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Katerina Oikonomou

Soloist, Soprano
She was born to Greek parents in Tashkent, where she received her first music lessons. After relocating to Greece, she won an award at the international competition ""Maria Callas"" and secured a scholarship to study at the Music Academy of Cologne under Josef Metternich. She attended seminars in Italy alongside Iris Adami-Corradetti. She first appeared in the title role of Richard Strauss's Salome in Würzburg (1984-85) and, subsequently, at the Zurich Opera House (1986). She sang leading soprano roles in opera houses and festivals around the world, including: Paris Opera, Metropolitan Opera of New York, Spoleto ""Festival of the Two Worlds"" (1988, 1989, 1990, 1993), Florence Maggio Musicale (1990), Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste (Fidelio, 1990), Rome Opera House (1991), Livorno (Rustic Chivalry / Cavalleria Rusticana, 1990), Bilbao (world premiere of Mikis Theodorakis's opera Medea, 1991), Verona Arena Festival, La Scala (Prokofiev's The Fiery Angel, 1993), Opera of Catania (The Flying Dutchman/Der fliegende Holländer, 1992), etc. For her performances in Spoleto, she was awarded the Golden Pegasus by the Union of Italian Critics. She worked with prominent Greek and foreign conductors (Spyros Argyris, Lukas Karytinos, Bruno Bartoletti, Kent Nagano) and directors (Spyros Evangelatos, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Liliana Cavani). She recorded works by Tchaikovsky, Glinka and Dargomyzhsky. Today she lives and works in Larisa, where she teached solo singing. She collaborate with the GNO during the years 1992-1998, interpreting the following five roles: Amelia (A Masked Ball / Un ballo in maschera), the title role in Medea by Mikis Theodorakis (coproduction with the Athens Festival, Herodeion, 1992-93), Katerina Lvovna Izmailova (Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District), Abigaille (Nabucco) and Ariadne (Ariadne on Naxos / Ariadne auf Naxos). // Last update of the biography: December 2015.