Biography

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Mexican mezzo-soprano Brenda Iglesias is an emerging artist, in demand for concert, opera and recital engagements. A Doctoral candidate at the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), Ms. Iglesias has worked both in Mexico and the United States with companies such as Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Fusion: New Works, Orquesta Sinfónica Carlos Chávez, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM, Orquesta Sinfónica de la UAEH, and Orquesta Juvenil del Estado de México, as well as with celebrated conductors Louis Langrée, James Burton, Jose Luis Castillo, and Eduardo García Barrios.
Ms. Iglesias has performed as a soloist in several distinguished venues like Palacio de Bellas Artes and Teatro Degollado in Mexico; Liechtenstein Palace and Estates Theater in Prague; and Cincinnati Music Hall. Some of her operatic credits include: Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito (CCM Opera), Drittte dame in Die Zauberflöte (CCM Opera), La bergère and Chouette in L'enfant et les sortilèges (CSO), Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica (Opera Guadalajara) and Dr. Muriel  Landeau in Awakenings (Cincinnati Opera New Works' workshop for Opera Theater of St. Louis). Concert performance highlights include soloist in Brahm’s Alto Rhapsody, Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, De Falla's El Amor brujo, Bach’s St. John Passion, Mozart's Requiem, Haydn's Misa in tempore belli and Vivaldi’s Dixit Dominus.
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Having a very distinctive timbre, Ms. Iglesias has been awarded prizes at the renowned Mexican competition “Concurso Nacional de Canto Carlo Morelli” in 2014, the Alltech Vocal Scholarship Competition in 2016, and several artistic fellowships and grants from Mexico's National Found for Culture and Arts (FONCA) from 2017-2019, National System of Musical Development (SNFM) from 2014-2017 and Pro-Ópera A.C. in 2017.
 
Ms. Iglesias holds a Bachelor of Music degree with honors from Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (UAEH) in her hometown in Mexico and was an exchange student at the School of Music of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM) for one year. She earned her Master of Music degree at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music.
In addition to her artistic activity, Brenda enjoys sharing her passion for singing both in the classroom and voice studio. She is currently an Assitant Professor of Voice at the State University of New York at Binghamton and was a C.T. Vivian Scholar at Western Illinois University, where she taught Voice and was the Director of the Opera Workshop. She was also a teaching assistant at CCM while pursuing her DMA and specializing in Vocal Pedagogy. Brenda continues to expand her knowledge by attending courses such as the New England Conservatory's "Acoustic Vocal Pedagogy Online Course", Classical Voice Training's "Singing and Teaching Singing" Advanced Courses, and conferences of the Association for Body Mapping Education (ABME) and the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), of which she is a member.
 
As an entrepreneur, Ms. Iglesias organized and coordinated the “1st National Operatic Singing Seminar” (1er Seminario Nacional de Canto Operístico) together with Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo in Pachuca, Mexico in 2015. Most recently and in response to the pandemic, she created and administered a series of online Vocal Pedagogy Workshops for Spanish speakers, instructing over 90 students from 12 different countries. Many reputable soloists, educators, and musicians have influenced her career including Thomas Baresel, Cynthia Lawrence, Kenneth Griffiths, Kathleen Kelly, Mark Calkins, Carlos Aransay, and Horacio Franco.

In her free time, Brenda enjoys cooking Mexican food, learning languages, practicing yoga, and taking care of her plants.

© 2022 by Brenda Iglesias