Sonja Nemirova
Guest of the OperaBiography
Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Sonja Nemirova initially studied nuclear physics. Subsequently, she studied voice in Sofia, Bucharest and Vienna. Following her engagements at the State Operas in Varna and Plovdiv, the National Theatre in Pleven and the National Opera in Sofia, from 1982 to 1992 she was a member of the Volkstheater in Rostock, Germany, where she performed the parts of Aida, Leonora (Il trovatore), Turandot, Tosca, Senta (Der fliegende Holländer), Venus (Tannhäuser), Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Leonore in the first version of Fidelio. Furthermore, she has appeared on stages in Prague, Tokyo and Vienna, and portrayed numerous lead roles in Magdeburg, Meiningen, Dessau, Liberec and Sofia (National Opera). Since 1993, she has been a senior lecturer of voice at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. Since 2008, she has also been a dramaturge and stage director, working on the productions of Berg’s Lulu (Salzburger Festspiele, 2010), Mozart’s Idomeneo (Mainz), Puccini’s Tosca (Bremen, 2011), Meyerbeer’s opera Vasco da Gama (Deutsche Oper in Berlin, 2015) and Die Walküre at the Salzburg Easter Festival (2017).