In her young career, 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 2008 role debut 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.”

Additional operatic engagements from the past few seasons include Fiordiligi in Così Fan Tutte at theBarbados Music Festival, Giorgetta in Il Tabarro with the Harrisburg Opera, Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera in the Heights and at Symphony Space in New York, Medora in Verdi’s Il Corsaro with the Hellenic Music Foundation in New York, Liù in semi-staged performances of Turandot with the Boston Concert Opera and the Chorus Pro Musica, as well as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with the Martina Arroyo Foundation. Of her performance, The New York Times said, “Eleni Calenos sang with a strong, clear soprano and was persuasive as a suffering yet haughty Donna Elvira.” Other performed roles in her repertoire include Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Mimì in La Bohème and the title role of Suor Angelica.

Upcoming engagements include covering the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro during the 2010 Glimmerglass Festival, where she will be in the Young American Artists Program, as well as performing Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at the Shreveport Opera, Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly at Opera Idaho, and a concert of Opera Arias and Duets with Maestra Queller.

As a concert soloist, Ms. Calenos has most recently performed Verdi’s Requiem with the Masterworks Chorale in Massachusetts, at Boston Symphony Hall, and with the Queens College Symphony at Colden Theater in New York. She made a recording of George Tsontakis’ Mirologhia, which was released on the KOCH International Classics label with the Albany Symphony Orchestra. In the spring 2009, Ms. Calenos appeared as the principal soloist with Greek composer A. Paraskevas in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Ms. Calenos was a 2009 finalist at the Renata Tebaldi International Vocal Competition in San Marino (Italy), and was a winner of the “Judges Award” from the Connecticut Opera Guild 2009 Competition. She has also won the audience favorite “Merle McInturff Award for Musical Excellence” of the Irma Cooper 2008 Competition in Columbus, Ohio, and the Schyler Foundation “Career Bridges” Award in 2006-2008.