Semifinalists 2009

Mariana Carnovali, Argentina, Mezzo-Soprano, *1987

Mariana has been a student at the Augsburg School of Music since 2007. She began studying music at the age of 12, taking violin lessons in her home country of Argentina. Mariana’s vocal talents were discovered in 2002, and she began to study voice with Maestro Bernardo Toscano at Casa de la Opera de Buenos Aires. She gave her debut in 2004 in Buenos Aires, singing the role of Fenena in Nabucco. In 2005 she reached the finals of the NEUE STIMMEN competition in Gütersloh, and in 2009 she was awarded a special prize at the Francisco Viñas International Singing Competition in Barcelona. In 2010, Mariana will sing the part of Carmen in Bizet‘s opera of the same name at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. She has also sung in Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht, Mozart’s Requiem and Rossini’s Petite Messe solennelle.

Anna Princeva, Russia, Soprano, *1980

Anna began to play the piano at the age of five. She went on to study piano, voice and choral conducting in Russia before moving to Italy in 2002. From 2004 on, she concentrated on her voice studies at Pergolesi Conservatory, where she graduated in 2007. Anna has given numerous concerts since 2004, performing in various Italian cities as well as in St. Petersburg and Bangkok. She gave her debut as Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto in 2006. She appeared as Pia in Pia de’ Tolomei in 2007 and as the Priestess in Aida and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte in 2008. Her favorite role, however, is still Verdi’s Gilda.

Daniel Johansson, Sweden, Tenor, *1980

Daniel is currently finishing his last semester at University College of Opera in Stockholm, where he began studying voice in 2006. He has performed several times with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra on Swedish radio and television, under the direction of such conductors as Daniel Harding, Thomas Söndergaard and Tobias Ringborg. At the opening concert of Denmark’s new concert hall in 2009, Daniel sang the tenor part in Mozart’s Coronation Mass. His repertoire includes the roles of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte and Lensky in Eugene Onegin. When he is not singing, Daniel enjoys being outdoors, fishing and sailing.

Luthando Qave, South Africa, Lyric Baritone, *1986

Luthando is currently enrolled in the Opera College of the University of Stockholm. He grew up in the township of Mdantsane in South Africa. One year after graduating from school in 2004, he auditioned at the Cape Town Opera, where he became a member of the chorus as well as a soloist, performing in Nabucco, Rigoletto, Carmen, Manon and Die Zauberflöte. He continued his training in master classes taught by Lauren Flanigan and Thomas Lander, among others. In 2009, he is a student at the Aix-en-Provence European Academy of Music. The high point of his singing career so far was his performance in 2008 as Crown in the opera Porgy and Bess at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, when Luthando filled in for a singer who had become ill.

Narine Yeghiyan, Armenia, Soprano, *1981

Narine studied voice from 2001 to 2006 at the State Conservatory in her hometown of Yerevan. She went on to pursue a two-year graduate degree, which she completed in 2008. While at the Conservatory, between 2003 and 2005 Narine sang the roles of Serpina in La serva padrona, Fanni in La cambiale di matrimonio and Georgette in Il tabarro. In 2006 and 2008 she placed first and third at two national singing competitions. Narine has been a soloist at the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in Yerevan since 2009, and this year she has sung the role of Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni.