Greek-American mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas has been hailed for her “capacious power” and “a voice lustrous and exciting.” (San Francisco Chronicle). Ms. Karanas opens the current season with her Carnegie Hall debut in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Athens Philharmonic, Yiannis Hadjiloizou conducting. Additional engagements include a role and house debut as Herodias in Salome at Hawaii Opera Theatre and a house debut at Teatro Real (Madrid) as Lise in The Passenger, a signature role. Last season she made her debut at the Israeli Opera singing Lise in The Passenger, a role she has performed at Florida Grand Opera and Michigan Opera Theater following her successful debut of the role at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Other recent engagements include a major role debut as Kundry in Parsifal at the Lyric Opera of Chicago under Andrew Davis, and debuts at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Mother Marie in Dialogues of the Carmelites and with the Auckland Philharmonia as Brangäne in concert performances of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.
\nMs. Karanas made her German debut at Oper Frankfurt as Marfa in Khovanshchina and debuted at the Canadian Opera Company as Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde conducted by Johannes Debus and directed by Peter Sellars. She joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera in their production of the Berlioz masterpiece Les Troyens covering the role of Cassandre and made an acclaimed European debut at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino as Judit in Bluebeard’s Castle under Zsolt Hamar in the festival’s 75th Anniversary. Daveda debuted the role of Azucena in Il trovatore at Opera Grand Rapids and sang her first performances of Amneris in Aida at Arizona Opera, followed by Vancouver Opera, and The Glimmerglass Festival in a new production by Francesca Zambello. She made her New Orleans Opera debut as Hasbeena in Burlesque Opera Tabasco and made her role debut as Ježibaba in Rusalka at Arizona Opera.
\nMs. Karanas completed her first complete Ring Cycle at San Francisco Opera under Donald Runnicles. In Francesca Zambello’s staging, she sang both Waltraute and the 2nd Norn in the new production of Götterdämmerung and Waltraute in Die Walküre. Other San Francisco Opera credits include Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, covering Amneris in Aida, and Mistress of Novices in Suor Angelica. She also covered Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde with Seattle Opera.
\nDaveda is a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She also received an encouragement award from the George London Foundation, was an international semi-finalist in the Neue Stimmen Competition, an Encouragement Award recipient at the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition, and grand prizewinner of the Arizona Opera League Competition.
"}}},{"__typename":"ContentfulComponentQuote","captionCopy":{"captionCopy":"\"American mezzo Daveda Karanas made a first class Lisa, her firm, powerful voice well suited to her remorseless character...\""},"author":"Mark Glanville, Opera Now, June 2019 - Liese in 'The Passenger' at Israeli Opera","linkUrl":null},{"__typename":"ContentfulComponentQuote","captionCopy":{"captionCopy":"“Daveda Karanas was a velvet-voiced, soft-edged Fricka who admitted wanting the new castle to bind Wotan closer to her.”"},"author":"Maria Nockin, Opera Today, April 18, 2018 - Fricka in 'Das Rheingold' at Arizona Opera","linkUrl":null},{"__typename":"ContentfulComponentAudioVideoGallery","entries":[{"__typename":"ContentfulArtistVideo","title":"Mahler Symphony No. 2 \"Urlicht\" - Daveda Karanas","subtitle":null,"videoUrl":"https://youtu.be/VrwCPM79ZX0"}]},{"__typename":"ContentfulComponentQuote","captionCopy":{"captionCopy":"“Karanas made a memorable OTSL debut as Mother Marie of the Incarnation...She’s tall and commanding, with a big, gorgeous voice that’s seamless from top to bottom.”"},"author":"Sarah Bryan Miller, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 20, 2014 - Mother Marie in 'Dialogues of the Carmelites' at Opera Theatre of St. Louis","linkUrl":null},{"__typename":"ContentfulComponentQuote","captionCopy":{"captionCopy":"“Other outstanding vocal performances included...commanding mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas as Ježibaba, the witch who gives Rusalka a potion to cross over into the human world...”"},"author":"Cathalena E. Burch, Arizona Daily Star, November 20, 2016 - Ježibaba in 'Rusalka' at Arizona Opera","linkUrl":null},{"__typename":"ContentfulComponentQuote","captionCopy":{"captionCopy":"“As Liese, the mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas gave a richly textured performance, with a gleaming voice and first-class acting. She effectively communicated a person being overwhelmed by guilt, as her desperate rationalizations failed her.”"},"author":"David Fleshler, South Florida Classical Review, April 4, 2016 - Liese in 'The Passenger' at Florida Grand Opera","linkUrl":null}],"spotifyPlayerLink":null,"performances":null,"relatedArticles":null,"categories":[{"name":"Mezzo-Soprano","parentCategory":[{"name":"Vocalists"}],"keepPlural":null}]}},"pageContext":{"isCreatedByStatefulCreatePages":false,"slug":"daveda-karanas"}}}