Maria Marketou-Voudouri
Soloist, Mezzo-Soprano
She was born in Athens. She attended the German School of Athens. She studied Political science at the Panteion University and continued her musical studies at the Hellenic Conservatory and at the Berlin University of the Arts under Klavdia Matsouki, Herbert Brauer, Julietta Simionato and Christa Ludwig. She has appeared numerous times at the Opera National de Paris, the Opera de Lyon, the Berlin Philharmonic Concert Hall, in Vienna, Brussels, Nuremberg, Bilbao, Jena as well as during the Festivals of Salzburg, Berlin and Corfu. She sung in the world premiere of the opera Medea by Gavin Bryars, directed by Robert Wilson (Lyon & Paris, 1984). During the years 1981-2003 she appeared in about 55 GNO productions and/or revivals. She has performed leading and major roles in 29 operas, such as: Preziosilla [The power of Fate /La forza del destino], Madalena [Rigoletto], Hänsel [Hänsel und Gretel], Mrs. Paige [Falstaff], Suzuki [Madame Butterfly/Madama Butterfly], Mary [The flying Dutchman /Der fliegende Holländer], Sonyetka [Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District], 3rd Lady [The magic flute /Die Zauberflöte], Fenena [Nabucco], Cerubino [The marriage of Figaro /Le nozze di Figaro], Olga [Eugene Onegin], Nicklaus [The tales of Hoffmann /Les contes d’ Hoffmann], Azucena [The Troubadour/ Il trovatore] (Herodeion, 1982), Handmaiden [Medea] (Herodeion, 1993), Martha [Faust] (Herodeion 1994) and more. She has also sang in the Greek Midsummer’s night dream by Pericles Koukos, Viva la vida by Minas Alexiadis, Shadowy waters [Ta xotika nera] by M. Kalomoiris and Karyotakis by M. Theodorakis. She has worked with various Greek orchestras, such as the Athens State Orchestra, the Thessaloniki State Orchestra, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) Symphony Orchestra and the National Youth Symphony Orchestra. She has also appeared on a regular basis at the Athens Concert Hall. She also and teaches opera singing at the “Nikolaos Matzaros” Conservatory.