Valentina Kutzarova

Valentina Kutzarova received her first musical training in her hometown of Varna (Bulgaria) and graduated from the Sofia Academy of Music. After engagements in Pleven (Bulgaria) and at the Zurich Opera Studio, she was an ensemble member in St. Gallen and Linz from 1993-99. During this time she debuted in many great mezzo¬soprano roles such as: Charlotte, Dorabella or Rosina as well as in the title roles of Bizet‘s »Carmen« and Rossini‘s »L‘Italiana in Algeri«.

Since then, numerous guest contracts have taken her to important opera houses such as the Bavarian State Opera, Teatro La Fenice, Teatro, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Opera National du Rhin in Strasbourg, Bilbao Theatre, Croatian National Theatre Zagreb, NCPA Bombay as well as to the Festival de Mayo in Guadalajara (Mexico) and the Bregenz Festival. Kutzarova is also an accomplished concert singer. Her repertoire spans a wide range from Baroque to Beethoven and Mahler to contemporary music.

She was a prize-winner of various international competitions such as the Grand Prix of the Jury and the 1st Prize of the Audience at the International Singing Competition in »Rocca delle Macie« in Siena as well as the 2nd Prize and Special Prize for the best interpretation of Grieg songs at the International »Queen Sonja« Music Competition in Oslo.
During her successful career Kutzarova worked with conductors such as. Giovanni Antonini, Maurizio Barbacini, Sascha Goetzel, Wolfgang Bozic, Frans Brüggen, Adam Fischer, Reinhard Goebel, Marko Letonja, Andrea Marcon, Günter Neuhold, Johannes Wildner, Marco Zambelli, Philippe Jordan and directors such as Philippe Arlaud, Giancarlo del Monaco, Francesco Esposito, Barrie Kosky, Christof Loy, Francesca Zambello, Romeo Castellucci and Uwe Laufenberg.

She can also be heard in various CD productions such as the »Passione per il Santo Sepulcro« by Ferdinando Paer with the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto under Sergio Balestracci, released by CPO, and »Nachtmusique« with the Calamus Consort, Monica Theiss-Eröd and Adrian Eröd on Gramola.