Gaia Alelí Szames

Gaia Szames is an Argentinean soprano specialised in Early Music. Based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, her main focus is the Italian and French music from the 16th and 17th-centuries. While her interest and explorations strongly reside in the polyphonic music of that period, her artistic versatility often leads her to participate in projects ranging from early medieval repertory to contemporary music. 

Both as a soloist and ensemble singer, Gaia has been involved in projects directed by several conductors such as Andres Locatelli, Adrian van Der Spoel, Eduardo Lopez Banzo, Guy van Waas, Alessandro Quarta, Lisandro Abadie, among others. Gaia has had the pleasure to sing a diverse range of repertoires under the lead of worldwide performers, such as Spanish and Latin American polyphony with Jonatan Alvarado, Italian Renaissance polyphony with Claron McFadden and Mike Fentross, 18th-century French music with Le Trèfle Fleuri, Polish and Spanish 20th-century songs with the keyboard player Maciej Skrzeczkowski and newly composed pieces with Izak de Dreu.

Gaia is founder and director of Polysemía, an ensemble devoted to the performance of the madrigal genre, one of her true artistic passions. She is also a member of [H]Éros Ensemble, an ensemble dedicated to early baroque French repertoires, and is also a co-founder of the Auræ ensemble. Also, she has sung in festivals around Europe such as Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Festival di musica Antica in Urbino and Generación SMADE. 

On stage, Gaia Szames was seen in the role of Euridice and La Musica (L’Orfeo by C. Monteverdi), Belinda (Dido and Aeneas by H. Purcell) and Alphise (Les Boréades by Jean-Philippe Rameau). She sang as a soloist in various oratorios, including Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, W. A. Mozart’s Requiem and C-minor Mass, Charpentier’s Te Deum and in cantatas by J. S. Bach such as Ich habe genung (BWV82a).

Her specialization in early repertoire began with her studies in Early Music at the Conservatorio de Música Manuel de Falla in Buenos Aires. In 2020, she moved to Europe to pursue her studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam under the guidance of Xenia Meijer, with whom she obtained her Bachelor’s diploma and is currently doing her Master’s studies. She is also pursuing a Master’s in Advanced Vocal Ensemble Studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis under the guidance of Lisandro Abadie, Björn Schmelzer, Andrés Locatelli, and Stratton Bull. Gaia received important guidance in singing with Margreet Honig, Lucia Caihuela, Claron McFadden, Emma Kirby, and Eduardo Rojas.