Biography
Juno-nominated soprano Martha Guth regularly presents concerts and recitals at major venues which include Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center, the National Cathedral, Ravinia, Oxford International Song Festival, and Leeds Lieder. Her interpretations have been called “Magical” (Opera Now), and “Truly amazing” (Montreal Gazette), and her concerts have been broadcast by the CBC Radio/Radio-Canada, the BBC, and the WDR in Germany. Martha’s longtime recital partners include Graham Johnson, Erika Switzer, and Javier Arrebola.
As a young artist she won first prize at both the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition and the Concours Musical International de Montréal, launching a performance career specializing in concert and art song. Her deep interest in art song led her to co-found Sparks & Wiry Cries with pianist Erika Switzer, a non-profit spanning publication, live performance, and commission of new works which have been premiered at venues such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, National Sawdust, and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Sparks is also the force behind the popular regional songSLAMs held in partnership with organizations around the world. Her wide discography includes Summer Night, a Juno-nominated disc of songs by Healy Willan; Das Ewig Weibliche, a solo disc of Schubert songs with Penelope Crawford on fortepiano; Roberto Sierra’s Beyond the Silence of Sorrow with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico (nominated for a 2016 Latin GRAMMY), and many more. Forthcoming is a disc for Naxos of Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang with the Yakima Symphony.
As an Obie herself, Martha is proudly returning to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music from Ithaca College where she was assistant professor of voice. She has been co-artistic director, director of the composer/mentorship program and faculty at SongFest, faculty at the Vocal Academy for the Collaborative Piano Institute now held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and visiting faculty at Opera Seme in Arezzo, Italy. She has presented lectures, masterclasses and recitals at dozens of major universities throughout North America.
