Kanakis, Karen
- Title
- Assistant Professor of Music
- Office:
- Jenson-Noble 179
- Phone:
- +1.563.387.1795
- Email:
- kanaka01@luther.edu
- Degree:
- D.M.A., Voice Performance, University of North Texas
- Interests:
- Voice and opera
American soprano, Karen Kanakis, though just beginning her professional singing career, has already had success performing many of the major roles in her wide-ranging repertoire, including the title roles in Lucia di Lammermoor and La Traviata, Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro and Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus . “Her voice and her stage presence are a delight,” wrote the critic of the Denton Record Chronicle of her performance as Sybil in the world premiere of Hans Schaeuble’s Dorian Gray in February of 2004.
Other roles she has performed include Clorinda in La Cenerentola, Fanny in La cambiale di matrimonio, which she sang in her Italian debut in Castelfranco-Veneto; Juliette in Romèo et Juliette ; Rose in Weill’s Street Scene; Mme. Silberklang in Mozart’s der Schauspieldirektor; and Isabelle/Madeline in Mollicone’s The Face on the Barroom Floor.
Active also in Oratorio, Ms. Kanakis has been a featured soloist with symphony organizations performing Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Messiah , Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, and Brahms’s Requiem.
A regional finalist in the Metropolitan National Council Auditions, Ms. Kanakis received her Bachelor of Music cum laude from Southwest Missouri State University and her Master of Music from Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas. She won a Rotary International Scholarship to continue her studies at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Westfalen-Lippe in Detmold, where she studied with the eminent bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff. She went on to the University of North Texas, winning the Concerto/Aria competition in 1999, and completing the DMA degree in voice and opera in 2005. She has also completed Apprentice Artist programs with both Des Moines Metro Opera and the Utah Festival Opera Company.
Before joining the voice and opera faculty at Luther College, Ms. Kanakis taught on the faculties of Missouri Southern State University, and Texas Women’s University. She also held teaching fellowships at Stephen F. Austin State University, and the University of North Texas.
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| Surta é la notte Composed by Giuseppe Verdi | Listen | Listen | Listen |