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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, opera first year seminar

Hailed for her fine vocal technique and dramatic flair, soprano Karen Kanakis has successfully performed many major roles in her wide-ranging repertoire, including the title roles in Lucia di Lammermoor and La Traviata. “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 2004.

Other roles she has performed include Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, Clorinda in La Cenerentola, 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.  She made her Italian debut singing the role of Fanny in Rossini’s La cambiale di matrimonio in Castelfranco-Veneto, where she was later invited back to perform Violetta in La Traviata. 

Active also in concert and oratorio, Ms. Kanakis has been a featured soloist with symphony organizations performing Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Exsultate jubilate, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, Brahm’s Ein Deutches Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and the Verdi Requiem.  In June of 2008 she made her Carnegie Hall debut in the Weill Recital Hall in a program of performing duos from the Luther College Music Faculty.  

A regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Ms. Kanakis has performed as an Apprentice Artist with both the Des Moines Metro Opera and the Utah Festival Opera Company.  She earned her Bachelor of Music cum laude from Missouri State University and her Master of Music from Stephen F. Austin State University.  A Rotary International Graduate Scholar, Ms. Kanakis also studied at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Westfalen-Lippe in Detmold,Germany.  She went on to the University of North Texas, winning the Concerto/Aria competition, and earning the DMA degree in voice and opera. 

Before joining the 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.  In 2008 she was named one of six “Young Leaders” across the country by the National Association of Singers of Teaching (NATS.) 

Sample Audio
Surta é la notte Composed by Giuseppe Verdi	Listen	Listen	Listen