María Virginia Savastano
Argentina, Soprano, *1983

María Virginia Savastano began her studies at the Instituto Superior de Arte of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires at the age of 17. She is in her final year now. She has performed at the Teatro Avenida in Buenos Aires in the role of Zerlina in "Don Giovanni", as Mónica in "The Medium" and as Adina in "L'elisir d'amore". In 2004, she was awarded the Association of Argentinean Critics' prize for young talents. In October 2005, twenty-two year old María Virginia won the first prize of the NEUE STIMMEN competition. In the Final Concert she sang the arias "Quel guardo il cavaliere" from Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti (audio-file) and "Quando m'en vo'" from La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini.

In May and June 2006 María Virginia sang the role of Despina in Mozart's "Così fan tutte" at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and came to Germany afterwards: In June she performed at the Festival in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in a concert with the Hamburg Camerata conducted by Max Pommer at the Stiftskirche Bützow.

From October 2006, María Virginia continued her studies at the Atelier Lyrique of the Opéra National de Paris. The two-year program provides young singers with the basics for a successful professional career and offers them the opportunity to perform in Opéra National de Paris productions, concerts and scenic performances with orchestral accompaniment to gain extensive stage experience.

María Virginia returned to Germany for the 13th Festive Opera Gala for the German AIDS Foundation on November 11, 2006. The gala took place at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and is one of the most successful charity events in Germany. Since its launch in 1994, the gala has always offered an outstanding artistic program. Apart from María Virginia Savastano, international opera stars such as Thomas Quasthoff, bass-baritone, and Violetta Urmana, mezzo-soprano, performed at the event. The singers had been accompanied by the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin conducted by Lawrence Foster.