After piano and violin lessons, Maria Portela Larisch was accepted into the children’s choir of the Theatre of La Monnaie at the age of eight. She soon received her first singing lessons from Eunice Arias before starting to study at the IMEP (Namur, Belgium) in 2015.

Having integrated the Choir Academy of La Monnaie (MM Academy) in 2016, Maria Portela Larisch has since then sung the roles of un’Apparizione in Verdi’s « Macbeth », un Pâtre in Fauré’s « Pénélope» as well as Mála Bystrouska in Janácek’s « Foxie ! The Cunning little Vixen».

This gave her the opportunity to work with conductors such as Michel Plasson, Antonello Macacorda, Alain Altinoglu, Paolo Carignani, Hervé Niquet, Ben Glassberg and stage directors such as Andrea Breth, Romeo Castellucci and Christophe Coppens.

Since 2018, Maria Portela Larisch has been studying at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln with Prof. Christoph Prégardien, where she finished her master in Lied in 2022. She is currently pursuing her studies with Prof. Kai Wessel.

In 2023, she won the first prize of the Internet Liedwettbewerb der HfMT Köln in duo with Jou-an Chen.

Maria Portela Larisch is a member of Cantus Portugueses and a founding member of the trio Gilu, with which she recorded her first solo cd (Garland – 16 songs for soprano, violin and harp). She has a special love for chamber music, contemporary music and improvisation.