Marissia (Maria – Anastasia) Papalexiou
Soloist, Mezzo-Soprano
She was born in Athens and studied singing under Kiki Morfoniou and melodrama under Kostas Paskalis at the Athens Conservatoire (1996-2002). She also studied law at the University of Athens. She has appeared in concerts and recitals and participated as soloist in the productions of The Woman without a Shadow [Die Frau ohne Schatten] at the Athens Concert Hall and Madama Butterfly at Thessaloniki Concert Hall. In 2003 she continued her studies in Paris and Germany, where she met the mezzo-soprano Jane Henschel, with whom they are still practicing together to date. In France, she sang roles in productions of the operas L'enfant et les sortilèges and Die Zauberflöte, while she gave Lied concerts and joined others as a soloist, performing works of religious music, such as Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass [Krönungsmesse], Hendel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Magnificat, etc. In 2006 she sang Carmen at the Summer Festival in Nice (France). In 2008, she collaborated with the Opera of Thessaloniki on the staging of La traviata and with the Child Opera Festival (Opera Pais), performing works by contemporary Greek composers. She appeared in the Festival of the Aegean, signing the roles Maddalena (Rigoletto) and Mercédès (Carmen). In collaboration with the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra and the Athens State Orchestra, she sang the title role in Spyros Samaras’ opera Tigra, in a world premiere (2010). She has collaborated with the GNO as a chorister and has sang numerous roles in such productions as Madama Butterfly, Marathon – Salamis etc. // Last update of the biography: December 2015.