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The Israeli contralto, Noa Frenkel, received her Bachelor of Music degrees Cum Laude from the Tel Aviv University Rubin Academy of Music. She continued her vocal studies at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague.
A versatile artist with an affinity for many musical styles, Noa Frenkel is a true contralto with an extensive vocal range. Her recent concert appearances include a.o. Luciano Berio’s Ofanim with ensemble Intercontemporain at Festival d’Automne, Paris, Sofia Gubaidulina’s Stunde der Seele at the Konzerthaus Vienna, Pascal Dusapin’s opera Penthesilea with the Orchestre de Paris, a world premiere of Thierry Pecou’s opera Nahasdzaan at Rouen Opera, Leonard Bernstein’s Song Cycle with Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, G. Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde in Victoria, Canada, Johannes Brahms' Alto Rhapsody with the Israel Chamber Orchestra, Berio Sinfonia at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg; George Frideric Handel's Dixit Dominus with the Flemish Radio Choir, Donatoni’s Abyss in Casa da Musica in Porto; Luigi Nono’s Prometeo at La Scala–Milan, Holland Festival, Lucerne Festival, and the Berliner Philharmonie; G. Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with the Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse, Verdi’s Requiem at the Ljubljana festival, J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Israel Camerata Orchestra Jerusalem; Sciarrino’s one act opera Vanitas in Zürich; Feldman’s 3 Voices at Dresden Philharmonie, G. Mahler's Symphony No 3 with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Nono’s Guai ai gelidi mostri at the Konzerthaus Vienna. She also gave concert performances at the Warsaw Autumn Festival, Wiener Konzerthaus and at GigaHerz, ZKM Karlsruhe.
Most recent opera appearances include Nono’s opera Al Gran Sole Carico D’Amore at the Basel opera, A world premiere of Czernowin’s opera Heart Chamber at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Infinite Now by Chaya Czernowin at the opera houses of Antwerp, Ghent, Mannheim, as well as at the Philharmonie de Paris; Stockhausen’s Sontag aus Licht at Opera Köln, Maria Republica by François Paris at Opera Nantes, Pnima by C. Czernowin at Opera Stuttgart, Tod eines Bankers by Andreas Kersting at Theater Görlitz, Woman in Zaide/Adama by W.A. Mozart/Czernowin at the Salzburg Festival, Theater Bremen and the Basel Opera, Frau Ocholowska in world premiere of Johannes Kalitzke’s Die Besessenen at Theater an der Wien, Third lady in W.A. Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Opera of Nantes and Angers, Madame Flora in Menotti’s The Medium with Opera Rotterdam, La Maestra delle novizie in Puccini’s Suor Angelica with the Bochumer Symphoniker, Philip Glass’s Akhnaten in Rotterdam, and the Madrigal Opera La Barca with the Nationale Reisopera in Holland and Belgium.
Noa Frenkel has appeared with Baroque ensembles such as Les Arts Florissants, Elyma Ensemble, Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, and the Utrecht Baroque Consort. She has co-founded the Kassiopeia quintet, a vocal madrigal group that later has recorded all 6 madrigal books of Carlo Gesualdo. The CD´s have been highly praised by the international music press.
Noa Frenkel had the pleasure to work with conductors such as Ivor Bolton, Reinbert de Leeuw, Ingo Metzmacher, Sylvain Cambreling, Titus Engel, Kenneth Weiss, Kenneth Montgomery, Dan Ettinger, Ilan Volkov, Friedemann Layer, Gabriel Garrido, Peter Dijkstra, Emilio Pomarico, Jos van Veldhoven and Steven Sloane.
Noa Frenkel is an admired interpreter of contemporary music, and is performing regularly in the main festivals in Europe with renowned ensembles such as Ensemble Modern-Frankfurt, The Schönberg Ensemble–Amsterdam, Klangforum Wien, L’Ensemble Intercontemporain-Paris, MusikFabrik – Cologne, The Israeli Contemporary Players, as well as the Experimental Studio Freiburg (SWR). She has recently performed Morton Feldman’s 3 Voices in Madrid, and led a performance of John Cage’s Songbooks with Israeli ensemble Musica Nova. Ever in search of new ways to perform, she has created the solo performance “Solitude in the Age of Mass Media” – combining newly composed music with pieces by G. Mahler and Purcell in a multimedia performance, appearing in Tel Aviv and Madrid. She recently gave a Nono Concert in NYC with SWR, and world premieres of a new piece by Rebecca Saunders at Donaueschingen Musiktage, as well as the operas Johannes Kalitzke's Kapitän Nemos Bibliothek/ in Schwetzinger Festspiele, and Thierry Pécou’s opera Into the Lions at Opera du Rhin / Strasbourg. Highlights of the 2024-2025 season include her return to Deutsche Oper Berlin for the world premiere of Lash by Rebecca Saunders as well as the world premiere of Ein Ermordeter aus Warschau with Novoflot at Kunstfest Weimar and subsequently at Musikfestival Bern, WDR Funkhaus Köln and Theater im Delphi Berlin. Amongst the many composers that she has collaborated with in creating new pieces are Chaya Czernowin, Robert Ashley, Alvin Curran, Peter Edwards, Martijn Padding, Richard Ayres, and Yannis Kyriakides.
Her two latest CD's are L. Berio's Folk Songs and Czernowin’s Shu Hai, with Experimental Studio Freiburg. Amongst other recordings are Artur Schnabel, Notturno, and the Te Deum by Portugese baroque composer Almeida. She has previous recordings with labels Deutche Gramophone, Neos, Col Legno, and Globe/Codaex.
In the last years Noa Frenkel has been invited to teach singers as well as composers, in various places, such as Abvlensis Festival, dedicated to the music of Tomas Luis de Victoria, in Avila, Spain; Composing for voice lectures and workshops at the Matrix academy Freiburg, at the Festival for contemporary music SiMN 2014, in Curitiba, Brazil, and at the Royal Conservatoire in Den Haag, As well as voice, improvisation and composing for voice for singers, instrumentalists and composers at the CEME course of Ensemble Meitar, in Tel Aviv. Since September 2017, she joined the vocal faculty of The Royal Conservatoire Den Haag as a singing teacher. She currently resides in the Netherlands. |
