ANA BEARD FERNÁNDEZ

British-Spanish soprano Ana Beard Fernández creates performances deeply rooted in storytelling, using music as a transformative lens to enrich our understanding of human nature. This year, she will release two CDs:  the first is in collaboration with Roderick Williams OBE, and presents a programme of songs arranged for voice and eight cellos, including Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, Montsalvatge’s Cinco Canciones Negras, and De Falla’s Siete Canciones Populares, set to be released under SOMM Recordings. The second, with the  English Chamber Orchestra, is composer Paul Bowles’ musical interludes and songs for Lorca’s play Yerma (Yerma).

Ana’s recent operatic appearances include ‘Belinda/First Witch’ in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with Ensemble O/Modernt in Stockholm, Sweden, ‘Fiordiligi’ in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte, ‘First Niece’ in Peter Grimes at St. Endellion Festival, covering and performing the role of ‘Micaëla’ in Bizet’s Carmen at Longborough Festival Opera, and Handel’s Semele (chorus) at Opéra de Lille with Le Concert d’Astrée. This spring, she will sing ‘Margery’ in New Sussex Opera's tour of The Dragon of Wantley (Lampe)

Recent appearances on the concert platform include Strauss' Four Last Songs with the London Orchestra da Camera in St. Albans Abbey, and a Liederabend with Frances Bourne, Roderick Williams, and Mark Padmore at the St. Endellion Festival.

Additional recent and upcoming highlights in include performances with I Fagiolini at venues including St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Stour Festival, and online at Voces 8 centre, Messiah at St. John Smith’s Square with the Parliament choir and Southbank Sinfonia, Monteverdi with La Nuova Musica at the Wigmore Hall, Monteverdi Vespers at Huddersfield Town Hall and Cadogan Hall, alongside oratorio appearances with distinguished baroque ensembles Florilegium in Salisbury Catherdral, Barokksolistene in Norway, and the Hanover Band. This summer, she returns to The English Haydn Festival to perform concert arias under the baton of Steven Devine and the English Haydn Orchestra.

Ana's contemporary performances span a diverse range, including Risset Inharmonique, Ondřej Adámek's Karakuri - Poupée mécanique, and Adams' Grand Pianola Music. Her repertoire extends further with Traffick by Emma-Ruth Richards, presented at a workshop in the Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio, Unsuk Chin’s Akrostichon-Wortespiel, Judith Weir’s King Harald’s Saga, Tim Watt’s opera Kepler’s Trial at the V&A, Luca Francesconi’s Etymo, and Jonathan Dove’s Far Theatricals of the Day.

Hailing from Manchester, Ana's musical journey began in Manchester Cathedral Choir and Chetham’s School of Music. Ana's teenage debut as ‘cante-jondo’ soloist in De Falla’s El Sombrero de Tres Picos with the Hallé at the Bridgewater Hall marked the beginning of her career. She bilingual, thanks to her Galician mother and Derbyshire-born father. She studied at the University of York, where she was recipient of the Ed Burrell Award for Excellence in Performance, and completed her postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music, where she attained a Masters with Distinction.

She's part of the professional quartet at St Clement Danes church in central London, where she also serves as the librarian and hosts a concert series every second Sunday of the month, celebrating up and coming talented musicians.

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REPERTOIRE

  • Adams Grand Pianola Music

    Bach St John Passion / St Matthew Passion / Magnificat in D / Cantata BWV 21 ‘Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis’ / Cantata BWV 51 ‘Jauchzet Gott in allen landen’ / B minor mass / Ascension Oratorio / Christmas Oratorio

    Beethoven Symphony No 9

    Berlioz L’enfance du Christ

    Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem

    MA. Charpentier Te Deum (in D major) / Messe de Minuit

    DeLalande Cantate Domino

    Dvořák Stabat Mater / Mass in D

    Fauré Requiem

    Handel Messiah / Alexander’s Feast / Israel in Egypt / Dixit Dominus

    Haydn The Creation / Stabat Mater / Kleine Orgelmesse / Missa Sancti Nicolai

    Lambert The Rio Grande

    Mahler Symphony No 2 / Symphony No 4

    Mendelssohn Elijah / St. Paul

    Monteverdi Vespro della Beata Vergine / Magnificat

    Mozart Requiem / Coronation Mass / Mass in C minor / Vespers

    Orff Carmina Burana

    Pergolesi Stabat Mater

    Purcell Welcome all the Pleasures

    Rossini Petite Messe Sollenelle

    Tippett A Child of Our Time

    Verdi Requiem

    Vivaldi Gloria / Magnificat

  • * = World premiere

    Adámek, Ondřej Karakuri: Poupée Mechanique

    Bryars, Gavin / Bergvall, Caroline Raga Dawn

    Berio Sequenza III

    Berlioz Les Nuits d’Été

    Brigg, Jonathan Old Euclid (2015)* / Wild Geese (2020)* / Two Emily Dickinison poems (2023)*

    Britten The Poet’s Echo (cycle) / Night Covers up the Rigid Land / Mad Bess and Sweeter than Roses (Purcell) / Salley Gardens and O Waly Waly

    L. Boulanger Clairères dans le ciel (cycle)

    N. Boulanger J’ai frappé

    Chin, Unsuk Acrostichon-Wortespiel

    Clarke Eight O’Clock

    Debussy Chansons de Jeunesse (cycle) / Nuits D’Étoiles / Recueil Madame Vasnier (cycle) / Romance d’Ariel / Fêtes galantes

    De Falla Siete Canciones Populares

    Délibes Les Filles de Cadix

    Desmond New Light (UK Premiere)

    Dove, Jonathan Far Theatricals of the Day

    Dowland Lute Songs

    Feldman Voices and Cello / Rothko Chapel

    Guridi Seis Canciones Castellanas (cycle)

    Francesconi Etymo

    Richards, Emma-Ruth You Cannot Fold a Flood (cycle) (2015)*

    Rorem, Ned Ferry me across the water / I will always love you

    Hall, Rose Miranda The Cat and the Moon (2015)* / Fallen (2017)*

    LeFanu, Nicola Penny for a Song (cycle)

    Lancaster, David Gentle (cycle) (2015)*

    Marsh, Roger A Little Snow / Walking Away (cycle) (2015)*

    Messiaen Poèmes pour Mi (cycle)

    Monteverdi Lamento della Ninfa

    Montsalvatge Cinco Cancione Negras.

    Nyman, Michael Shakespeare Sex-List Song (2015)*

    Poulence Cinq Poèmes de Paul Éluard

    Purcell Urge Me No More

    Ravel Deux Mélodies Hébraïques

    Rowarth, Ben It could have been (2017)*

    Richter, Marga Goat Songs

    Scheuregger, Martin It was not death for I stood up (2017)*

    Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire (cycle)

    Steele, Joe Tenth Visit (2017)*

    Tippett The Heart’s Assurance (cycle)

    Vaughan Williams On Bredon Hill (cycle)

    Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasilerias No. 5

    Weill Youkali

  • *roles

    Benjamin, George Agnès - scenes (Written on Skin)

    Bizet Micaëla * (Carmen) / Chorus * (Carmen)

    Britten First Niece * (Peter Grimes) / Nancy* (Albert Herring)

    Cavalli Venere* (L’Egisto)

    G. Charpentier Depuis le Jour (Louise)

    Dvořák Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém (Rusalka)

    Giménez Sierras de Granada (La Tempranica)

    Gounod Je Veux Vivre (Romeo et Juliette)

    Granados La Maja y el Ruiseñor (Goyescas)

    Handel Galatea * (Acis and Galatea)

    Humperdinck Witch * & Mother* (Hansel und Gretel)

    Monteverdi La Musica* (Orfeo)

    Mozart Fiordiligi* (Coși Fan Tutte)

    Purcell Belinda * & First Witch * (Dido and Aeneas)

    Rameau Cephise* (Pygmalion)

    Richards, Emma-Ruth Suzanna - scenes (Traffik)

    Stravinsky No Word From Tom (Rake’s Progress)

    Tchaikovsky Lise’s Aria (Queen of Spades)

    Verdi La Canzone del Salice…Ave Maria (Otello)

    Wagner Gerhilde* (Die Walküre) /

    Watts, Tim Dorotea* (Kepler’s Trial)

    Weir, Judith King Harold’s Saga*