Martina Arroyo is recognized as one of the pre-eminent lirico-spinto sopranos of our time. As both performer and teacher, she has always perceived that it is essential to understand all aspects of an operatic role in order to achieve a personal interpretation that is effective.

While serving as Distinguished Professor of Music of the Indiana University School of Music, she created a course in role preparation that became the basis of a program she offered to young opera singers in New York City in September of 2002. The success of that program led to the establishment of The Martina Arroyo Foundation in June of 2003.

The musical community has welcomed The Martina Arroyo Foundation and its mission to ready young singers for a life on the professional stage through the preparation and interpretation of complete operatic roles for public performance. Its programs have gained particular respect for a method of specialized training that incorporates learning the historic framework of the drama and musical style, exploring the psychology and motivation of each character, and studying ways to use the body and the voice (including language and diction) to understand and express character.

The principal programs of The Martina Arroyo Foundation are its Spring Role Preparation Class and Prelude to Performance, an intensive summer program that includes four fully staged performances with orchestra of two complete operas.

The Foundation takes particular pride that Ms. Arroyo’s vision, of providing a new generation with the tools that they will need to pursue a career, is being fulfilled. The alumni of The Martina Arroyo Foundation continue to grow as artists and can be found performing on professional stages around the world.

The Martina Arroyo Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. The Prelude to Performance® has been generously supported, in part, by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.