Spanish mezzo-soprano Carmen Artaza has established herself as a versatile artist across opera, concert and Spanish repertoire. Winner of the First Prize, Mozart Prize and Audience Prize at the 2021 Tenor Viñas International Singing Competition in Barcelona, she has appeared at leading European houses including Teatro Real Madrid, Gran Teatre del Liceu, La Monnaie / De Munt, Oper Frankfurt, Komische Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Hannover, Theater Bonn, Theater Basel and Palau de les Arts Valencia.

2026/27 SEASON

Carmen Artaza opens the 2026/27 season with her debut at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma as Meg Page in Verdi’s Falstaff, in a new production by Tatjana Gürbaca conducted by Michele Mariotti. In November, she makes her debut at La Monnaie / De Munt in Brussels in concert, before returning to the title role of Jesús Torres’s contemporary opera Tránsito with Ópera de Tenerife, following her acclaimed performances of the work at Palau de les Arts Valencia. Carmen also returns to the Komische Oper Berlin to sing Ino in Barrie Kosky's production of Semele.

On the concert stage, she performs Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ in Badajoz before joining Christof Loy’s Los Paladines for the company’s New Year Zarzuela Gala at Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela. In February, she makes her debut with the Ópera de Las Palmas in Vivaldi’s Orlando furioso.

She subsequently returns to the Teatro de la Zarzuela as Paloma in Barbieri’s El barberillo de Lavapiés, reprising the role in Christof Loy’s production following performances at Theater Basel and the Festival de Teatro Lírico Español de Oviedo.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

Recent highlights include her Teatro Real Madrid debut as Stéphano in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Theater Bonn and Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo, Paloma in El barberillo de Lavapiés at Theater Basel, and her Paris debut in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.

Further recent engagements include the title role in Rossini’s Bianca e Falliero at Oper Frankfurt, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel at Theater Bonn, Teresa in Bellini’s La sonnambula at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the title role in Jesús Torres’s Tránsito at Palau de les Arts Valencia, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly at ABAO Bilbao Opera, and Dorabella in Così fan tutte at Staatsoper Hannover.

Artaza has developed a particularly close relationship with Spanish repertoire and zarzuela. She is a core member of Los Paladines, Christof Loy’s company dedicated to the rediscovery and international promotion of zarzuela, and has appeared at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid as well as in performances and recitals devoted to Spanish song and lyric theatre.

Equally active on the concert platform, she has collaborated with orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Bamberger Symphoniker, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Münchner Symphoniker and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. Her concert repertoire includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, alongside a wide range of orchestral and sacred works.

In 2021, Artaza won First Prize at the Tenor Viñas International Singing Competition in Barcelona, as well as the Mozart Prize, Audience Prize and three additional special prizes. She had previously won First Prize at both the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Competition in Berlin and the Luis Mariano International Singing Competition.

Born in San Sebastián, Artaza began her musical training as a violinist before studying voice at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She later continued her studies with Michelle Breedt and participated in the Young Singers Project of the Salzburg Festival.

SELECTED ROLES

Rosina · Il barbiere di Siviglia
Theater Bonn · Ópera de Oviedo

Stéphano  ·  Roméo et Juliette
Teatro Real Madrid

Dorabella · Così fan tutte
Staatsoper Hannover

Paloma · El barberillo de Lavapiés
Theater Basel · Ópera de Oviedo · Teatro de la Zarzuela

Falliero · Bianca e Falliero
Oper Frankfurt

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://carmenartaza.com/en/