Maria Francesca Mazzara

Soprano

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Studia danza classica, si diploma in canto lirico con il massimo dei voti al Conservatorio “V. Bellini” di Palermo e si perfeziona in tecnica vocale e interpretazione con il soprano Luciana Serra. Vincitrice di numerosi Concorsi Lirici Internazionali. Nel 2023 è soprano solista al Concerto per i cento anni dalla nascita di Franco Zeffirelli a Firenze presso la Fondazione Zeffirelli e ai concerti di Capodanno al Teatro Marruccino di Chieti e dell'Aquila con l'Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese. Nel 2022 è Violetta in La traviata al Luglio Musicale Trapanese, ruolo già cantato al Teatro Massimo di Palermo, al Teatro Antico di Taormina, all’Opera Națională di Bucarest e all'Opera Română Craiova (Romania), all’Opera di Astrakhan; è stata Violetta anche in Teresa Valèry rivisitazione della Traviata a cura di Teresa Mannino al Teatro Massimo di Palermo, al Teatro di Verdura e al Teatro Antico di Taormina. Nel 2022 è Soprano nei Carmina Burana di Orff al Teatro Massimo di Palermo, solista al Concerto per lo “Spring of Culture Festival Manama”, Bahrain, Hall of Culture, organizzato dal Teatro Massimo in collaborazione con l’Ambasciata d'Italia in Bahrain e la Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities. Nel 2021 è Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor come copertura al Teatro Massimo di Palermo, ruolo cantato anche in Giappone in tournée con il Teatro Verdi di Trieste, al Teatro Marruccino a Chieti e al Duluth Summer Art Festival negli USA. È stata anche Norina in Don Pasquale all'Opera Română Craiova (Romania), Elvira in L’Italiana in Algeri al Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Gilda in Rigoletto al Politeama Greco di Lecce, Musetta in La bohème al Politeama di Lecce e a Trapani per il Luglio Musicale Trapanese, Rosina ne Il barbiere di Siviglia al Festival dell’Egeo (Grecia), ruolo interpretato in Italia e all'estero al Teatro Opera Română Craiova, al Teatro Filarmonia Podkarpacka di Rezsow (Polonia) e in tournée; è stata Rosina anche in Figaro!, produzione dell’Opera di Roma in coproduzione con il Teatro Massimo di Palermo. Esegue recital a Parigi, Oper im Berg Festival a Salisburgo (Austria), al Teatro Olimpico di Vicenza, al Teatro dell’Opera di Astrakhan. Canta in produzioni sacre come lo Stabat Mater di Rossini nella Basilica di Sant’Apollinare a Ravenna, il Gloria di Vivaldi e la Messa dell’Incoronazione di Mozart alla Carnegie Hall di New York.

Soprano

“One of the fiercest dramatic talents in the field” (The New York Times), Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian’s “versatility is astounding” (The Times) with a “wild voice [that is] rich and dark” (Le Monde). Regularly engaged at the world’s leading opera houses, she has recently performed at the Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro Real Madrid, the Salzburger Festspiele, and Teatro alla Scala. She was a founding member of Vilnius City Opera, has twice been awarded the Golden Stage Cross (the highest award for singers in Lithuania), was named Best Female Lead in 2019 at the Austrian Music Theater Awards, and was named Female Opera Singer of the Year in 2022 by the Ópera XXI Association.

Her 2022/23 season begins with Rusalka with the Czech Philharmonic, a role she reprises at the Royal Opera House and the Bayerische Staatsoper. Asmik also returns to three other signature title roles this season: Jenufa at the Staatsoper Berlin and the Wiener Staatsoper, Manon Lescaut at Frankfurt Oper and Salome which will be toured with the Tokyo Philharmonic in Japan, and performed in concert at the Philharmonie de Paris. Further role reprises include Nastasya in Tschaikovsky’s Charodeika at Frankfurt Oper, and Nedda (Pagliacci) at the Wiener Staatsoper at the end of her season. Concert performances include R. Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and then at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, and a tour with the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Mathias Goerne, performing Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14. Asmik gives recitals throughout Europe, including Teatro alla Scala, Wiener Konzerthaus, and Opernhaus Zürich. In the Summer of 2022, she makes her role debut as Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s Macbeth at the Salzburger Festspiele, performs in recital with Lukas Geniusas at the Salzburger Festspiele and at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence (where she makes her debut), and performs in the Midsummer Night's Gala at Grafenegg Festival. 

Asmik’s first recording, in collaboration with the pianist Lukas Geniusas, Dissonance, was released on March 25th, 2022 on Alpha.  A collection of Rachmaninov songs, the duo subsequently performed this program in a series of recitals around Europe in 2022, including Grand Théâtre de Genève, Graz Musikverein and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg among many others. 

Asmik has made a name for herself on both the concert and operatic platforms since her international career began with a triumphant performance in Madama Butterfly at the Royal Swedish Opera. She then went on to perform to conquer role after role including: Salome at the Salzburg Festival (described as “a Salome to end all Salomes” (Financial Times), now available on DVD) and the Bolshoi Theater, Fedora at the Royal Swedish Opera House, the three leading roles in Puccini’s Il Trittico  at the Salzburger Festspeiele, Marie in Wozzeck at the Salzburger Festspiele (recorded on DVD) and Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Manon Lescaut at Oper Frankfurt, the Wiener Staatsoper and at the Bolshoi Theatre, Marietta in Korngold’s Die tote Stadt at Teatro alla Scala, Iolanta at Oper Frankfurt, Cio-Cio San at the Wiener Staatsoper, Chrysothemis in Elektra at the Salzburger Festspiele (available on DVD), Rusalka at the Teatro Real Madrid (available on DVD), Jenufa at the Royal Opera House and the Staatsoper Berlin, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin at the Wiener Staatsoper, Pique Dame at the Teatro alla Scala, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd at Vilnius City Opera, and Senta in Der Fliegende Hollander at the Bayreuth Festspiele (available on DVD). On the concert stage, she has performed Shostakovich 14 with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Alexander Shelley, Beethoven IX under Riccardo Muti at the Salzburg Festival, Aids-Stiftung Gala at the Staatsoper Berlin, Marie in Drei Bruchstücke aus Wozzeck at the Teatro del Maggio and the Elbphilharmonie conducted by Zubin Mehta, and Iolanta with the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Kirill Petrenko. 

Asmik works with many of the world's leading conductors including Valery Gergiev, Gianandrea Noseda, Vasily Petrenko, Franz Welser-Möst, Yves Abel, Vladimir Jurowski, Markus Stenz, Mikhail Tatarnikov, Alan Gilbert, and Michael Tilson Thomas. Asmik frequently collaborates with top stage directors including Dmitri Tcherniakov, Romeo Castellucci, Claus Guth, Dalia Ibelhauptaitė, Christof Loy, Barrie Kosky, Alex Ollé, Peter Konwitschny, Robert Wilson, and Vasily Barkhatov to name a few.