Anna Shafajinskaia

Anna Shafajinskaia is one of the world's foremost dramatic sopranos. Recent triumphs have included the title role in LA GIOCONDA for the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, a role repeated later last season in Liège and Nice. She returned to Finnish National Opera as Lisa PIQUE DAME and to Den Norske Opera as TOSCA.  She also made her role debut as Fata Morgana L'AMOUR DES TROIS ORANGES for the Nederlandse Opera and her Spanish debut as TURANDOT for the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona (which she has also just sung in Detroit). She made her role debut as Leonora LA FORZA DEL DESTINO at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (a role she subsequently sang at the National Theatre in Tokyo) and sang further performances of Turandot for the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago. She has just made her role debut as Abigaille NABUCCO for Dallas Opera and sung Maddalena ANDREA CHENIER in Barcelona. Future plans include Turandot in Adelaide, South Australia and the title role TOSCA for New York City Opera.

Anna Shafajinskaia is one of the world's foremost dramatic sopranos. Recent triumphs have included the title role in LA GIOCONDA for the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, a role repeated later last season in Liège and Nice. She returned to Finnish National Opera as Lisa PIQUE DAME and to Den Norske Opera as TOSCA.  She also made her role debut as Fata Morgana L'AMOUR DES TROIS ORANGES for the Nederlandse Opera and her Spanish debut as TURANDOT for the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona (which she has also just sung in Detroit). She made her role debut as Leonora LA FORZA DEL DESTINO at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (a role she subsequently sang at the National Theatre in Tokyo) and sang further performances of Turandot for the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago. She has just made her role debut as Abigaille NABUCCO for Dallas Opera and sung Maddalena ANDREA CHENIER in Barcelona. Future plans include Turandot in Adelaide, South Australia and the title role TOSCA for New York City Opera.

Born in the Ukraine, she later moved to Canada taking Canadian nationality. After winning the Luciano Pavarotti International Competition, she came to the attention of an international public and was invited to sing the title role in TOSCA opposite Luciano Pavarotti (conducted by Marco Armiliato). She has gone on to sing this role in theatres throughout the world, including the Bastille in Paris (conducted by Marcello Viotti), New York City Opera (where she was awarded the Richard Gold Debut Award for her interpretations of both TOSCA and TURANDOT), the Finnish National Opera and Den Norske Oper.

Her debut as AIDA for Opera Ontario, conducted by Daniel Lipton, was followed by her debut as Madeleine de Coigny ANDREA CHENIER for Den Norske Opera. Her subsequent debut as TURANDOT for Welsh National Opera secured her reputation as one of the foremost exponents of this role, with subsequent appearances including Covent Garden (conducted by Marco Armiliato), Liège for Opéra Wallonie, Dallas, The Bolshoi in Moscow, St Petersburg in the Francesco Zambello production (conducted by Alexander Vedernikov), San Diego, Florida and The Netherlands Opera with the new Act III ending by Luciano Berio, conducted by Riccardo Chailly. Her appearances in Italy have included the Teatro Comunale di Firenze as Lady Macbeth MACBETH, conducted by Julia Jones, and Palermo conducted by Gabriele Ferro. Other international highlights have included her debut in the role of Lisa PIQUE DAME in Dallas.

Her concert highlights include Britten War Requiem for the Porto 2001 Festival and Gala concerts with the Odense Symphony Orchestra in South Africa and at Opéra de Montréal. She also appeared in Verdi Messa da Requiem in Italy, and she sang the role of Fiora L'AMORE DEI TRE RE at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

Recent highlights include the title role of IOLANTA for the Louisville Orchestra and Kentucky Opera conducted by Jorge Mester; Britten War Requiem in Porto and the title role in TURANDOT for the National Centre for the Performing Arts in China and at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Future Plans include Maddalena de Coigny ANDREA CHENIER at Teatro Real in Madrid; the title role in TURANDOT for Guangzhou Opera in China with Lorin Maazel and the title role in LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK for Israeli Opera.