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Armonia Atenea, (former Athens Camerata) was founded in 1991 by the Friends of Music Society of Athens and is currently considered one of the most active and diverse European ensembles with an important presence in the international music scene. 

As resident at the Megaron, the Athens Concert Hall, since its foundation, and affiliated to the Onassis Cultural Centre, since 2011, AA has developed a multifaceted artistic identity. The Orchestra performs an extremely wide repertoire, both on period and modern instruments, presenting concerts, opera, music theatre and ballet productions. 

The artistic director of AA is the Echo Klassik winning conductor George Petrou. Former artistic directors include sir Neville Marriner, Christopher Warren-Green and Alexander Myrat.

Armonia Atenea is today a major ambassador of contemporary Greek culture, being the only Greek ensemble that performs regularly at the most significant European concert halls, theatres and festivals, such as the Musikverein and the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, the Salle Pleyel and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the Opéra Royal de Versailles, the Bozar in Brussels, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, the Opèra de Monte-Carlo, the Palau de la Mùsica in Barcelona. Armonia Atenea is the first Greek Orchestra to appear at the prestigious BBC Proms, in 2014. 

In Athens, AA holds very successful concert cycles at Megaron and the Onassis Cultural Centre. Furthermore, it appears every year at the Athens Festival, presenting concerts and opera productions. 

The Orchestra has been recording for several of the world's leading record labels (DECCA, Sony Classical, MDG, ECM). For its most recent releases, AA has repeatedly received the most desirable international awards: Diapason d’ Or, Gramophone-Editor's Choice, BBC Music Magazine - Recording of the Month, CHOC - Classica, as well as the "Best Recording of the Year" award in the International Opera Awards 2013. Also, the viewers of MEZZO TV voted the opera Alessandro by Handel, as the best opera production of 2013. 

The Orchestra has collaborated with famous conductors and soloists such as Salvatore Accardo, Philippe Entremond, Martha Argerich, Karina Gauvin, Matthias Goerne, Vivica Genaux, Leonidas Kavakos, Stephen Bishop-Kovacevich, Julia Leszhneva, Radu Lupu, Misha Maiski, Yuri Bashmet, Sir Jehudi Menuhin, Joshua Bell, Fabio Biondi, John Williams, Mstislav Rostropovich, Arturo Sandoval, Max Emanuel Cencic, Heinrich Schiff, Thomas Hangelbrock and Christopher Hogwood. 

The activity of Armonia Atenea in the field of contemporary music is also remarkable: the Orchestra has premiered and recorded works of many contemporary composers (Antoniou, Karaindrou, Koumentakis, Couroupos, Kypourgos, Mantzaros, Marangopoulos, Mikroutsikos, Papadimitriou, Sicilianos, Hatzis, Hadjidakis, Kancheli, Koukos, Tavener) , many of which were composed especially for AA. 

The educational activities were always of great importance for AA. Since its foundation the Orchestra has presented many concerts and ground breaking educational programmes all over Greece. 

In 1996 the Orchestra was awarded the Music Prize of the Greek Critics Union for its artistic and educational work. 

Armonia Atenea is supported by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture.

Grammy nominee and Echo Klassik winner George Petrou, is one of the most distinguished conductors of his generation, with a remarkable international career. He has particular interest in music of the 18th and 19th c. and is currently considered as one of the world's leading Baroque specialists. However, his activity is very wide including music of the 20 c. as well as contemporary. 

George Petrou is the artistic director of the renowned Athens based orchestra "Armonia Atenea”, with which he tours and records extensively, performing both on period or modern instruments. Additionally, he has developed a vivid interest in staging opera and musical theater productions and has recently signed several successful productions.

He has been a regular guest of major opera houses including Oper Leipzig, Théâtre de Capitole in Toulouse, Opéra de Strasbourg, Opéra de Nice, Theater an der Wien, Opéra de Lausanne, Korea National Opera, Teatro Petrucelli, Teatro Verdi di Trieste, Théâtre Champs-Elysées, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Stockholm Royal Opera, Greek National Opera, etc. He has performed at major festivals including Salzburg Pfingsfestspiele, BBC Proms, Klara Festival in Brussels, Handel festivals in Halle and Karlsruhe, collaborating with renowned orchestras. 

George Petrou has been a very active recording artist, collaborating with major recording companies, including Deutsche Gramophone, DECCA, MDG receiving the highest distinctions from the international press. 

He was recently honored as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, London (ARAM) and was awarded the title of "Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" from the French government.

Max Emanuel Cencic is one of the most fascinating and versatile singing artists in the world today, and one dedicated to the revival and performance of the music of the 18th century.

Season 2020/21 included a new production of Dalbavie's Le Soulier de Satin (world premiere) at the Paris Opera; at the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival he sings the role of Lottario and directs the new production of Porpora’s Carlo il Calvo, the title role in Vinci's Gismondo re di Polonia, Carmina Burana in the Wiener Konzerthaus, Hasse's Cajo Fabrizio, Carlo il Calvo in concert at the Theater an der Wien and in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Once more, he takes on Rossini's La Donna del Lago at the Zagreb Opera and at the festival in Saarema, where he directs the opera and sings the challenging role of Malcolm.

With his remarkable mezzo-soprano voice, Max Emanuel Cencic demonstrates that Baroque singing can be both technically brilliant and at the same time modern and emotionally engaging. For over two decades he has been performing in first rank opera houses, including the Wiener Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien, the Opernhaus Zürich, the Opéra Royal de Versailles, the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Barcelona’s Gran Teatro del Liceu, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris and Brussels’ La Monnaie.Concert engagements have taken him to the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Carnegie Hall (New York), the Barbican Center (London), Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Wiener Musikverein and Wiener Konzerthaus, and the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow. 

In addition, he has sung at numerous festivals worldwide including the renowned Salzburger Festpiele. He regularly works with such conductors as William Christie, René Jacobs, Ottavio Dantone, Diego Fasolis, George Petrou, Emmanuelle Haïm and Riccardo Muti. His education as a singer began as a member of the Wiener Saengerknaben (Vienna Boys’ Choir), with a solo career as a soprano from 1992, and as a counter-tenor from 2001.On 21st September 2017, Max Emanuel Cencic celebrated the 35th anniversary of his first appearance on stage, with a performance of Orfeo in Gluck‘s Orfeo ed Euridice.

Max Emanuel Cencic entrances his audiences with his numerous projects, opera productions, CD recordings, and extensive tours. As Artistic Director of Parnassus Arts Productions he is responsible for the conception, supervision and performance of important works of the Italian Baroque, among them the sensational re-discovery of Leonardo Vinci’s last opera, Artaserse, and, more recently, Arminio. As in its premiere in 1730 in Rome, this new production, performed with an all-male cast (including five counter-tenors), was widely praised, both in its live performances and on disc. His inspired revival of Vinci’s opera Catone in Utica, with four counter-tenors in the cast, was equally successful, both on stage and as a CD recording. The CD Ottone with Max Emanuel Cencic in title role has been nominated for a Grammy.

His solo-recordings are every bit as riveting: with Venezia he charmed audiences and critics alike with highlights from Venetian opera, while the CD Rokoko contained a fascinating compilation of arias from the extended and virtually unknown opus of Johann Adolph Hasse. Max Emanuel Cencic’s most recent, critically acclaimed CD, Arie Napoletane, is dedicated to masterpieces of the Neapolitan school. His wide-ranging discography includes several world premiere recordings and has received a number of awards, among them the Diapason d’Or, the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, and Croatia’s Porin Prize. His discs have been Editor’s Choice in Gramophone magazine on several occasions. The French Ministry of Culture has made him a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. 

Max Emanuel Cencic has become in the meantime also an acknowledged director. His live production of Hasse’s Siroe toured all over Europe and was released on CD by Decca. At the Händel festival in Karlsruhe in 2016 and 2017, he undertook the double role of lead singer and director of Händel’s opera Armino and for 2019 and 2020 he will direct Händel’s Serse and sing Arsamene. His 2019 Salzburger Pfingstfestspiele production of the rarely played opera Polifemo (Porpora) at the Felsenreitschule, were he also sang the role of Ulisse, was highly critically acclaimed. New productions in the upcoming years are Rossini‘s Tancredi, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Porpora’s Carlo il Calvo and Vinci’s Alessandro nell‘Indie.

Since september 2020, Max Emanuel Cencic has been Artistic Director of the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival. The first edition of the spectacular festival took place despite the corona crisis and was a huge success with the public and the press. 400,000 worldwide viewers followed the broadcasts online and all the performances in Bayreuth were sold out. Max Emanuel Cencic directed the new production of Carlo il Calvo where he also sang the role of Lottario. The production was awarded by the French magazine Forum Opera, best new opera production of the year 2020. In his first season as the artistic director, Max Emanuel Cencic invited world stars such as Joyce DiDonato, Franco Fagioli and Jordi Savall to Bayreuth. He also sang the title role in the concert version of the opera Gismondo re di Polonia by Vinci on the stage of the Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth. 

Season 2021/22 includes Porpora’s Carlo il Calvo and Polifemo in Bayreuth, Gismondo in Dortmund, Orlando Furioso in Paris and Orfeo ed Euridice in Berlin.

Ms. Lezhneva’s international career skyrocketed when she created a sensation at the Classical Brit Awards at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 2010, singing Rossini’s Fra il padre at the invitation of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. A decade later, she explores a broad repertoire with orchestras, conductors, festivals, operas and oratories. She made to great acclaim her debuts with Berliner Philharmoniker and at the Musikverein Wien, in October 2019 and December 2019, respectively. In 2020 season she returned to Mozartwoche Salzburg, this time with Sir András Schiff, as well as to the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées with a performance of Handel’s Alessandro with Kammerorchester Basel and Diego Fasolis.

Previous season, she gave her debuts with Wiener Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Wiener Symphoniker. The world’s top orchestras who invite Julia Lezhneva include the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Münchner Philharmoniker, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Mariinsky Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Orquestra Nacional de España, Evgeny Svetlanov Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra and Seoul Philharmonic. She works regularly with very well-known conductors like Adam Fischer, Giovanni Antonini, Herbert Blomstedt, Paavo Järvi, Vladimir Jurowski, and Andrea Marcon. 

In 2019 she was “Artist in Residence” at Kissinger Sommer. She is a welcome guest at the Salzburg Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Lucerne Festival, Dubrovnik Festival, Festival de la Vézère, Sion Festival, Nordland Musikfestukke Bodö to name a few. 

Ms. Lezhneva’s debut in Handel’s Alcina as Morgana at the Staatsoper Hamburg was widely celebrated in September 2018. She was immediately invited to return for Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) and additional performances of Alcina. In 2021, she sings the role of Poppea in Händel’s new production of Agrippina (director: Barrie Kosky) – again at Staatsoper Hamburg. She appears in several other opera productions including Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso (Angelica), Porpora’s Polifemo (Galatea), Germanico in Germania (Ersinda), Carlo il Calvo (Gildippe), Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (Susanna, Barberina), Handel’s Tamerlano. 

In winter 2019 she had her debut in Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium; the same season saw her in Händel’s Messiah and La Resurrezione, Vivaldi’s Juditha triumphans; spring 2019 she sang in Haydn’s Schöpfung and Mahler’s Symphony n° 4. Julia Lezhneva gives Lieder recitals, too, that brought her for example to Kissinger Sommer (2019) and to Vienna (2019); her repertoire includes Lieder from Russian, English and German composers. 

An exclusive Decca recording artist, Ms. Lezhneva released her latest solo album, Graun Arias, in 2017. Recorded with Concerto Köln, it won an OPUS Klassik in the following year. Other releases include Vivaldi Gloria with Franco Fagioli and Diego Fasolis (2018), Porpora Germanico in Germania with Max Emanuel Cencic (2018), Handel Arias with Il Giardino Armonico (2015), Ms. Lezhneva’s much acclaimed solo-debut Alleluia, also with Il Giardino Armonico (2014), and Pergolesi Stabat Mater with Philippe Jaroussky, Diego Fasolis, I Barocchisti and the Swiss Radio and TV Choir (2013). 

Born in 1989 in a family of geophysicists on Sakhalin Island off the Pacific Coast of Russia, Ms. Lezhneva began playing piano and singing at the age of five. She graduated from the Gretchaninov Music School and continued her vocal and piano studies at the Moscow Conservatory Academic Music College. At 17 she came to international attention as the winner of the Elena Obraztsova Opera Singers Competition, and was invited to share the stage with Juan Diego Flórez at the opening of the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro in the following year. In 2009, she won first prize at the Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition in Helsinki and the following year took first prize at the Paris International Opera Competition, as the youngest contestant in each competition’s history. 

Opernwelt magazine named her “Young Singer of the Year” in 2011 for her debut at La Monnaie in Brussels. The following year she performed at the Victoires de la Musique Classique in Paris. 

Julia Lezhneva’s teachers and mentors include Dennis O’Neill, Yvonne Kenny, Elena Obraztsova, Alberto Zedda, Richard Bonynge and Thomas Quasthoff.

Among the most renowned singers of her generation, Ruxandra Donose has captured critical and popular acclaim in leading opera houses and concert halls around the world. Particularly associated with the Mozart and French lyric repertoire, she has transitioned in recent year to the German dramatic repertoire, enjoying huge successes as Kundry Parsifal, with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic, Sieglinde with Vladmir Jurowski and London Philharmonic Orchestra, Elektra in Manfred Trojan’s Orest at Opernhaus Zurich and Fricka at Grand Theatre de Geneve.

The 2019/20 sees Donose making anticipated returns to the Royal Opera House as Brangaene in Christof Loy’s production of Tristan und Isolde and as Eboli in Don Carlo; to Wiener Staatsoper as Elektra in Marco Arturo Marelli’s production of Orest; as well as reprising the role of Sieglinde in semi-staged performances of Die Walküreat Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon. On the concert platform she performs La Damnation de Faust with Shanghai Symphony and Charles Dutoit; Ramise Arminio at the Enescu Festival in Bucharest; and an exciting debut as Judith in Bartok’sBluebeard’s Castle with Bamberg Symphoniker and Adam Fischer.

Last season she made her debut Fricka in Dieter Dorn’s production of The Ring Cycleat Grand Théâtre de Genève; Sieglinde Die Walküre with Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra; as well as returning to Grange Park Festival to star as Eboli in their acclaimed production of Don Carlo.

Further recent highlights include Kundry Parsifal in Baden-Baden; Norma at Opéra de Rouen; Jocasta in Enescu’s Oedipe at the Enescu Festival in Bucharest and the Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski; Orest in Zurich; Eboli Don Carlo at Grange Park; Eduige Rodelinda at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow; Arsace Semiramide in Lyon and Paris; Komponist and Donna Elvira at Royal Opera House and Deutsche Oper Berlin; Carmen in the UK premiere of Calixto Bieito’s production at ENO and in Cincinnati; the title role of La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein in Geneva; Idamante Idomeneo at the Ravinia Festival with James Conlon and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Octavian Der Rosenkavalier at Bayerische Staatsoper, Bolshoi and Cincinnati Opera; DorabellaCosì fan Tutte for LA Opera and Spoleto, Tamiri in a new production of Vivaldi ́s Il Farnace in Paris, Strasbourg and Mulhouse; Adalgisa Norma in Geneva; and Marguerite La Damnation de Faust in Seattle.

A highly demanded concert singer, Donose has appeared with many leading orchestras around the world. Recent concert engagements include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Philharmonia Orchestra and at the Tanglewood Festival; La mort de Cléopâtre with the Philharmonia Orchestra BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Das Lied von der Erde at the Enescu Festival; Mozart Requiem with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Verdi Requiem with the Czech Philharmonic and Fabio Luisi; Les nuits d’été on European tour with Liège Philharmonie; Rossini's Stabat Mater at Royal Festival Hall with London Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin; L’heure espagnole with London Symphony Orchestra and Josep Pons at the Barbican; and a Rosenblatt recital at the Wigmore Hall. One of the most in demand Marguerite La Damnation de Faust, the role has featured prominently in her concert career, with performances with the Berlin Sinfonie-Orchester, Berlin Philharmonic, Tokyo Philarmonic, the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zürich, Orchestre National du Capitôle in both Toulouse and Valencia; Orchestre de Paris; Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal. The role was also the vehicle for her Verbier Festival debut.

Amongst her acclaimed roles are Charlotte Werther (Royal Opera House, Deutsche Oper Berlin), Cenerentola (Glyndebourne Festival, Liege, Deutsche Oper Berlin), Sesto Giulio Cesare (Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne, San Francisco Opera, Vienna State Opera), Nicklausse (Royal Opera House, The Met, San Francisco Opera, Opera de Paris), Komponist (Royal Opera House, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Philadelphia), Concepcion L'heure espagnole (Royal Opera House), Octavian Der Rosenkavalier (Bayerische Staatsoper and Deutsche Oper Berlin. In 2008 she premiered the The Fly at Los Angeles Opera.

Her most recent recordings include Arminio for Decca, Tamerlano for Naïve and Caldara’s rediscovered opera La concordia dei Pianeti for Deutsche Grammophon as well as her first solo album Romance. Further discography includes Schubert’sStändchen (Philips), Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with Giuseppe Sinopoli (Deutsche Grammophon), Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Michael Halasz (Naxos), Bach’sMass in B minor with Sergiu Celibidache, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Béla Drahos (Naxos), Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with Bertrand de Billy (Arte Nova),La Cenerentola (DVD, Opus Arte), Oedipe (Naxos), Songs by Nicolae Bretan (Nimbus), Vivaldi ́s Il Farnace (EMI/Virgin) and many others.

Articles like these leave no doubt that Philipp Mathmann is establishing himself in the international Concert- and Opera business. The young German countertenor lives in Berlin, grew up in Lippstadt, Germany, and had his first lessons as a countertenor with Heike Hallaschka in Muenster. Since 2010, he has undertaken voice training with Renate Faltin (Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule, Berlin), and, since 2016, has had additional lessons with Annette Goeres (Berlin). He also received valuable inputs to his training from Ingeborg Danz, Kai Wessel and Barbara Schlick (Cologne), Antonio Lemmo (Rome), Nicholas Clapton and Dame Emma Kirkby (London). He was a scholar of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, the College of Music and Dance in Cologne, and the College of Music in Detmold.

During his studies, Mathmann was awarded the German National Prize Jugend Musiziert, and at the 2011 Giulio Perotti Singing Competition was honoured with not only a first prize, but an ‘extraordinary recognition’ for the best performance in the field of concert and oratorio. 

Mathmann performs regularly at international European festivals such as Winter in Schwetzingen; Bremer Musikfest; Festival Oude Muziek in Utrecht; MAfestival in Bruges, Festival della valle d’itria in Martina Franca, International Händelfestspiele in Göttingen and Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, Styriarte in Graz, the Händel-Festival Halle. He sang concerts at venues like the Tonhalle Concert Hall in Dusseldorf, at Frankfurt Opera, TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, Theater an der Wien in Vienna, etc. 

In 2011, Mathmann made his opera debut at the Château Sanssouci in Potsdam. Since, he has continued to enjoy leading opera roles, for example, he performed at the Opera of Heidelberg, the Opera of Winterthur (2017), at the Tage der Alten Musik of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR; in 2016). In 2017 he made his debut as a recording artist, performing in the world premiere recording of F. X. Richter’s oratorio La deposizione della croce di Gesu Cristo with the Czech Ensemble Baroque. In 2018, he gave his debut in Russia singing the main role “La Bellezza” in a fully staged production of “Il Trionfo del Tempo” at the Stanislavsky Theatre in Moscow. He was the first countertenor ever to perform this soprano main role and got nominated for it as best actor in Russia for the Golden Mask Award in 2019. 

Mathmann has participated in many productions for broadcast, working with organisations including ARTE, Hessischer Rundfunk, WDR, and Dutch Classical Radio (NPO Radio 4) together with great musicians and conductors such as Chistophe Rousset, George Petrou, Philipp Chizhevskiy, Dorothee Oberlinger or Diego Fasolis.

Countertenor Nicholas Tamagna has garnered widespread acclaim for his commanding yet expressive vocal timbre and breathtaking musicianship as well as superb acting skills, establishing himself as a leading countertenor in his generation.

Next season, he will be featured in the World Premiere of Magda G, a one-man opera by composer Garrett Fischer, at the New York's Prototype 2019 Festival and produced by Beth Morrison Projects. He will join the Florentine Opera Company in their upcoming production of L'incoronazione di Poppea as Ottone in 2019.

In 2017/18, Mr. Tamagna appears in a co-production with the Reisopera (in Enschede, Holland) and the Staatstheater Oldenburg (Germany), in the title role of Hasse's Siroe, Re di Persia. At the Musikfestspiele Potsdam, Germany he sings the role of Amore in L'Europa by Alessandro Melani at the Palace Sanssouci.

He also reprises his role in To Be or Not to Be (a Purcell/Shakespeare Pastiche) at the Philharmonie de Paris with French early music ensemble Le Poème Harmonique. He made his Spoleto Festival USA debut in 2017 as Pompeo in Vivaldi's Il Farnace. At Opera Omaha, he performed as The Refugee in the company premiere of Jonathan Dove's Flight. The 2015/16 season saw his Australian debut in a reprisal of the title role of Philip Glass' Akhnaten with the Melbourne Consort, and sang the alto solo in Vivaldi's Stabat Mater in a dance co-production with Malandain Ballet Biarritz and Opéra de Rouen (France). He made his Carnegie Hall debut as a soloist with Cecilia Chorus, where he sang Bach's Magnificat and the World Premiere of Jonathan Breit's Der Zippelfagottist as the title character. At Merkin Hall, he sang Goffredo in Rinaldo with operamission, and with One World Symphony he performed the title role in Sung Jin Hong's Hannibal. He joined le Poème Harmonique on tour as the Spirit in Dido and Aeneas at Opéra de Haute-Normandie Rouen, Opéra Royal de Versailles, and Opéra de Vichy between 2014-2016.

In 2014/15, he returned to the Händel-Festspiele in Karlsruhe, Germany as Oronte in Händel's Riccardo Primo, where he made his European debut the previous year. He joined the ensemble of Theater Münster as a guest in the role of Polinesso in Händel's Ariodante, and débuted at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden as Hassan in Zaid Jabri's Cities of Salt.

During the 2012/13 season, Nicholas Tamagna triumphed as Akhnaten with Indianapolis Opera, from which a filmed version was broadcast. Other role highlights of previous seasons include: the title role in the North American premiere of Händel's Rodrigo (operamission), Endimione in Cavalli's La Calisto (Vertical Repertory Players), Cesare in Händel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Bel Cantanti Opera), Farnace in Mozart's Mitridate, Re di Ponto (Little Opera Theatre of New York), the Duchess in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (Utopia Opera), Prince Orlofsky in Strauss's Die Fledermaus (Amore Opera), Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice (Opera Memphis), and Ruggiero in Händel's Alcina (Pocket Opera of New York).

Mr. Tamagna's recordings include: Spirit in Dido and Aeneas (2015, Outhere Music DVD), a featured soloist with the Canadian early music ensemble ¡Sacabuche! on their debut album (2016, ATMA Classique CD), and as the alto soloist on Son Of England: Music of Henry Purcell and Jeremiah Clarke (2017, Alpha Classics CD).

Mr. Tamagna was the 1st Prize winner of the inaugural Nico Castel International Mastersinger Competition and a recipient of the Arkadi Opera Foundation.

The young Bolivian Bass José Coca Loza is scheduled to make his debut at the Royal Opera House in London in the role of Lesbo in Agrippina staged by Barry Kosky and conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev. 

Other future invitations will include the bass part in Händel’s Messiah (Mozart Version) with Les Musiciens du Louvre and Marc Minkowski in a staging by Robert Wilson at the Mozart Woche in Salzburger and at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Rocco in a concert version of Fidelio in a European tour with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel and Mustafa in L'italiana in Algeri under the baton of Giancarlo Andretta in Granada. On the concert platform José is scheduled to sing the Mozart Requiem with the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich and The Hague Philharmonic Orchestra.

José recently sang the role of Haly in L'italiana in Algeri at the Salzburger Festspiele and at the Opéra Royal de Versailles with Ensemble Mattheaus and Jean-Christophe Spinosi conducting, Alidoro in La Cenerentola with Cecilia Bartoli at the Lucerne Festival and visiting venues such as the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona and Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, the role of Clistene in Vivaldi’s L’Olimpiade with Andrea Marcon conducting La Cetra Barockorchester at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Truffaldin in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Festival de Música de Canarias in Tenerife and Las Palmas. 

After completing his studies at the conservatory in Basel, José joined the Opera Studio at the theatre in Basel where he sang roles such as Melisso in Alcina, Alte Diener in Elektra and Marchese d'Obigny in La Traviata.

Mezzosoprano Sonja Runje completed her Master’s degree in Opera Studies with honors at the Music Academy, University of Zagreb, with Martina Gojčeta Silić. She is currently doing master studyies with Eva Blahova in Bratislava. 

She performed in various roles in Croatia and abroad such as Sesto in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, Smeraldina, Princess Linette and princess Nicolette in Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges, Isabella in L'italiana in Algeri, Calipso in Polifemo, Bradamante in Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso, Disinganno in Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice, Olga in Eugene Onegin, Mércèdes in Carmen and Maddalena in Rigoletto.

Ms. Runje often performs as an oratorio and concert soloist. Previous engagements include Haydn’s Nelson-Messe, Schubert’s Winterreise, J. S. Bach’s H-Moll Messe BWV 232, cantatas Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen (BWV 11) and Süßer Trost, mein Jesu kömmt (BWV 151), Duruflé’s Requiem, Papandopulo’s Croatian Mass, Mahler’s Symphony No.2, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mozart’s Requiem and Missa Brevis in B, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Stabat Mater, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Handel’s Messiah and Dixit Dominus, Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, with orchestras such as Zagreb Philharmonic, Zagreb Soloists, Croatian Baroque Ensemble, Dubrovnik Symphony, Montenegro Symphony and others. 

2020/21 season wаs all about Handel. Sonja interpreted the roles of Cornelia at the St. Gallen Theater in Giulio Cesare as well as Tolomeo at the HNK Rijeka and the Savonlinna Festival, the title role in Amadigi at the Garsington Festival and the role of Albina in Rossini's La Donna del Lago at the HNK in Zagreb and at the Saaremaa Festival. Upcoming appearances in the 2021/22 season include roles like Bradamante and the role debut as Alcina in Vivaldi's Orlando Furioso at the Klangvokalfestival Dortmund and the Seine Musicale in Paris, Dido and Aeneas in Helsinki, Calipso in Porpora’s Polifemo at the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival. 

Sonja Runje works regularly with well-known conductors such as George Petrou, Christian Curnyn, Ruben Dubrovsky, and Niksa Bareza.

Yaroslav Timofeev is a musicologist, lecturer, music critic, presenter, and concert host. Having graduated from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, he has been a prize-winner of international piano, composing and church bellringing competitions. In 2014, Yaroslav defended his Ph. D. thesis titled Stravinsky and “Khovanshina” in Sergei Diaghilev’s version: an attempt of historical research and source study. In 2015, he got the 1st degree Resonance award for Russian Young Musical Critics at the Diaghilev Festival. 

Since 2011, Yaroslav Timofeev has been a music reviewer authoring over 750 articles for leading Russian media, such as Izvestia, Kommersant, Russia Beyond the Headlines newspapers; The New Times, Music Academy, Musical Life magazines; Colta.ru portal; and Arzamas project, among others. He has also been a script-writer and editor of the Absolute Pitch and Artificial selection shows on the Kultura TV channel. In 2014–2015, he was an editor with the Culture Division of Izvestia newspaper. In 2009–2015, he headed the Musicology Section of MolOt (Junior Department of the Russian Composers Union). Since 2018, he has been the Chief Editor with the Musical Academy Magazine.

Yaroslav Timofeev has been a Jury member and an Expert Council member of the Golden Mask National Theatre Award. As a musical consultant, he was involved in the staging of the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. He has been working at the Moscow Philharmonic Society since 2010, presenting concerts of the project ‘Mom, I'm a Melomaniac’ since the 2017/18 season and being a permanent co-author and co-host of the ‘Music Language’ project since 2018/19. He also gives pre-concert lectures in Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov Concert Halls. In spring 2020, he hosted several online concerts of the Armchair Concerts series. 

Yaroslav has been a pianist with OQJAV indie group since 2017. As part of the group, he was awarded the Mikael Tariverdiev Prize for the Best Film Soundtrack at the Kinotavr festival (2020).