Eleni Apostolis Soprano

Eleni Apostolis holds a Masters of Music in Opera from the University of Texas at Austin. During her graduate studies, she has performed the roles of Adina in Donizetti's The Elixir of Love, and Barbarina in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. Eleni performed the roles of Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro and Mme Silbertonen in Der Schauspieldirektor with the Austrian American Mozart Academy in Saltzburg, Austria. As an undergraduate, she performed the roles of Adele, Constance Fletcher and Miss Pinkerton. Eleni made her concert debut with the Houston Sinfonietta this February where she sang the United States premiere of Kalomoiris' Magic Herbs. Ms. Apostolis has been invited to return for a performance with the Houston Sinfonietta this spring. This concert is an opportunity for Ms. Apostolis to continue her support of Greek music.

Christina Arethas Soprano

Christina Arethas was most recently seen in the role of "Magda" (La Rondine) with The Opera Company of Brooklyn. For this role, she received critical acclaim for a "fully realized" performance as well as for her "stylish and attractive singing, with glints of power". Prior to her engagement with The Opera Company of Brooklyn, Ms. Arethas appeared with the Sarasota Opera as "Rosalinde" (Die Fledermaus). Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Christina Arethas began her studies at Westminster Choir College from where she earned her Bachelor of Music degree in 1994. She then went to Manhattan School of Music where she completed a Master of Music degree in 1999 and a Professional Studies Certificate in 2000. While studying at the Manhattan School of Music, Ms. Arethas performed three significant roles, "Mimi" (La Boheme); "Elettra" (Idomeneo); and "Gilda" (Talk Opera by Milton Granger, a New York Premiere). She was also a two-time soloist with the Manhattan School of Music Philarmonia, singing the soprano solos in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Francis Thorne's La Luce eterna, which was recorded for Albany Records. Christina Arethas currently resides in New York City and studies with Anthony Frisell.

Olga Bakali Dramatic Soprano

The young dramatic soprano Olga Bakali was born in Athens, Greece, where she began her musical training as a pianist. At the age of fourteen, she was awarded first prize at the Greek Competition "Filon" for piano. It was at this time that her unique vocal abilities were discovered and she began serious vocal studies with Barbara Gavakou at the Glyfada Conservatory of Music in Athens, where, in 1991, she received her diploma with honors. She continued her studies under the noted Greek baritone Kostas Paskalis and Mme. Gavakou. A recipient of grants and scholarships from the European Community, she participated in master classes at the Athenaeum Cultural Center under the tutelage of such distinguished artists as Ileana Cotrubas, Jeanette Pilou, Luigi Alva, and Maestro Paskalis. In 1996, she received her second diploma in piano from the Greek Conservatory of Music in Athens, again with honors. Olga Bakali was a prizewinner and scholarship recipient at the Francisco Vinas World Competition in Barcelona. In 1994, she represented Greece at the Competition for Wagnerian Voices, held annually in Bayreuth. She was awarded an artists grant from the Fulbright Foundation in 1996. This enabled her to continue her studies in New York with Benjamin Matthews. In 1997, an award grant from the Evangelos Simegiatos Foundation for the Performing Arts permitted her to continue her studies in New York where she is currently studying with soprano Mariana Christos. During these years, her performing career blossomed. An early debut with the National Opera of Greece was followed in other theaters with leading roles in staged and concert opera. She also sang performances of Respighi's rarely staged Maria Egiziaca. Her 1992 debut at the Megaron Theater in Athens was in a fully staged Electra in which Hildegard Behrens sang the title role with the Dresden Philharmonic. In 1993, she debuted at the Athens Festival as the Priestess in Aida in a production that featured Maria Dragoni and Giuseppe Giacomini. In 1996 she sang in a concert sponsored by the Jose Carreras Foundation for Leukemia Research. Since her arrival in the United States, Miss Bakali has given a number of concerts, including a joint recital in New York with the bass Dimitri Kavrakos. The summer of 1999 brought a great personal and artistic triumph with Olga Bakali's debut in South America. She was invited to replace Aprile Millo in performances of Carlos Gomes' rarely heard opera, Lo Schiavo. Under the auspices of the Opera Brazil, she sang performances of the lead soprano role, Ilara, at the Teatro Municipal of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo, and throughout the major cities of Brazil, including Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Belem, and Sao Luis. These appearances were coupled with a series of joint and solo recitals throughout Brazil. She sang at the Greek National Opera in Nabucco in 2000 and participated at a benefit Gala for the New Jersey Opera. and appeared in more concerts in Greece, The United States and Brazil during the season 2001-2002.

Margarita Cassina Soprano

Margarita Cassina, of Greek ancestry, hails from Houston, Texas where she was reared and educated. She attended the University of Houston where she majored in Voice. From Houston she went on to New York City as a scholarship student in the Opera Department at the Manhattan School of Music. Privately, Ms. Cassina studied voice with Cornelius Reed, Robert Weede, Ray Buckingham, and Erika Kothe; and studied acting with David LeGrant. Ms. Cassina has had a wide variety of performing to her credit. From being a soloist at Radio City Music Hall, she went on to the Broadway stage, and sang in "Fanny," "Li¹l Abner," and as one of the "Pick a Little Ladies" in "Music Man." Her employment in hit shows permitted Margarita to keep up her operatic studies and soon she joined the Goldovsky Opera Theatre to sing the role of Micaela in "Carmen". A contract with the Israel National Opera followed, where she became the Prima Donna of the opera. This was her first commitment in repertoire theatre. She sang sixty performances, among them Cio-Cio-San, Violetta, Tosca, Leonora in (Il Trovatore), Georgetta, and Juliette. Instead of extending her contract, she decided to return to New York; whereupon she was asked again to sing with the Goldovsky Opera Theatre, this time the role of Elvira in "Don Giovanni." Returning to Houston as a hometown girl who made good, Margarita Cassina thrilled Houston opera-goers with her portrayal of Cio-Cio-San and later in the role of Floria Tosca. Shortly thereafter, a contract followed with the Buffalo Philharmonic to sing the role of Santuzza in a concert version of "Cavalleria Rusticana." Ms. Cassina decided to return to Europe, again to work with a repertory theatre, trying new roles and singing many performances of them. After many auditions, she was hired to sing the role of Turandot in Aachen with the Stadt Theatre, and sang the role in at least twenty performances, then the roles of Amelia in "Ballo in Maschera" and Leonora in "La Forza del Destino."Back in the States again she was contracted to tour on the West Coast, with the Goldovsky Opera Theatre, this time singing the role of Cio-Cio-San in "Madame Butterfly." For the past eight years, Ms. Cassina has lived in Munich and in Vienna, singing in concerts and in churches; in between her busy schedule, she teaches young singers who want to embrace the music field and who will devote themselves to the development of this wonderful art.

Dionysia-Niovi Klavdianou Soprano

Dionysia-Niovi Klavdianou, a native of Greece, has been trained both as a straight theatre performer and as a lyric singer and has worked on stages of Europe and the United States for the past six years. In 2001 she graduated from the Synchronon Conservatory in Thessaloniki "cum laude" won a "Special Prize in Musical Interpretation" and she was accepted to continue her studies in the Opera Program of the Maryland State University at College Park. Ms. Klavdianou has been a recipient of the only "Opera Award" at Maryland for three consecutive years and is also a fellow of the "Alexandros Onassis Foundation" since 2001. She has collaborated a number of times with the Opera Theatre of the Rockies in Colorado, with the National Theatre of Catalonia (Spain) and the National Theatre of Greece. Roles that she has performed include: Mimi in La Boheme, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito, Magda Sorell in The Consul, Agathe in Der Freischütz, and Tatyanna in Eugene Onegin among others. Future engagements for 2003-2004 include Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana and Alicia Ford in Falstaff. Ms. Klavdianou is currently residing in the Washington DC area and is fluent in English, German, Spanish and Portuguese. She also speaks Italian and French.

Iona Lampas Soprano

Iona Lampas, soprano, was born in Brooklyn, NY. A graduate of The Juilliard School, she has appeared in opera and concert throughout Europe and the United States. She has performed the major Puccini and Verdi heroines with The National Opera Co. Lake George Opera, Juilliard Opera, Hartford Opera, Palm Beach Opera as well as at Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. European critics (Italy, Germany, Bulgaria) have praised her with"Šfine vocal techniqueŠgifted with a voice worthy of attention." The American press with "sings with power and lustreŠshe is capable of moments of rare beauty", an equally fine actress and singer". Recent appearances have been as, Liú in "Turandot" and Ariadne in "Ariadne auf Naxos", and the title role of "Suor Angelica". She has sung Tatyana's Letter Scene from "Eugene Onegin" (in Russian) and excerpts from "Otello" along with her husband, tenor, Marko Lámpas with the Staten Island Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Anthony Aibel and "Tosca" with the BMCC Downtown Symphony Orchestra. On the Donnell Library Concert Series she has appeared along with her husband, as Adriana in "La Voix d'Adrienne Lecouvreur", a piece which she conceived and directed and in "Around the World in Opera & Song". In 2000/2001 she was co-Artistic Director of the Genesis Opera along with her husband Marko Lámpas, presenting 5 performances of Puccini's "Suor Angelica" & "Il Tabarro" and 6 performances of Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos". She and Marko teach voice in their Heraklione Studio in New York City.

Deborah Lifton Soprano

Soprano Deborah Lifton, a native of New York whose parents are from Athens and Sparta, has performed extensively on both the operatic and recital stages. She most recently completed an apprenticeship with the Ash-Lawn Highland Summer Festival where she covered the role of Beth in Little Women. Her most recent recital appearance as part of the Trinity Concert Series included works by Schumann, Schubert, Rorem and Ginastera. Operatic roles have included Susanna and Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Catherine in the New York premiere of Mayer's A Death in the Family, Flora in The Turn of the Screw and the title roles in Haydn's Armida, Mozart's Bastien und Bastienne and Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortileges. Concert engagements have included the soprano solos in Mozart's Requiem and Vivaldi's Gloria. She is also the recipient of the Hellenic Times Scholarship which allowed her to study voice at Saltzburg College in Austria. Ms. Lifton has collaborated in master classes and performances with such esteemed artists as Martin Katz, Phyllis Curtin, Elly Ameling, Marni Nixon, and Ara Berberian. She holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and a Master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She is currently an adjunct faculty member in the voice department at New York University.

Lina Orfanos Soprano

Lina Orfanos is a 21-year-old Greek American soprano. She is a senior at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey majoring in voice. In 2000-2001 she performed with the Westminster Symphonic Choir at Avery Fisher Hall and at Carnegie Hall. Her singing career began at the age of seven with the Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus where she performed in French, German, Italian and Russian operas. Later, she studied American musical theater at the Herbert Berghof Studios. During adolescence, she performed in Madrigals and the Jazz Ensemble of Montclair High School and the Montclair Operetta Club. Her solo debut was on June 5, 2001 at the Donnell Library Auditorium. She sang songs of the Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. Her goal is to become an accomplished singer of classical songs and arias including Greek repertoire.