Mezzo-soprano Winona Martin is quickly gaining recognition for her rich mezzo sound and prowess in both pants roles and powerful women alike. This season, she is elated to join Washington National Opera where she is a member of the esteemed Cafritz Young Artist Program, and made her Washington National Opera and role debut as Stéphano in Gounod’s Romèo et Juliette to rave reviews, in addition to performing Mary in Tesori’s The Lion, The Unicorn, and Me, and Rosmira in Handel’s Partenope. Before heading to The Glimmerglass Festival to make her role and house debuts as both Il Destino and Linfea in Cavalli's La Calisto, Winona will join The City Choir of Washington for a second season as the soloist in Elgar's The Music Makers.

Last season, she joined Utah Opera as a Resident Artist where sang Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto, and The Teacher in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, in addition to multiple educational tours and recitals throughout the beautiful state of Utah. She made her professional concert debut in November of 2022 with The City Choir of Washington as a soloist in their performance of Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, and later that month joined Utah Symphony's presentation of Handel's Messiah as the alto soloist. Following a successful season with Utah Opera, Winona returned to Wolf Trap Opera as a studio artist for a second summer, where she opened the season with A Night at the Opera with the National Orchestral Institute + Festival, and covered both Siebel in Faust and Zerlina in Don Giovanni. Winona previously made her professional debut with Wolf Trap Opera as Mrs. McLean in their 2022 production of Susannah.

In competition, Winona was named the 1st place winner of Annapolis Opera’s 35th Annual Vocal Competition. She is a Regional Encouragement Award winner and a 3-time Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, and was a Finalist in the National Opera Association Carolyn Bailey Argento Competition, in addition to placing at the NATS National Student Auditions, and the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition.

Other notable roles include Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito, Nancy in Albert Herring, El gato in El gato con botas, and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro. Previously she has held positions as a Young Artist at Prague Summer Nights, Up North Vocal Institute, SongFest, where she was the recipient of a Colburn Fellowship, and was supported by a grant from Denver-based Allied Arts Inc. as she transitioned to her graduate program. She attended the University of Colorado - Boulder for her B.M. in Vocal Performance and Boston Conservatory at Berklee for her M.M. in Opera Performance, where she was the Jost J. and Reine C. Fleck Opera Scholar.

Visit her website here to learn more.