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. <<cut>>
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.