<—  Katia Kantarì, a mezzo-soprano currently based in Nuremberg, Germany, began her musical training at the age of three, initially as a choir singer in the Bolshoi Theatre's children's choir. She later expanded her skills by learning the flute and piano. After graduating from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in both singing and conducting, Katia spent four years in Italy, where she furthered her studies at the Rossini Conservatory of Pesaro and Opera Studio of Spoleto. During this time, she studied and refined her craft under internationally acclaimed singers such as Valeria Esposito, Mariella Devia, José Carreras, and Vesselina Kasarova. Katia later continued her education at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg, working with esteemed teachers like Brigitte Geller and Edith Wiens. She is also a scholarship recipient of the Fondazione Cini in Venice and will participate in a production of a Vivaldi opera in 2026.  In the season of 2024/2025 she is collaborating with Frankfurter Sinfoniker, as well as being a member of Opera Studio Belcanto Academy of Trento, Italy, in the course of which she took part in a production of Puccini's «Gianni Schicchi» as Ciesca and Zita. In summer 2025 she will take part in «Oper auf Burg» festival in Lindenfels, as well as participating in Antonio Cesti Competition in Innsbruck and singing the part of Suor Zelatrice in Helsingør (Denmark). In September 2024 Ms. Kantarì has performed at Mozart&Friends Festival in Brixen, South Tyrol. Previously Katia has participated in the Opera Studio of Teatro Lirico Sperimentale di Spoleto and in Macerata Opera Festival. Katia also frequently participates in sacred music concerts, namely, she collaborates with the Weißenburg in Bayern Orchestra, with which she has performed a series of concerts in spring 2025 dedicated to Dvořák's Stabat Mater.  Ms. Kantarì has performed on stage, among others, the parts of Dorabella (Così fan tutte – Rossini Conservatorio Opera Studio, 2019), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni, Bologna Opera Academy, 2020), Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Spoleto, 2019), 2nd Lady (Die Zauberflöte, Marienbad, Czech Republic, 2023) on German, Italian and Russian stages; she is also exceptionally skilled in interpreting contemporary music -- for instance, in the 2022-2023 season on the stage of Staatstheater Nürnberg Katia sang main roles in Sarah Nemtsov's mono-opera «Verflucht» and Stephan Winkler's «Tongs and Bones», and in the 2023-2024 season she took part in a staging of a mono-opera «Lorry 39» for soprano, electronics and orchestra by Ying Wang.  Katia has been the 2nd prize winner at an Italian art song competition Elsa Respighi Concorso in Verona (2023) and a finalist of John Cage Award contemporary music competition in Halberstadt (2022). for all enquiries: please contact *** «Ekaterina showed not only extroverted distress, but also inner incandescence in cantabile form ...» -- Neue Musikzeitung