Maren Montalbano began her vocal career with the San Francisco Girls Chorus at age seven, and has been singing ever since. A graduate of both New England Conservatory of Music and Tufts University, Ms. Montalbano can be heard on five GRAMMY Award-winning albums: Ochre (2024), Born (2023), Lansing McLoskey’s Zealot Canticles (2019), Gavin Bryars’ The Fifth Century (2018), John Adams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning work, On the Transmigration of Souls (2005). She appears on over 30 commercial recordings, including Douglas Cuomo’s opera Arjuna’s Dilemma, Kile Smith’s Vespers, Lewis Spratlan’s Hesperus is Phosphorus, Edie Hill’s Evolutionary Spirits, Ted Hearne’s Sound from the Bench, and her debut solo album, Sea Tangle: Songs from the North.
Ms. Montalbano has been a guest artist with the Lancaster Symphony, Folger Consort, Lyric Fest, Choral Arts Philadelphia, Network for New Music, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, and Piffaro, the Renaissance Band. Her voice has been hailed as “pure, suave and sensuous” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and “impeccable” (Broad Street Review).
Her debut album, Sea Tangle: Songs from the North, featuring all women composers and performers, was released in December 2016.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Ms. Montalbano turned to the digital world. She wrote, produced, and starred in an interactive digital one-woman show called The Bodice Ripper Project, which had its world premiere at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, and she started a podcast of the same name. Other world premiere projects from 2020-2026, both live and digital, include Shara Nova’s Titration (The Crossing/Warren Miller Performing Arts Center), Pete Wyer’s Spring Street Opera (American Opera Projects), Jennifer Rosenfeld’s The White Rose (a podcast musical), Lansing McLoskey’s One Book Called Ulysses (Network for New Music), and Gregory Spears’ Sleepers, Awake (Opera Philadelphia).
In the 2026-27 season, Ms. Montalbano will be performing in Stars, Lyric Fest’s season opener, as well as Opera Philadelphia’s revival of Gershwin’s Let ‘Em Eat Cake. She is currently developing a new album that incorporates some of her own compositions as well as commissioning emerging composers.
Ms. Montalbano lives in New Jersey and sings professionally throughout a wide geographic area with such groups as Opera Philadelphia, Trio Eos, and The Crossing. She champions independent artists and strives to bring voice to the unheard. Ms. Montalbano currently studies voice with Elizabeth Daniels.