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Josy Santos

mezzo-soprano

“Add to that, that the singing team is excellent, and not least the spinning side impresses: ..., and in the title part, Josy Santos is really a find ... Her voice has a golden glowing depth with sparkling high diamond sparks and her technique is impeccable.”

Operamagasinet ASCOLTA, 11 September 2022

  • Second Grand Prize, Toulouse International Singing Competition 2019

  • CulturArte Prize: Operalia - The World Opera Competition 2018

  • Concerto Prize (Audience Choice) - Best Chamber Music Recital 2024

  • APCA Chamber Music Recital Prize 2025

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TERRITORY

Latin America - exclusive

BIO

Josy Santos was born in Bahia (Brazil).  She has had an extremely remarkable career in Latin America and Europe, which has received numerous positive reviews from experts. She began her vocal training in São Paulo with the singing teacher Marcia Soldi. She completed her Bachelor's degree in voice at the University Cruzeiro do Sul. Her further studies led her to the HfMDK Frankfurt am Main to Prof. Ursula Targler-Sell, where she completed her Master with distinction. In 2019 she began her Opera Concert Exam at the HfMDK in Frankfurt am Main.
This season, the Brazilian mezzo-soprano Josy Santos will make her role debut as Idamante in Idomeneo at the Lucerne Theater, and she will also debut at the Semperoper Dresden in the role of Orlowski in Die Fledermaus. The highlight of the season will take place at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, where she will perform as Adalgisa in Norma. Additionally, she will debut as Conception in L'heure espagnole at TOBS.

Highlights of the previous season include her house debut as Dorabella in Così fan tutte at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, as well as the special song recital "Two Worlds in Songs" with pianist Markus Hadulla, featuring works by Dvořák, Mahler, Ginastera, Braga, and Nepomuceno, presented in the concert series at the Mozarteum Brasileiro in Brazil.

In the 2022/23 season, the mezzo-soprano made her house debut at the Zurich Opera House as Witness 2/Singer 2/Woman 2 in Lessons in Love and Violence by G. Benjamin and in her home country at the Teatro Municipal de São Paulo as Dorabella in Così fan tutte.

During the 2021/22 season, Josy Santos performed at the Royal Danish Opera as Angelina in La Cenerentola, as a mezzo-soprano in Verdi's Requiem and Viva Verdi! at KKL Lucerne, as Dorabella in Così fan tutte at the Lucerne Theater, as Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro at the Frankfurt Opera, as Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi and as Glutz in Burkhard's Casanova in Switzerland at TOBS Biel Solothurn.

From 2017 to 2019, Josy Santos was a soloist at the Hannover State Opera, where she performed roles such as Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Ottavia in L'incoronazione di Poppea, Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, La Marchesa Melibea in Il viaggio a Reims, Second Lady in The Magic Flute, Page in Salome, Musician in Manon Lescaut, Robin in Offenbach's Le roi Carotte, and Frau von Hufnagel in Hans Werner Henze's Der junge Lord. She also appeared as Silvia in Haydn's L'isola disabitata at the Rheingau Music Festival, as Dardano in Handel's Amadigi di Gaula at the Chamber Opera Schloss Rheinsberg, and in the title role of Rossini's La Cenerentola at the Opera Schloss Hallwyl. At the Opéra National du Rhin, she performed as Samaritana in Riccardo Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini and returned there in 2018/2019 as Bernardo Cenci in Ginastera's Beatrix Cenci. The production was awarded the 2019 Grand Prix for the best performance of the year by Le Syndicat Professionnel de la Critique.

Josy Santos is a prizewinner of various competitions, including the 2019 Concours International de Chant Toulouse, the 2018 Operalia, the 2018 Emmerich Smola Förderpreis, the 2017 Anneliese Rothenberger Competition, and she was a finalist in the 2017 Belvedere Competition. As a member of the Opera Studio at the Stuttgart State Opera from 2015 to 2017, she had the opportunity to sing important roles such as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Siebel in Faust, Oberto in Alcina, and Second Maid in Elektra.

She has also participated in international festivals such as the Rheingau Music Festival, the Chamber Opera Schloss Rheinsberg, the Festival de Trancoso, and the Opera Schloss Hallwyl.

REVIEWS

"Josy Santos as Idamante is simply an ideal casting: with a colorful mezzo and great naturalness, she achieves an outstanding stage presence." Luzerner Theater - Idomeneo - Idamante Oper international, Online Merker “Star of the evening was Josy Santos in the trouser role of Romeo. With breathtaking pianissimo, endlessly long lines, heartfelt expression, and sheer beauty of sound, she enchanted everyone.” Royal Danish Opera Der Bund November 9, 2021 “Add to that, that the singing team is excellent, and not least the spinning side impresses: ..., and in the title part, Josy Santos is really a find ... Her voice has a golden glowing depth with sparkling high diamond sparks and her technique is impeccable.” Operamagasinet ASCOLTA September 11, 2022 “First of all, it is a feast to hear the Brazilian mezzo-soprano Josy Santos as an exuberant, precisely singing leading lady in the demanding part as Cinderella.” Politiken September 12, 2022 “…the Brazilian mezzo-soprano Josy Santos had found an Angelina (the call-Rossini called her) as a highly effective Cinderella, who in no way stood up for buttermilk, and whose voice had sufficient impact to reach the back rows of the park.” Kristeligt Dagblad September 13, 2022 “Not least Cinderella, sung by Josy Santos, develops throughout the opera, and the voice ends up beautifully rich and full of charm.” Kulturkupeen.dk September 16, 2022 “Fortunately, Josy Santos managed to make the main character Cinderella (or Angiolina, as she is actually called) a somewhat believable character who is strong and independent. Santos had a lovely, dark voice that gave the part just the right weight, with the natural highlight of her beautiful coloratura being the great aria at the end of the piece where Angelina forgives her tormentors.” CENERENTOLA - Premier Critique September 17, 2022 “…Cinderella (sung by the wonderful Josy Santos)…” Den 4. Væg "As Adalgisa, Josy Santos managed to impress with her warm timbre and stylish interpretation." Place de l'Opera Monique ten Boske "Fragility that was highlighted even more by having alongside her an Adalgisa of fiery temperament, the Brazilian mezzo-soprano Josy Santos, with a dark and powerful voice. But a singer of whom we will probably hear a lot more because of her great talent, full-bodied centers and full high notes." Il giornale della musica Alma Torretta "Josy Santos, a Brazilian mezzo-soprano with a rich and graceful voice, remained throughout this concert the interpreter who comes closest to the ideal. Her Adalgisa stands out for her stylistic rigor and technical mastery, admirably put at the service of a just and sensitive embodiment." Concerto.Net Sébastien Foucart "Josy Santos lends Adalgisa her young but assertive mezzo-soprano, and the fact that she has "the character's age" combines with her significant and theatrical embodiment. The voice is very resonant without being metallic, with a dark and velvety grain, also distraught, and sweet. The singing line is very elegant." Olyrix Joël Heuillon "Full of enthusiasm, I can also report on the evening's second role debut, dear opera-loving friend: that Josy Santos is interpreting Adalgisa for the very first time, one can hardly believe it, so much does the Brazilian merge with the role, portraying the inner turmoil of her character with a multifaceted mezzo and making Adalgisa's transformation from rival to friend credible." Der Opernfreund Jochen Rüt "Josy Santos surprised in every way as Dorabella." Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century - Così fan tutte - Dorabella Peter van der Lint, Trouw "Her heartthrob Dorabella, who makes it clear in the second act that she finds the two strangers quite interesting, is sung warmly sensually by mezzo-soprano Josy Santos." Theaterkrant Neil van der Linden "For the part of the less principled Dorabella, Josy Santos ... brought her full, dark-toned voice into position as in the thrilling duet with Guglielmo ‘Il core vi dono’ (My heart I grant you)." Opera Magazine Franz Straatman "Josy Santos as Concepción once again impresses with her colorful mezzo and sovereign performance." Online Merker Jan Krobot "The crown goes to the brilliant Josy Santos…" Solothurner Zeitung Christian Berzins "His love-thirsty wife Concepción – the role is tailor-made for Josy Santos – has the choice between three men..." Bieler Tagblatt Annelise Alder "The Bahian mezzo-soprano Josy Santos, who is developing her career in Europe but is still little known here, proved to be a remarkable discovery. Possessing a beautiful voice and excellent stage presence, she portrayed Dorabella with grace and youthful energy. She demonstrated strong technical command and sang beautifully throughout the entire performance, from the duet Ah guarda sorella to the final scene." Teatro Municipal de São Paulo - Cosi fan Tutte - Dorabella Leonardo Marques, Notas Musicais "After her highly refined Dorabella in the 2023 production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the São Paulo Municipal Theater, the expectations surrounding Santos' performance were not small. And they were fully exceeded… When she opened her mouth to sing Mein Lied ertönt, the first of Dvořák’s Seven Gypsy Songs… it was clear that something very special was about to happen. Josy displayed absolute command of her instrument, shaping the phrasing as she wished and applying a wide range of dynamic gradations and subtleties to serve her expressive intentions. Her German is not only perfect but idiomatic; the clear articulation of the text does not break the legato of the beautifully constructed melodic lines. As if that weren’t enough, her voice, though light and clear, has projection and resonance in the lower register…" “Two World in Songs” Concert Irineu Franco Perpetuo, concerto.com.br "Josy possessed absolute command of her instrument, shaping the phrasing as she wished, and applying the most diverse gradations and subtleties of dynamics to serve her expressive intentions. Her German is not only perfect, but idiomatic; and the extremely clear articulation of the text does not break the legato of the beautifully constructed melodic lines. As if that weren't enough, the voice, although light and clear, has projection and resonance in the lower register." concerto.com.br Irineu Franco Perpetuo, April 2024

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