Biography

Praised for her distinctive contralto voice, Brenda Iglesias has appeared as soloist and guest artist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM, Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México, Orquesta Sinfónica de la UAEH, and Capella Barroca de México. She has performed in her native Mexico, the Czech Republic, and the United States at venues such as the Palacio de Bellas Artes, Teatro Degollado, Cincinnati Music Hall, and Prague’s Estates Theater and Liechtenstein Palace, collaborating with distinguished conductors like Louis Langrée, James Burton, José Luis Castillo, and Eduardo García Barrios.

With a wide-ranging repertoire from Baroque to contemporary, Iglesias has portrayed key contralto and mezzo-soprano roles such as Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito, Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica, and Maman and La bergère in L'enfant et les sortilèges. Concert highlights include Brahms’s Alto Rhapsody, Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, de Falla's El Amor Brujo, Mozart's Requiem, Vivaldi’s Dixit Dominus, and Bach’s St. John Passion. Committed to expanding today’s repertoire, she premiered and recorded Davenport’s Blind Injustice and workshopped Picker’s Awakenings, both with Opera Fusion: New Works.

A prizewinner of the renowned "Carlo Morelli" Competition at the Opera of Bellas Artes in Mexico and the Alltech Vocal Scholarship Competition in Kentucky, Iglesias was most recently a semifinalist at the Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo Competition in New York City. She has also received competitive grants from Mexico’s National Endowment for the Arts (FONCA and SNFM) and Pro-Ópera A.C., along with full merit scholarships for her M.M. and D.M.A. studies at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music. She earned her B.Mus. with honors from the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo.

Passionate about art song, Iglesias has perfomed at festivals including the Source Song Festival in Minneapolis and the Summer of Song hosted by the Art Song Preservation Society of New York. In her recitals, she often highlights underrepresented works, with a special emphasis on Mexican and Argentine composers. A leading expert on Latin American art song, Iglesias has presented her research on early Mexican art song through lecture-recitals at international forums including the Society for American Music Conference in Detroit and the International Congress of Voice Teachers in Toronto.

An active scholar and educator, she continues to refine her teaching through advanced training with institutions such as the New England Conservatory, the Embodied Music Lab’s Acoustic Vocal Pedagogy Workshop, Classical Voice Training’s Advanced Courses, and conferences of the Association for Body Mapping Education and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Her career has been shaped by the mentorship of esteemed musicians and educators including Thomas Baresel, Cynthia Lawrence, Kathleen Kelly, Kenneth Griffiths, Carlos Aransay, Janice Chapman, Kenneth Bozeman, and Horacio Franco.

Widely sought after as a teacher, Spanish coach, and clinician, she is currently an Assistant Professor of Voice at the State University of New York at Binghamton. Prior to this role, she served as a Lecturer and C.T. Vivian Scholar at Western Illinois University, where she taught applied voice, vocal pedagogy, and directed the Opera Workshop, premiering an English adaptation of Viardot’s Le Dernier Sorcière. Iglesias has been invited to deliver lectures and lead masterclasses at several universities, including the Universidad Católica Argentina in Buenos Aires, Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, and Purdue University. She also maintains an active private voice studio.

When she isn’t pouring her heart into singing and teaching, Brenda enjoys experimenting with plant-based recipes, learning new languages, staying active at the gym, and sharing laughter with her Argentine husband as they playfully navigate the nuances of each other’s Spanish accents and colorful expressions.