Greek-American mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas has been hailed for her “capacious power” and “a voice lustrous and exciting” (San Francisco Chronicle). Ms. Karanas opens the current season with her Carnegie Hall debut in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Athens Philharmonic, Yiannis Hadjiloizou conducting. Additional engagements include a role and house debut as Herodias in Salome at Hawaii Opera Theatre and a house debut at Teatro Real (Madrid) as Lise in The Passenger, a signature role. Last season she made her debut at the Israeli Opera singing Lise in The Passenger, a role she has performed at Florida Grand Opera and Michigan Opera Theater following her successful debut of the role at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Other recent engagements include a major role debut as Kundry in Parsifalat the Lyric Opera of Chicago under Andrew Davis, and debuts at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Mother Marie in Dialogues of the Carmelites and with the Auckland Philharmonia as Brangäne in concert performances of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. Ms. Karanas made her German debut at Oper Frankfurt as Marfa in Khovanshchina and debuted at the Canadian Opera Company as Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde conducted by Johannes Debus and directed by Peter Sellars. She joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera in their production of the Berlioz masterpiece Les Troyens covering the role of Cassandre and made an acclaimed European debut at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino as Judit in Bluebeard’s Castle under Zsolt Hamar in the festival’s 75th Anniversary. Daveda debuted the role of Azucena in Il trovatore at Opera Grand Rapids and sang her first performances of Amneris in Aida at Arizona Opera, followed by Vancouver Opera, and The Glimmerglass Festival in a new production by Francesca Zambello.