mezzo-soprano | actor
About
Brennan Martinez is a performing artist mainly known for opera and musical theatre, and the occasional jazz and Disney tune. She has been described as “a mezzo-soprano to be watched” (Opera Lively) and sings with “power, authority, and a most intriguing color to her wide-ranging voice” (Classical Voice of North Carolina).
In the 2024-2025 season, Ms. Martinez makes her Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre debut as Lily Craven in The Secret Garden. BroadwayWorld Chicago said: "As Lily, Brennan Martinez’s soprano floats and hovers like the mist on the moors. Her vocal performance rivals the original Lily on Broadway, the late Rebecca Luker (whom I was fortunate to have known personally; I do not offer that praise lightly)." In 2025, she will join the remount of Milwaukee Opera Theatre's production of Rusalka and reprise the role of Third Wood Sprite. In March, she'll return to Piedmont Opera as Aldonza in Man of La Mancha. In May, Ms. Martinez will return to the role of Hansel in Hansel & Gretel and make her company debut at Opera Montana.
In 2024, Ms. Martinez returned to Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in February as Marian Paroo in The Music Man in Concert. In the Spring, she joined Chautauqua Opera in Schools in Hansel and Gretel vs. The Witch as Hansel. In May, she joined Brew City Opera's production of Così fan tutte as
Dorabella where The Small Stage said: "Martinez balances the more serious end of the drama withsome gorgeously amplified physical emotional comedy. There’s a deft subtlety to Martinez’ sense of humor that serves her end of the production quite well." In the summer, she joined Chautauqua Opera Company as an Apprentice Artist where she performed as Hansel in Hansel and Gretel.
In the 2022-2023 season, Ms. Martinez joined Chicago Fringe Opera to workshop the world premiere of La Jetée. Chicago Classical Review said: "She wrapped her well-schooled and sensitive mezzo-soprano around the character’s singable vocal lines with similarly spot-on expressive purpose." She then returned to Cedar Rapids Opera as a young artist to cover Dorabella in Così fan tutte. She also made her debut with Milwaukee Opera Theatre as the Third Wood Sprite in Rusalka. In the Spring, shejoined Metropolis Performing Arts Centre as Mother in Ragtime, where the Daily Herald said: "it was Martinez's exquisite vocals and nuanced acting that made the biggest impression." In the Summer, she performed as Second Lady in The Magic Flute and Flora Bervoix in La traviata at the Quisisana Resort.
Ms. Martinez began 2022 as a young artist at Cedar Rapids Opera for their virtual winter season due to COVID-19. In the Summer, she joined Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre as a principle artist for their productions of Carmen where she sang the role of Mércèdes, Antonia in Man of La Mancha, and featured in the ensemble of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
In the 2020-2021 season, Ms. Martinez returned to the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute as a guest artist for their main stage, live-streamed productions. She performed the roles of Ernesta in Un avvertimento ai gelosi, Adelia in Le inglesi (originally billed as Tangia in Le cinesi), and Babet in Sophie Arnould. In March 2021, she returned to Piedmont Opera to perform the role of Armelinde in Viardot's opera, Cinderella. In Summer 2021, she was a guest artist at the Bay View Music Festival and performed in various concerts in their summer season.
In the 2019-2020 season, she made her Piedmont Opera debut as Anna Kennedy in Mary Queen of Scots (Maria Stuarda). Classical Voice of North Carolina described her as “gifted with a rich warm mezzo-soprano voice with excellent diction, and a nimble stage presence.” In Summer of 2020, she virtually joined the Bay View Music Festival as a guest artist for multiple concerts.
Ms. Martinez was selected as a professional fellow for the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival in 2019. She performed the title role in The Tragedy of Carmen. Big Island Magazine described her as a “sultry mezzo-soprano, expertly navigating several octaves and tempos with a strong sense of self-confidence throughout.”
In 2018, she trained as a young artist at the Glimmerglass Festival. She performed the role of Consuelo in West Side Story, with the original Jerome Robbins choreography. She also covered the role of Lapák, the dog, in The Cunning Little Vixen.
Ms. Martinez holds a Master of Music degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She studied as a Fletcher Fellow at the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute with Dr. Marilyn Taylor. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Wanda L. Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University and studied with Dr. William Nield Christensen. She was one of 16 students selected to be in the closing night ensemble of Kristin Chenoweth: My Love Letter to Broadway at the Lunt-Fontaine Theatre in New York City. Ms. Martinez is represented by Big Mouth Talent for theatre and film/tv.