In her young career, Greek soprano Eleni Calenos is capturing critics’ and audiences‘ admiration for the clarity, warmth and beauty of her lyric voice and her dignified characterizations. Of her performance as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, the Houston Press said, „The phenomenon was the Cio-Cio-San of Greek soprano Eleni Calenos, whose nuanced characterization was a true wonder to hear. She sailed through her dramatic arias as if buoyed by the stirring music.“ Last season saw Ms. Calenos make return to Odyssey Opera as L’Infante in Massenet’s Le Cid, Madison Opera as Mimi in La bohème, and Palm Beach Opera as Micäela in Carmen as well as her role debuts of Desdemona in Otello with the Phoenicia Music Festival and the title role in Tosca with Loft Opera. In concert she sang Verdi’s Requiem with the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra and Queens College, and joined the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra for Respighi’s Lauda per la Nativita del Signore. The 2016-2017 season includes Mimi in La bohème in her return to Shreveport Opera, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Queens College Choral Society, Tosca with Opera Idaho, and Madama Butterfly with Annapolis Opera.
Operatic engagements from the past few seasons include the role of the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro (Tulsa Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Opera in the Heights in Houston, OSH Opera in NY), Liù in Turandot (Opera Company of Middlebury, Shreveport Opera, Boston Chorus Pro Musica), Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffmann (Palm Beach Opera), Micaëla in Carmen (Opera Idaho), Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly (Ash Lawn Opera, Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, Shreveport Opera, Mississippi Opera & Opera Idaho), Nedda in I pagliacci (Shreveport Opera), Silvia in Mascagni’s Zanetto (Odyssey Opera), Gilda in Rigoletto (Sarasota Opera), Hanna Glawari in Die lustige Witwe (Zomeropera, Belgium), Mimi in La bohème (Palm Beach Opera, Opera Idaho), Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Valencienne in The Merry Widow (Utah Festival Opera), Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (Shreveport Opera), Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte (Barbados Music Festival), and Giorgetta in Il tabarro (Harrisburg Opera Association).
