Bella Adamova contralto

“A voice that apparently can do anything” — contralto and improviser Bella Adamova grew up in Prague torn between, and surrounded by many cultures. This has translated to a versatility as a musician – always occupying the space somewhere in between genres.
Within one month in the summer of 2022, she won top honors in the oratorio category of the prestigious vocal competition in 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. “Bella Adamova made Mahler´s Uhrlicht shine like never before, resulting in the Oratorio Prize.“ (Mark van de Voort, Brabants Dagblat). A few weeks later in the song duo category with pianist Malte Schäfer, Bella won 2nd prize at the international competition "Franz Schubert and Contemporary Music" in Graz.

Next to the newest awards, Bella ist the winner of the International Robert Schumann Competition in 2021, the Czech Song Prize at the Emmy Destinn Awards in London, the Martinů Prize at the International Dvořák Competition, and a finalist at the 2020 Bundeswettbewerb Gesang in Berlin.

Bella has chosen the art of song as a focal point. Her repertoire ranges from Bellini to Bernhard Lang, encompassing German Lied as well as Russian romances. She sings and improvises in duo with pianist Michael Gees, their debut album Blooming was released in 2019 on Challenge Records. Their next, for 2023 planned album will include songs by Pavel Haas, Gustav Mahlher, Modest Mussorgsky, Benjamin Britten and their own improvisations.

In the 2022-23 season, next to song recitals given in Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic, Bella will perform the lead role in Saint-Saens' opera Samson and Delilah, guest-perform at the Žilina Chamber Ensemble in Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, stage and record an original project by the Dutch composer Marion von Tilzer, whose voice part is written for Bella and reflects a tragic faith of a Jewish woman and mother.

Bella´s first encounters with free improvisation with Paulo Álvares have aroused enthusiasm in it so she continued studying at the Basel Music Academy under Fred Frith and Alfred Zimmerlin. As an improviser she loves to explore the possibilities of using the voice acoustically, often using text in various chamber ensembles, and as a soloist. Performing contemporary music has always been a part of her concert life. She was the vocal soloist in the Basel version premiere of Kagel’s La Trahison Orale lead by Jean Pierre Drouet and has performed in a newly devised interdisciplinary work curated by Hannes Seidl at the ZeitRäume festival.

Bella Adamova completed her Bachelor’s in Vocal performance in London’s Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and her Master’s in Cologne, Germany.

During studies she was involved in a number of operas, notably singing Hermia in Britten’s A midsummer night’s dream and Celia in Haydn’s La fedeltà premiata at Theater Aachen. In 2021-22 she appeared as the Third wood sprite in Rusalka at Theater Bielefeld.

 She is a graduate of the masterclasses of the Royaumont Foundation and Lied Basel, and has the privilege of learning from, among others Anne Sofie von Otter, Christoph Prégardien, Thomas Hampson, Simon Keenlyside, Josef Protschka, Christian Immler and Katerina Knežíková.