Irini Karaianni

She was born in Athens. She studied singing at the Athenaeum Conservatory (Athens) and the National Conservatoire, as well as French Literature at the University of Athens. She won scholarships from the Onassis and the Maria Callas Foundations, on which she continued her studies at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Rome, under Victoria De Los Angeles in Barcelona and Maria Luisa Cioni in Milan. She also took acting and dance classes in London, as a member of the Mayer Lisman Opera Centre. She debuted as Elektra in George Kouroupos’ opera Pylades at the Athens Concert Hall (1991/92). Subsequently, she appeared in many productions by the Athens Concert Hall. She debuted at the GNO in 1994, singing the role of Siébel [Faust] (Herodeion, 1993/94). During 1998-2014, she sang starring and basic mezzo-soprano roles in the operas: The escapees of the checkerboard [Oi drapetes tis skakieras], Alcina (as Bradamante), The Brief Life [La vida breve], Nixon in China, Gianni Schicchi, The puritans [I puritani] (as Enrichetta di Francia), Cavalleria rusticana (as Lola), Cinderella [La Cenerendola] (as Angelina), Werther (as Charlotte), etc. She collaborated with the Opera of Thessaloniki, the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, the Greek Festival, the Orchestra of Colors, the Soloists of Patra, etc. She sang the roles of Hippolyta and Titania in Dimitris Papadimitriou’s opera A Midsummer Night’s Dream (National Theater, 1999/2000). She gave concerts in many cities of Greece and appeared in operas in Europe and America. She won First Prize at the Giuseppe Di Stefano International Opera Singing Competition, and sang the title role in the opera Carmen in the context of the Musical July in Trapani (Italy, 1998). She sang in many premieres of works by contemporary Greek composers (Kouroupos, Sfetsas, Markopoulos, Papadimitriou). Some of her performances are available on record.

Source: Greek National Opera Educational Virtual Museum