Spanish-Mancunian soprano Ana Beard Fernández graduated from the Royal College of Music in 2020 with a Master of Performance with Distinction. In the same year she was a Kathleen Ferrier Awards semi-finalist. Last summer she was Witch in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, Gerhilde in Wagner's Die Walküre, and Venere in Hampstead Garden Opera's L'Egisto (Cavalli). Opera credits during her studies include Agnès Written on Skin (Benjamin); Marie La Fille du Régiment (Donizetti); Controller Flight (Dove); and separately Miss Wordsworth and Nancy in Albert Herring (Britten) in scenes. Equally at home with opera, oratorio, and contemporary music, this year’s highlights have included Monteverdi Vespers at Cadogan Hall, Faure Requiem at the Tower of London, Orff Carmina Burana at Fairfield Halls, a performance of Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire at the Royal College of Music, and recitals of opera and song, including Lili Boulanger's cycle Clairières dans le Ciel at St. Anne's Kew.
This summer she will perform at Endellion Festival where she will sing First Niece in Britten’s Peter Grimes. In September she will perform in Lille Opera’s Handel Semele. Ana grew up in Manchester and was a chorister at Manchester Cathedral.