Mezzo Soprano
Bio
Her voice has been praised as having "ein rubinrotes Timbre" (a ruby red timbre) and "üppige Vokalfarben" (luxurious vocal colours; Münsterische Zeitung), "chaude et puissante" (warm and powerful; L'Atelier du Chanteur) and as being "gorgeous, dusky toned" (The Record, Kitchener, ON), "full of warmth and drama" (Birmingham Post) and "warmly expressive" (Financial Times, London).
Ms Soulis has performed the roles of Adalgisa (Norma), Rosina (Il Barbiere de Siviglia), Nicklauss (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Orfeo (Gluck), Dido (Purcell), La Périchole, Musette (Leoncavallo's La Boheme), Pierotto (Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix), Mrs. Grose (Britten's The Turn of the Screw), Néris (Cherubini's Médée), Dinah (Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti) and Dryade (Ariadne auf Naxos) at theatres including Monte Carlo, Metz, Nantes, the Barbican Centre (with the City of London Sinfonia), Wexford and the Rossini Festival in Bad Wildbad.
In the 2005-06 season Ms Soulis created the roles of Teura and Third Narrator in the new opera Bonjour, M. Gauguin by the young composer Fabrizio Carlone, premiered at the Teatro Fondamenta Nuove di Venezia.
Also in 2006, Ms Soulis made her debut as Carmen at the Longborough Opera Festival in England.
As a concert singer in Europe, Ms Soulis has performed many of Gustav Mahler's great orchestral song cycles: Rückert Lieder, Das Lied von der Erde and Symphony No. 8 with the Philharmonisches Orchester Regensburg and Kindertotenlieder with the Mährische Philharmonie. Other European credits include the Alto Solo in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Mozart's Requiem and Missa in C Minor. In Canada, Maria Soulis has appeared in repertoire ranging from Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium (Kingston Symphony) and Handel's Messiah (Etobicoke Philharmonic) to Dvorak's Requiem (Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony), Mendelssohn's Elijah (Chorus Niagara) and the Alto Solo in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (Oshawa-Durham Symphony Orchestra) as well as A Rodgers and Hammerstein Evening (Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony). Ms Soulis is an avid recitalist and chamber music singer who enjoys presenting traditional as well as lesser known works.
Born in Canada of Greek parentage, Maria Soulis attended the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory of Music where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Composition and a Performance Degree (ARCT) in Piano, respectively. She was awarded grants from both the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council to further her studies in London and New York.
Engagements for the 2007-08 season include Madame de la Haltière in Massenet's Cendrillon, the soloist in Theodoraki's ballet ZORBA in Metz, Toulon and Nice, Olga (Eugene Onegin) with the Orquestra Gulbenkian, conducted by Lawrence Foster in Lisbon, as well as Third Lady (Die Zauberflöte) in Montpellier.
Highlights for 2008-09 include the role of Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo and Eridice (Zurich), Messiah with the Cellar Singers (Orillia and Bracebridge) and returns to Opera de Toulon for Theodorakis’s ballet Zorbas.
In 2010 Maria sings Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle with the Cellar Singers.
For more information, please visit www.mariasoulis.com