This week's Contralto Update features Ursula Boese.

Ursula Boese had an extensive career both on the Opera stage and the concert circuit. Her repertoire raged from Bach and Handel to Wagner and Menotti, and everything in between.

Check out her pages and the video below.

Svetlana Vinnik was the finalist in the Ukranian TV show "X Factor 2" and the show "Star Ring." She possesses a rare and unique tone and appearance, and has Spanish roots. During her solo career, Svetlana has released four original songs, including "Heart", which were a hit on radio stations in Ukraine and the Russian Federation, and she has produced her first music video for the song "I called."

Sharmay Musacchio, the American Dramatic Contralto with "fantastic acting chops and a rich contralto voice that luxuriates in the lower register" will take on the role of Eunice Hubbel in Fresno Grand Opera's production of A Streetcar Named Desire this Sunday 15th Feb. Sharmay has already performed this role with Townsend Opera, to rave reviews, on the 23rd and 25th of January this year.

Sharmay will sing alongside tenor Robert Norman, who will play her on-stage husband, Steve Hubbel, and Barihunk Dan Kempson, who will take on the role of Stanley Kowalski.

Tickets can be purchased at the Fresno Opera Website.

This weeks Contralto Update features Guadalupe Larzabal.

Buenos Aires born Contralto Guadalupe Larzabal made her debut as an opera singer in 2001 in "Les mamelles of Tiresias” by Francis Poulenc. More recently, in 2013 she performed as the contralto soloist in the opera "Dionysos" by Wolfgang Rihm, and she made her debut in Argentina in the role of Azucena in Verdi's "Il Trovatore."

Check out her page and the video below.

Helen Kate Shapiro (born 28 September 1946) is an English pop/Jazz singer and actress. She is best known for her 1960s UK chart toppers, "You Don't Know" and "Walkin' Back to Happiness".

In 1961, aged fourteen, she had a UK No. 3 hit with her first single, "Don't Treat Me Like a Child" and two number one hits in the UK, "You Don't Know" and "Walkin' Back to Happiness". The latter did not top the UK chart until 19 October 1961, by which time Shapiro had reached 15, on 26 September. She had a No. 2 in 1962 with "Tell Me What He Said", achieving her first four single releases in the top three of the UK Singles Chart. Most of her recording sessions were at EMI's studios at Abbey Road in north west London. Her mature voice made her an overnight sensation, as well as the youngest female chart topper in the UK.

Shapiro's final UK Top Ten hit single was with the ballad "Little Miss Lonely", which peaked at No. 8 for two weeks in 1962. Shapiro's recording manager at the time was Norrie Paramor.

Before she was sixteen years old, Shapiro had been voted Britain's "Top Female Singer". The Beatles' first national tour of Britain, in the late winter/early spring of 1963, was as her supporting act. During the course of the tour, the Beatles had their first hit single and John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the song "Misery" for her, but Shapiro did not record the composition. In 1995, during a This is Your Life highlighting her life and career, Shapiro revealed, "It was actually turned down on my behalf before I ever heard it, actually. I never got to hear it or give an opinion. It's a shame, really." Shapiro lip-synched her then-current single, "Look Who It Is", with three of The Beatles (John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison) on the British television programme Ready Steady Go!.

This week's Contralto Update features Angela Riefenthaler.

Angela is a member of the Volksoper Wein Choir. In 2012, she performed in the Volks Oper Wein production of Madame Pompadour as Léonie. From October 2014, Angela will be studying for a Master's degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna for vocal pedagogy with Prof. Vierlinger.

Check out her page and the video below.