Bella Adamova mezzo-soprano

With “a voice that apparently can do anything” blessed with a “warm, sumptuous timbre” (Classica), “different, immediately recognisable, and exceptional”(Aktualne.cz), and whose “interpretation presents a captivating kaleidoscope of vocal expressive possibilities” (Opera Plus), mezzo-soprano Bella Adamova’s artistic commitment on the concert and operatic stage ranges widely across musical periods, genres, and cultures from the baroque to the contemporary with natural ease, with a particular focus on the art-song repertoire, showcased in deeply and thoughtfully crafted recital programmes.

She has released two critically acclaimed albums with pianist Michael Gees - ‘Blooming’ (2019) and ‘There is Home’ (2023) which explores the concept of searching for, and defining the feeling of home, through songs by Pavel Haas, Benjamin Britten, Gustav Mahler, and Modest Mussorgsky freely intertwined and organically interspersed with improvisations on selected poems.

Adamova has won numerous awards at international competitions: in 2022, she won the main prize in the oratorio category at the International Vocal Competition in 's-Hertogenbosch, and together with pianist Malte Schäfer is a laureate of the international Franz Schubert and Modern Music competition in Graz in the Lied duo category. She has also received the top prize in the International Robert Schumann Competition (2021), the Walter and Charlotte Hamel Prize at the Bundeswettbewerb Gesang in Berlin, the Czech Song Prize at the Emmy Destinn Awards in London, and the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation Prize at the International Antonín Dvořák Competition. The BBC Music Magazine recently featured her as a rising star.

Recent highlights include her BBC Proms and Dvořákova Praha debuts with Jakub Hrůša and the Czech Philharmonic in Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass, de Falla’s El amor brujo with the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic and Robert Kružík, the alto solos in Mahler's 2nd and 8th Symphonies with the Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK) and Tomáš Brauner, and Mozart’s Requiem with the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra and conductor Alena Hron and Berlioz’ Les nuits d’été with the Baborák Ensemble. On the opera stage, she appeared at Theater Bielefeld in Carmen as Mercédès, and at the National Theatre in Prague as the Third Woodsprite in a new staging of Rusalka (directed by the SKUTR duo/conductor Tomáš Netopil). She debuted at the Prague Spring Festival in a solo recital and has performed on significant stages and festivals such as Heidelberger Frühling, St. Wenceslas Music Festival (SHF), Music is… Festival, the Czech Center New York, and at Villa Senar, the Swiss residence of Sergei Rachmaninov.

Upcoming plans include Mahler’s Rueckert lieder and the orchestral lieder of Alma Mahler with Gregor Mayrhofer and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (SOČR), Schubert’s Winterreise at Litomyšl Musical Evenings, a programme of Charles Ives, Debussy’s Trois chansons de Bilitis and Schumann’s Liederkreis nach Eichendorff, Op. 39 at Zámek Žďár nad Sázavou, and Handel arias with Tomáš Netopil and Ensemble Colloredo.

Bella Adamova was born in Grozny, Chechnya, and grew up in Prague. She completed her musical studies in Cologne, Hanover and at London's Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, studied improvisation at the Basel Academy of Music, and received additional training at the Royaumont Foundation and the Tanglewood Music Center, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer academy. She has had the privilege of learning from, amongst others, Anne Sofie von Otter, Christoph Prégardien, Thomas Hampson, Simon Keenlyside, Jan Philip Schulze, Dawn Upshaw, Christian Immler, and Kateřina Knežíková.