Ella Marshall Smith | Soprano
I like to think that as a musician I resemble the city that I have chosen to live in. Berlin is eclectic, diverse, multicultural, and willing and passionate in its embrace of the new, while at the same time being aware of and informed by the past.
In the same way I love to sing a wide range of repertoire, ranging from the early music of Monteverdi through to modern American art song - performing as a recitalist, an ensemble singer, or as a soloist in large-scale choral works.
Schedule
Ein Lied für den Morgen, eins für den Abend: Alte Musik für Flöte, Theorbe und Gesang
Ellen Czaya (Flöte) & Charlie Zhang (Theorbe/Renaissancelaute)
17 Oktober 2020 | Neu Zittau
THE WORLD TO COME
Rundfunkchor Berlin | Franziska Kuba
8, 9 Oktober 2020 | SchwuZ Berlin
Ell(e) a f(u)i - Ella Smith and Fiona Tibbles in Recital
2 September 2020 | Ponsonby Baptist Church, Auckland
Symphony No. 2 Resurrection - Gustav Mahler
Rundfunkchor Berlin | Berliner Philharmoniker, Gustavo Dudamel
11, 12, 13 June 2020 | Philharmonie Berlin
Requiem in D minor KV 626 - W. A. Mozart
Rundfunkchor Berlin | DSO Berlin, Sir Roger Norrington
11 April 2020 | Philharmonie Berlin
Leçons de ténèbres - François Couperin
2 April 2020 | Kammermusiksaal Havelschlösschen
Das größte Kind - Johann Mattheson
24 January 2020 | Simon-Petrus-Kirche, Bremen
Die leise Rebellion
25 October 2019 | Kino Cosima
The Punk's Delight - Eine neue elisabethanische Masque
Berlin Broken Consort | Alte Musik Fest Friedenau
20 October 2019 | Kammermusiksaal Friedenau
Biography
British-born classical soprano Ella Marshall Smith is a fine recitalist and an intuitive performer with a comprehensive background in both choral and solo singing.
As a soloist, Ella’s opera engagements include the role of 2nd Woman in a radical re-staging of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with Unstuck Opera and the role of Adele in Die Fledermaus with Opera Factory, NZ. She has sung in masterclasses with Dennis O’Neill, Håkan Hagegård and Nicholas Isherwood.
Ella also has extensive experience as a choral singer. She has sung with New Zealand's premiere professional choir Voices NZ Chamber Choir, the New Zealand Youth Choir and the Auckland Chamber Choir among others. In 2018, she was selected as one of four Academy scholars with the Rundfunkchor Berlin. Highlights of her choral career so far include performances of Arvo Pärt’s Te Deum at the Konzerthaus Berlin with Ivan Fisher, J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion under the baton of Stephen Layton, the Duruflé Requiem with Robin Ticciati, and Wagner’s Parsifal with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Simon Rattle in the Philharmonie Berlin. Ella was selected as a member of the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart JSB Ensemble for 2018 and performed in several concerts at the Stuttgart Bachwoche under the direction of Hans-Christoph Rademann and Jos van Veldhoven. She now sings on a freelance basis with the Rundfunkchor Berlin.
In the early music field, Ella has worked with the Age of Discovery ensemble, an organisation dedicated to period instrument performance of pre-19th Century music in New Zealand, directed by early music specialist James Tibbles. She is a member of Les Fleurs du Mal, a 5-voice Berlin-based vocal ensemble focusing on music of the Renaissance.
Ella has performed a number of operas with the NZ Opera Chorus, including Tosca, La Traviata, Madama Butterfly, The Flying Dutchman and The Rake's Progress.
Ella completed her Bachelor of Music with Honours in Classical Vocal Performance at the University of Auckland in 2014 under the tutelage of Dr. Morag Atchison. She is currently studying historical voice at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen with Bettina Pahn.
Media
Press
Dido and Aeneas - recomposed by Alex Taylor
2nd Woman | Unstuck Opera
"Thanks to Frances Moore’s radical staging, Purcell and Nahum Tate’s tune-filled tale of ill-fated love and wicked witchery made for inspired musical theatre…a cast of four singers brought their characters to life with touching detail and observation…Ella Smith completed the female trio with style."
NEW ZEALAND HERALD
Great Opera Moments Gala Concert
New Zealand Opera School
"Later another most effective Donizetti aria appeared: ‘Chacun le sait’ from La fille du regiment…Ella Smith, as Marie, the offspring of the regiment, in loose, orange, quasi-military trousers sings and gestures in vivid military style, it was another real high-point of the evening."
MIDDLE C
"Soprano Ella Smith’s Chacun le sait, from Donizetti’s Daughter of the Regiment, was an infectious, fun rendition…the audience loved her swooping on to those top notes and ever staying the mischievous young girl."
WANGANUI CHRONICLE
Neue Renaissance - Sechs Diptychen für Chor a cappella
Kammerchor Univocale Berlin
"Demgegenüber das Magnificat für Doppelchor des Briten Giles Swayne, Jg. 1946), das silbig im Pym-Pom anhebt und verschiedene Polyrhythmica und minimalistische Motive ausspinnt. Eindrücklich der Schluss mit einer weit ausschwingenden Mezzosopransequenz solo."
NEUES DEUTSCHLAND
Die Fledermaus
Adele | Opera Factory
"Her ‘Mein Herr Marquis’ was a pure delight, so very enjoyable in the context of the story."
NZ THEATRE REVIEW