Irati Berraondo Ibarguren
Profile
Voice type
Mezzosoprano
Nationality
Spain
irati.berraondo.ibarguren@gmail.com
Current studies
Master Specialized Music Performance Opera, Swiss Opera Studio, Bern Academy of the Arts
Vocal coach
Tanja Ariane Baumgartner
Former musical studies
- 2018–2021: Bachelor in Singing, Conservatori Superior Liceu, Elena Copons, Barcelona, Spain
- 2014–2017: Bachelor Piano, Centro Superior Katarina Gurska, Yuri Ananiev, Madrid, Spain
CV
Biography:
Irati Berraondo Ibarguren began her musical training with piano in Berriozar when she was eight years old. Singing was always present in her development as a musician, with her grandfather being a professional musician and singer and she herself singing in various amateur and later professional choirs almost without interruption. It was only when she started studying piano that she began to develop an increasing interest in classical singing, which led her to study singing in Barcelona. She has sung with the Coro Easo at the La Quincena Musical festival in San Sebastian, taken part in the European premiere of Tan Dun's Buddah Passion with the Chorakademie Lübeck and sung the Polish Requiem under the direction of Kryzstof Penderecki himself in Warsaw. As a choral singer, she has also performed in numerous operas with the Zurich Opera House's supplementary choir.
Most important projects/concerts:
She was chosen for the role of Peaseblossom in the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream by Britten at the Zurich Opera House (April 2024) and previously appeared on the stage of the Gessneralle in Zurich as Mrs Nolan in the ZHdK opera production The Medium.
Masterclasses:
She has taken part in masterclasses with Marcel Boone, Renate Arends, Sebastian Geyer, Teru Yoshihara, Svetlana Afonina and Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, with whom she is now studying, among others.
Interview: Three questions for Irati Berraondo Ibarguren
Why are you studying opera?
Opera is the meeting point of two worlds that move me the most: theatre and music. On stage, I feel deeply connected to my inner self and at the same time I feel the freedom to explore every possible character and situation imaginable.
What was your first encounter with opera?
My first direct contact with opera was when I was allowed to sing in the children's opera The Emperor's New Clothes at the Gayarre Theatre in my home town of Pamplona during my piano studies. But I had already felt drawn to theatre and singing before that. As a child, I had my first experiences on stage with a choir and an amateur theatre group.
Which is your favourite opera and why?
I don't have just one favourite opera - there are too many magnificently composed ones to choose just one. I find Carmen, Cavalleria Rusticana and Hansel and Gretel particularly powerful and impressive, and I would love to sing them.
