Martina Arroyo Biography

Fast Facts

• Founded the Martina Arroyo Foundation to offer structured curriculum on operatic roles to young artists as they begin their careers
• Served on the National Endowment for the Arts for six years
• The Voice Foundation awarded her its VERA Award in 2006
• Decided she wanted to become a performer after watching several Broadway performances as a child
• Her mother let her take ballet classes and taught her to play the piano when she was young
• Grew up singing in the choirs at her church and high school
• A Spinto Soprano opera singer, she is famous for her interpretations of Verdi, Puccini, Strauss and Mozart
• Has performed at New York's Metropolitan Opera, the Paris Opera, London's Covent Garden, Milan's La Scala, the Vienna State Opera and the Buenos Aires Teatro Colón
• Judged such international competitions as the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium, the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the ARD International Music Competition in Munich
• Taught at the University of California in Los Angeles, Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Wilberforce University in Ohio and the School of Music of Indiana University