BRENT MICHAEL SMITH
bass
RECENT AND UPCOMING ENGAGEMENTS
- Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto, at Opéra national du Rhin (2026) and Opernhaus Zürich (2025);
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- Frère Laurent in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, at the Semperoper Dresden (2025);
- Bass solo in F. Schmidt's Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln, with Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España (2025);
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- Ernesto in Donizeti's Don Pasquale and Alfredo in Verdi's La Traviata, at the Estonian National Opera (2024);
- Piombino in M. Taralli's Il Castello Incantato and Second Notaire in Offenbach's La Périchole, at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège (2024);
- Ernesto in Don Pasquale, at the Oper Frankfurt and Tiroler Festspiele Erl (2023);
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- Paolino in Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto, at the Ticino Musica Festival (2023);
- Tebaldo in Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani (2023), Paolino in Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto (2022) and Rasporyaditel in Tchaikovsky's Pikovaya Dama (2022), at the Teatro alla Scala.
BIOGRAPHY
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Dutch Mexican tenor Brayan Avila Martinez is based in Milan, where he graduated from the Accademia della Scala, with Luciana D'Intino as head instructor. In masterclasses, he got the opportunity to learn and develop his technique with important names such as Gregory Kunde, Marcelo Alvarez, Barbara Frittoli, Pietro Spagnoli and Helmut Deutsch.
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Brayan Avila Martinez made his debut at the Ópera Nacional de Chile, where he performed the roles of Beppe in Donizetti's Rita, Rinuccio in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, Conte Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Arturo in Lucia di Lamermoor and the solo part in the Requiem by Mozart.
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Between 2020 and 2022, as member of Accademia del Teatro alla Scala, he has the chance to perform the roles of Paolino in Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto, Giuseppe in La Traviata, conducted by Zubin Mehta, and Rasporyaditel in Tchaikosvky's Pikovaya Dama, under the baton of Valery Gergiev. Other roles went cancelled by the Covid.
In 2022, Brayan was one of finalists at the International Vocal Competition Neue Stimmen. In the 2023, he came back to La Scala, being invited to sing Tebaldo in Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani, and debuted at the Erl Tiroler Festspiele, as Ernesto in Don Pasquale by Donizetti.
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The 2023-2024 season started for Brayan as Ernesto, at Oper Frankfurt and Estonian National Opera, where he also sang Alfredo in La Traviata. Then, he sang Rodolphe in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell, at the Teatro alla Scala, and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, at the Ópera Nacional de Chile-Teatro Municipal de Santiago.
Brayan A. Martinez’ season 2024-25 highlights include roles such as Gonzalve in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole, at the Estonian National Opera; Cassio in Verdi’s Otello, at the Ópera Nacional de Chile; and his house debut at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, where he will sing Petit-Plomb in Marco Taralli children’s opera Le Château Enchanté and Deuxième Notaire in Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne.
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He also took part as a soloist in important oratorios, cantatas and symphonic works by Bach, Händel, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Orff, among others.