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The Portuguese soprano, Raquel Mendes, began her musical studies in violin at the Conservatório de Música Calouste Gulbenkian in Braga in 2003, having finished the 5th degree there. She completed her studies at the Conservatório in 2015, in the singing course, under the guidance of Inês Sofia, having previously studied with teachers Maria José Carvalho and Ana Rute Rei. In the same year she enrolles at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo (ESMAE) in Porto in the Licentiate in Singing, and finished her singing studies in 2019 with the highest qualification under the direction of António Salgado. In addition, she perfected her training under the guidance of distinguished teachers Dora Rodrigues, Sara Braga Simões, Liliana Bizineche, Connie de Jongh, Kelvin Grout, Angela Ahiskal, Georgia Michaelides, Mami Teraoka, Milena Storti, Alejandro Picó-Leonís, Marcin Habela, Rui Taveira, Dana Chifu, Luís Rendas Pereira, Job Tomé, Jose Antonio Campos, Susan Waters, Norman Shetler and Hans Peter Kammerer. She was awarded the 3rd Prize in the national singing competition in 2013, and in December 2020 she won the 1st Prize in the singing category at the Almada International Music Competition.. She is currently attending the 2nd year of the degree in Singing at ESMAE, under the guidance of António Salgado.
Raquel Mendes is a member of the vocal ensembles Moços do Coro, Absolute Vocem Ensemble, Suave Armonia, Bando de Surunyo and Cupertinos - the last ones are specialized in Portuguese music from the 16th and 17th centuries. She has participated in important national and international music festivals such as the 8th Festival Abulensis, Encontros de Música Antiga de Loulé Francisco Rosado, Mundos e Fundos 2018 and 2019 and Festivals de Otoño 2019. In February 2020 she participated as a member of the Cupertinos group (winner of Gramophone award 2019) in the series of choral concerts at Cadogan Hall in London.
As a soloist, Raquel Mendes has performed the roles of Despina in W.A. Mozart's Così fan Tutte, La Donna y Lauretta in Marcos Portugal's La Donna di Genio Volubile, Pulcinella in Pierangelo Valtinoni's Pinocho, Piloto in Rachel Portman's musical The Little Prince, in Fausto Bordalo Dias' musical Por este rio Acima, and in Milu Ricci in the opera 1755 followed by El tío Mario va al cine, by Carlos Azevedo and Telmo Marques. She has participated as a soloist in W.A. Mozart's Requiem, George Frideric Handel's Dixit Dominus, Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine, Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria, J.S. Bach's Cantata BWV 38, among others, performing in Portuguese concert halls such as Teatro Circo, Teatro Nacional São João, Teatro Helena Sá e Costa and Sala Suggia.
Raquel Mendes has worked with conductors such as Owen Rees, Stefan Blunier, Peter Rundel, Luís Carvalho, António Saiote, Vítor Matos, António Baptista, José Eduardo Gomes, Carlos Meireles, Nuno Almeida, Hugo Sanches, Barbara Francke, among others, and with directors such as Manuela Ferreira, António Durães and Cláudia Marisa. She participated as a violinist in orchestra training courses with the conductors Martin André and Joana Carneiro. She has collaborated on several projects with the Sinfonietta de Braga, both as a violinist and soprano.
In the field of chamber music, Raquel Mendes currently has two trio formations: the Trío Siringe (soprano, flute and piano), and soprano mezzo-soprano and piano. She performs frequency with the pianist Ángel González in Portugal and Spain. |
