STUDIES & SCHOLARSHIPS Kassandra's music talent has been extraordinary since she was a child and she already was a known cellist in Greece at the age of 15. She studied music first in Greece (Cello Diploma at the age of 16) and completed her undergraduate music studies at the Music Academies in Germany (Detmold and Stuttgart Music Academies) with a Singing Diploma specialised in Opera. In 1999 she won a Scholarship from the Wagner Gesellschaft Bielefeld and attended the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth. She completed her music studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, taking a Master in Arts with distinction (DipRam), winning scholarships from the "Leventis Foundation", the "Athena Scholarship", the "Newton Scholarship" and supported by Life Action Trust and The Josephine Baker Trust.
AWARDS Kassandra won the Public's Prize at the Rossini Festival in Bad Wildbad in 2007 and the prize of the "Hellenic Critics Association" for her Greek Debut (2008). SINGING CAREER Her international singing career started around 2005 in Germany with collaborations with Staatsoper Stuttgart, Kammertheater der Staatsoper Stuttgart, Staatsballet Stuttgart, Theatre National Luxembourg a.o., but it was in 2007 when she sang her first title role as Carmen in Bizet's "Carmen" at the "Monschau Klassik" Festival. Her Greek debut followed in Thessaloniki Concert Hall, with the role of Cleopatra in Handel's "Giulio Cesare", from which she got great critics from the Greek and international press, as well as the Prize of The Best New Artist by the Greek Critics Association (2008). For the same role, the english magazine "Opera Now" listed her as one of the most promising artists of the next generation. Greece honoured her success with a nomination by the Greek magazine "Life and Style" for the Woman of the Year Awards in the category International Greek Woman. She has sung so far in many opera houses and festivals, among them: Staatsoper Stuttgart, National Theater Luxemburg, Festival Aixen- Provence, Festival Mozart Toujours in Salzburg, Thessaloniki and Athens Concert Hall, Teatro Cilea Reggio Calabria, Knoxville Opera, Bunkamura Theatre Tokyo a.o. and collaborated with orchestras such as RAI Torino, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Athens and Thessaloniki National Orchestra, Orchestra of Coulors, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theater Minsk, St Paul's Sinfonia, a.o. Her name became of international fame, after her participation in the live TV broadcast of Verdi's opera "Rigoletto", next to Placido Domingo, under Zubin Mehta. Her U.S debut followed in 2011, with Verdi's "Otello" (Knoxville Opera). In the last years, she has performed many great roles of the operatic repertory, such as Tosca, Amneris, Adalgisa, Carmen, Dasedemona a.o.
VOICE TYPE & REPERTOIRE Kassandra's voice has a very characteristic and unique dramatic timbre that expands over a very large range (from the lower F3 to the higher D5) with easiness and strength that carries the voice even in the largest venues. Therefore, her repertoire has expanded over the years, including roles from early baroque (Monteverdi, Handel), Bel Canto (Donizetti, Bellini), Romantic and Verismo (Bizet, Puccini) to contemporary music. These kind of voices are what the operatic world names "Soprano Sfogato" or "Falkon" or in german, "Zwischenfach". In other words, it is a voice that moves easily between the mezzo and the soprano roles and allows the performer to make "jumps" between repertory and roles. This dynamic is very strong and difficult to maintain, but many famous opera singers belong to this special category, such as Jessye Norman, Grace Bumbry, Shirley Verrett and of course La Divina, the Greek opera singer, Maria Callas. Kassandra's musical knowledge and easiness in learning, due to her early cello career has made her an ideal interpret for new contemporary works and she has sang in several world premieres. Her repertory includes already some important successful debuts in main roles such as: Carmen, Amneris (Verdi "Aida"), Adalgisa (Bellini "Norma") Desdemona (Verdi "Otello"), Tosca a.o.
Kassandra is a very special case of operatic talent and that makes her unique in every way: she deals with the music and the composition firstly as a musician- based on her back round as a cellist- and then she interprets the roles like an actress. The voice becomes the tool for her powerful dramatic talent that she brings into every role. She becomes the role- a rare quality in the operatic field. And that is what wins the public, every single time.