Layna Chianakas

After receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree from the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Ms. Chianakas moved to Kassel, Germany, where she taught voice and beginning piano with the Musikschule-Ehlen for four years. While in Germany, she attended the Mozarteum Salzburg and studied Lieder with some of the foremost coaches in the world. It is there she acquired her fluency in German. On returning to the United States she received her Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Illinois.

Hailed as “the type of singer that makes one remember why to go to the opera,” her versatility as a singing-actor has aided her in the portrayal of many leading opera roles including Carmen in Carmen, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Angelina in La Generentola, Sesto in Giulio Cesare, Suzukin in Madama Butterly, The Woman in Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine, and the title role in La Perichole. She has performed with such opera companies as Cleveland Opera, Nashville Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Sarasota Opera, Virginia Opera, Dayton Opera, Festival Opera, Nevada Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Madison Opera, Sacramento Opera, Intermountain Opera, Opera San José, and Richard Wagner Bayreuth Festival.

Equally comfortable in the recital forum, her experience is vast having spent three years touring with The Songs of Franz Schubert Concert Series performing over 100 recitals, accompanied by world-renowned coach and accompanist John Wustman. She was named Artistic Ambassador of the United States, performing recitals for some of the foremost diplomats of our country and giving master classes in Colombia, Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Jamaica. She has performed on the mid-day public radio broadcast of the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series in Chicago, the Kramer Center Sunday Salon Series in Champaign, and a number of recital series throughout Germany.

As a soloist, she has sung with numerous symphonies and choral societies. Ms. Chianakas sang the world premiere of Saints written for her by Craig Bohmler, with the San José Chamber Orchestra, and also sang the world premiere of Winter Requiem with San Francisco’s Schola Cantorum, in which the mezzo-soprano solos were written for her by Alva Henderson.

Ms. Chianakas can be heard on her latest CD, I Recognized Your Face, and with the San José Chamber Orchestra on its CD of works by composer Craig Bohmler.