Carla Maria Meijerphoto: Matthieu Meijer
Carla Maria MeijerThe alt-mezzo Carla Maria Meijer (Tilburg, 1972) studied at the Utrecht Conservatory en obtained her degree in solo singing in 1999. She continued her studies with the soprano Elisabeth Damen, with whom she has been taking lessons since 1996. Under the guidance of Mrs. Damen Carla developed and refined her technique and allowed her low voice to mature.
Carla Maria Meijer participated in master classes and workshops with a.o. Christina Deutekom, Henk Smit, Bernarda Fink and Udo Reinemann. In the autumn of 1999 she was selected for the Erna Spoorenberg vocalist presentation, where she was awarded the second prize of the Jo Bollekamp fund. This started her professional carreer as an oratorio and concert singer.
Carla Maria Meijer in AroldoShe regularly performs as a soloist in the great passions from Bach, other religious works such as C.Ph.E. Bach's Magnificat and Handel's Messiah, but also in Brahms' Alt-Rhapsodie.
Carla is a regular performer in modern, twentieth century music, such as the Dutch premiere of Missa no. 1 of the Estonian composer Urmas Sisask, the requiem of the Hongarian Frigyes Hidas, and works by Arvo Pärt.
As an opera singer she made her debut in 2004 as Carmen, in a concertante performance of parts of Bizet's opera. In November of 2005 she played the part of Elena in Verdi's opera Aroldo, with the "Rotterdamse opera".
Carla Maria Meijer has a broad repertoire including arias from a.o. Bach, Rossini, Verdi, Ravel, and Saint-Saëns. She also performs many songs from a.o. Wolf, Mahler, Debussy and Ravel, and has given a number of song recitals. In recent years, she has taken up a deeper interest in the Russian language and repertoire with composers such as Mousorgski and Tsjaikovski.