Martha Sharp

Style: Opera; Classical

Title: Em.O.Univ.Prof. Vocal Studies

Bio: After extensive work as a singer in the USA with opera companies such as the Cleveland Opera, New York City Opera, Kansas City Lyric, Tulsa Opera and the Boston Lyric Opera, Martha Sharp was invited in 1978 to be a member of the International Zurich Opera Studio. She was also engaged as a guest soloist there where she worked with conductors Ferdinand Leitner, Nello Santi and Nikolaus Harnoncourt . In the same year she celebrated her debut with the Boston Symphony under the baton of Seiji Ozawa and Leonard Bernstein. Further engagements included Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern, Stadtstheater Aachen, Stadtstheater Kassel and guest appearances with major theaters in Europe. (Nationaltheater Munich, Staatstheaters Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, London) with notable conductors such as Christof Perick, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Bernhard Haitink, Neville Marriner, Colin Davis and Michael Tilson Thomas. In 1995, she was called to the position Professor of Voice at the “Mozarteum”- Salzburg . She served as Director of the Credits Commission, and as Assistant Dean of the Vocal Department. In 1999, Prof. Sharp founded the International Opera Workshop, in Lofer, Austria. This is a Master Class for advanced students and young professional singer that still exists today. Professor Sharp bases her work on her many years of experience on the operatic stage with directors such as Jean-Pierre Ponelle, Götz Friedrich, Nathaniel Merrill, Herbert Wernicke and her extensive work as a young singer with Boris Goldovsky. In 2013 Prof. Sharp staged the World Premier at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, of the new opera "The Cavalry Maiden" composed by Adriaan deWit / Libretto by Marianne Figl based on the memoirs of Nadezhda Durova. Her focus is on helping opera singers find their acting talent and to execute it in a natural and logical way, while maintaining the disciplines which are necessary for the body to optimally function as a singing "intstrument". This ability has become a trademark of Martha Sharp's success as an acting singer and stage director. Since her retirement in 2013 from the Mozarteum, Prof. Sharp continues to perform as a singer and work as a stage director. A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, she divides her time between Salzburg and Cottonwood Falls, Kansas.

Voice Type: Soprano

Music Styles Taught: Opera; Classical

Availability: I am available as a performer; I am currently accepting private students; I am available as a clinician or presenter; I offer lessons in a group environment; I accept students through a college or university program

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