenerentola (2019) and Papagena in Die Zauberflöte (2020) with Òpera Catalunya at Teatre La Faràndula, within the framework of the Escola d’Òpera de Sabadell. Likewise, during the master in Operatic Interpretation, she played Lucy in The Telephone and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro in Valencia (2022). She also began her collaboration in the school and family show Vols viatjar amb mi? of the “La Caixa” Foundation (2022-present). Her recent professional performances include Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Project'Òpera company (2024), Rosalía in the Grup Enigma production of West Side Story in Huesca (2024), and the solo soprano part in Rossini's Stabat mater with the Orchestre Symphonique de Canet en Roussillon Méditerranée (2025). In the near future, she will debut as Micaela in Carmen with the NovAria company (2025).

In addition, she has an extensive career as a recitalist in various types of concerts, especially in collaboration with soprano Sara Bañeras, pianists Alícia Daufí and Esther Vilar, and guitarist Joan Vergés. Among them, it is worth highlighting her participation in different festivals, such as the LIFE Victoria Barcelona as LIFE New Artist and the Lied the Way Festival in Florence (2025).

Carles Cardelús

Melodies entrellaçades

Duet formed by sopranos Sara and Maria Bañeras that explores the expressive possibilities of the intertwining of their voices, through a wide repertoire of popular and unknown duets from various genres.

See project

Projects

Carles Cardelús

Conxita Badia o l’alegria

Initiative by Maria Bañeras and Alícia Daufí that wants to pay tribute to the figure of the soprano and pianist Conxita Badia, performing a program of Catalan and Spanish songs with the key pieces of her career.

See project

Quadres fantàstics

Proposal by Maria Bañeras and Esther Vilar that explores the most magical repertoire for piano and voice: songs that describe legendary places, fantastic creatures and other wonderful universes of the imagination.

See project

Acknowledgements

  • Concurs International de Belcanto “V. Bellini”: Finalist (2023)

  • Concurs Mirna Lacambra: Winner of Clorinda (2019) and Papagena (2020)

  • Lotte Lehmann Woche: Förderpreis Musiktheater Fortgeschrittene (2018)

  • Concurs Camerata Sant Cugat: Miquel Ortega scholarship (2016)

Carles Cardelús

Repertoire

V. Bellini: Amina (La sonnambula), Giulietta (I Capuleti e i Montecchi)

L. Beethoven: Marzelline (Fidelio)

L. Bernstein: María and *Rosalía (West side story)

G. Bizet: Frasquita and Micaëla (Carmen), Leïla (Les pêcheurs de perles)

D. Cimarosa: Carolina (Il matrimonio segreto), *Checco (Il convito)

G. Donizetti: Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Marie (La fille du Régiment), Norina (Don Pasquale)

E. Humperdinck: Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel)

G. C. Menotti: *Lucy (The telephone)

W. A. Mozart: *Barbarina and *Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Despina (Così fan tutte), Ilia (Idomeneo, re di Creta), *Madame Silberklang (Der Schauspieldirektor), Pamina and *Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), Zerlina (Don Giovanni)

G. B. Pergolesi: Serpina (La serva padrona)

G. Puccini: Musetta (La bohème), Nannetta (Falstaff), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi)

G. Rossini: Amenaide (Tancredi), Berenice (L’occasione fa il ladro), *Clorinda (La Cenerentola), Fanny (La cambiale di matrimonio), Sofia (Il signor Bruschino)

J. Strauss: Adèle (Die Fledermaus)

G. Verdi: Gilda (Rigoletto), Oscar (Un ballo in maschera)

C. M. Weber: Ännchen (Der Freischütz)

*debuted role

May Zircus