The Portuguese soprano, Orlanda Velez Isidro, started her singing studies at the Conservatory of Music of Lisbon with Maria Repas Gonçalves. She graduated in Musicology by the University of Lisbon (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) in 1997. She sang in the Gulbenkian Choir of Lisbon from 1992 until 1997. After finished her studies in Portugal, she moved to Holland to study with Rita Dams and Lenie van den Heuvel at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, where she graduated in 2000. In this conservatory she took repertoire lessons with Jill Feldman, Marius van Altena and Meinard Kraak. She has taken lessons and master-classes with Nico van der Meel, Jennifer Smith, Elly Ameling, Diane Forlano and Barbara Pierson. She also took regular lessons with Ronald Kleekamp (Holland), Rolande van der Paal (Belgium) and with Jill Feldmann for the Baroque repertoire. She participated in the "Concours International de Chant Baroque de Chimay-Belgique" in September 2001, where she got the third place.
Professionally Orlanda Velez Isidro sings with the Amsterdam Baroque Choir (Ton Koopman), and with the Dutch Chamber Choir (Nederlands Kamerkoor) in Holland. As a soloist she sang with several conductors like Eduardo Lopez Banzo; Michel Corboz with the Gulbenkian Orchestra and Choir; Frans Brüggen in the Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream (recording as solo sopran with the Orchestra of the 18th Century, under Frans Brüggen); William Christie in the project Ambronay 98, in November 2002 in the project "Le Jardin des Voix" with Les Arts Florissants, in Versailles 2003, (recording Moulinié Motets) and last September 2004, recorded sacred music of Charpentier; with Ton Koopman and The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir in several programs like Monteverdi, J.S. Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (recording Matthäus-Passion 1769), and Georg Frideric Handel; and with Fredrik Malmberg and the Helsingborgs Symfoniorkester in November 2004.
In the operatic repertoire Orlanda Velez Isidro was Miss Jessel, in Benjamin Britten's The turn of the Screw, in the Oporto 2001 Festival, conducted by Brad Cowen; she will perform in June 2005, Madame Mao, in a Dutch production of John Adams' Nixon in China.
Orlanda's preferences for repertoire are Renaissance, Baroque and contemporary music. She performs regularly recitals of Baroque Music with ensembles such as De Swaen, Musica Temprana (Recording Al Uso de Nuestra Tierra), The Kassiopeia Quintet (recording I, II and III books of Madrigals of C. Gesualdo), Segréis de Lisboa (recording "Musica na Obra de Gil Vicente") and the Ensemble Udite Amanti. She has also participated in Jill Feldman's CD of Italian Baroque vocal music, singing Mazzocchi duets.
