At just eleven years old, Aina Amaro Llufriu, who has family roots in Menorca, has sung on the stage of Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, one of Europe’s great opera houses, in a production of Jules Massenet’s Werther.
Musical beginnings
Aina joined the Cor Vivaldi – Petits Cantors de Catalunya at the age of six. The children’s choir, linked to a school in Barcelona, regularly performs in concerts and festivals and takes part in competitions, giving its young members extensive stage experience. With the choir, Aina has sung in competitions and festivals across Spain, including a national choral competition in Cantabria where the group reached the final. She also studies the violin.
On stage at the Liceu
Werther, based on Goethe’s novel, tells the story of a young poet’s doomed love for Charlotte. Children play an important role in the opera, as Charlotte’s younger brothers and sisters, singing a Christmas song that frames the story.
Aina was one of six singers chosen from the choir for the production, directed by Christof Loy, in which the Basque tenor Xabier Anduaga sang the title role for the first time. She admits she felt nervous just before going on stage, but the excitement soon took over. Performing alongside leading opera singers, she said, gave her a glimpse of what it means to work in a great opera house.
School and music
Aina combines rehearsals and performances with school, where she has excellent grades. For now, she sees music as a passion she would never want to give up, whatever she does in future.
A link with Menorca
Aina spends Christmas and part of the summer in Menorca with family, and says she loves the island and the sea — so much that she would like to become a marine biologist. One of her wishes is that her choir could one day sing at the Teatre Principal de Maó, bringing together her two worlds.
Young voices
Children’s choirs like the Cor Vivaldi play an important role in opera houses, which regularly need young singers for productions such as Werther, La Bohème or Carmen. For the children, these experiences are an extraordinary training — and for some, the first step towards a life in music.
