Maria Jonas
mezzo-soprano (Grimbald)
The outstanding singer from Cologne, Maria Jonas, is one of the most creative and fascinating characters in the area of Ancient Music - but not only there.
As an accomplished interpreter of ancient and modern music, Maria Jonas is constantly searching for an adequate and lively ways of performing musical works. To this purpose, she founded the ensembles "convoce.coeln" (vocal music of the 16th – 17th century) and, together with Norbert Rodenkirchen, "Diphona" (a duo keen on improvisation for performing medieval music) as well as "Condanza" (music and dance) and Ars Coralis Coeln. This work lead to completely new and unconventional styles of performance which go far beyond the framework of a usual concert and thus led to invitations to various festivals in Europe, Australia, USA and Asia.
Concert trips, including with the European Baroque Orchestra conducted by Roy Goodman and the English Baroque Soloists under John Eliot Gardiner, took her to all corners of Europe. In the field of musical theatre, Maria Jonas has received tour contracts from, among others, from Teatro Regio di Parma, the Teatro Comunale di Ferrara, the Teatro Real of Madrid, the Teatro Camoes Lisboa, Landestheater Neuss, Concertgebow Amsterdam, Royal Albert Hall, Schauspielhaus Bochum, Ludwigsburg. In the title role of the Philip Glass/Robert Wilson Opera "The White Raven" and under the musical direction of Dennis Russell Davies, she performed in Lisbon, Madrid, the Carnegie Hall (NYC) and could be seen in July 2001 at the Lincoln Center Festival (NYC). As an interpreter of contemporary music, Maria Jonas could be heard performing at the Musiktagen für Neue Musik in Donaueschingen and at the International Summer Course for Contemporary Music in Darmstadt. She regularly works with composers such as Manos Tsangaris, Maria de Alvear and Johannes S. Sistermans.
After studying the oboe at the conservatory of music in Cologne, Maria Jonas spent several years in Venezuela. There, she founded and successfully managed a music school. Back in Europe, the artist concentrated on her training as a singer and studies of ancient music. She mainly studied with Jessica Cash in London as well as with Monserrat Figueras in Barcelona and René Jacobs at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Besides her concert activities and various CD and radio recordings, Maria Jonas has had a guest professorship for Historic Singing at the Folkwang Hochschule Essen/Duisburg since 1999. In her home town of Brühl near Cologne, Maria Jonas has a cinema for art films which has won an award for its quality.
