NUNEH BADALIAN Soprano 

Was born in Yerevan, Armenia.  She graduated in 1992 from the Vocal Department of Komitas Conservatory in Yerevan and continued two years of postgraduate studies under Professor Tatevik Sazandarian.  While at the Conservatory she entered the Armenian National Opera Theatre as soloist. 

She received a diploma of distinction from the 1996 Rimsky-Korsakov International Competition in St. Petersburg and made her solo recital debut at Rachmaninoff Hall in Moscow.  In the same year she sang Pamina in a concert performance of Mozart’s The Magic Flute opera.  She has been a guest soloist with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra in the Brahms Requiem, Handel Messaiah and Strauss Last Four Songs. 

In 1997 she sang the Armenian premiere of Les Illuminations by Benjamin Britten with Aram Gharabekian and the National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia (NCOA) and was invited back to sing the Mozart Requiem with the NCOA the following season that since led to a close artistic collaboration with the orchestra.  Ms. Badalian gave a series of recitals in Germany and many American cities including New York, Boston, Washington, Los Angeles and San Diego, and made her London solo recital debut in the prestigious St. John Smith Square in February 2001 which led to a return invitation to sing a Duo Recital at St. John Smith Square in September of the same year. 

Ms. Badalian made her Bolshoi Theatre debut in Moscow in the role of Adeljiza in a new production of Bellini’s Norma with the Armenian National Opera (ANO) in January 2003.  She sang Michaella with critical acclaim in a production of Carmen at Cagne-Sur-Mer in July 2002 in France and Oronte in the world premiere of Vivaldi’s Tigran the Great with the ANO in November 2001 in Yerevan, Armenia. 

In addition to her appearances on the opera stage Ms. Badalian is a versatile artist and equally enthusiastic an active as solo recitalist and chamber musician.  An advocate of adventurous solo and chamber orchestra repertoire she has performed the Armenian Premiere of Benjamin Britten’s Les Illuminations and the song cycle The Poet’s Echo, Arnold Schoenberg’s Cabaret Songs, Xavier Montsalvage’s Cinco Cancionas Negras and songs by Pauline Viardot. Evenly, she champions works by contemporary composers written especially for her including Edward Hairapetian’s In the morning and Vardan Ajemian’s Chant of Spring and Love that she premiered in 2000 and 2002 respectively.  On the occasion of Alexander Harutunian’s 80^th anniversary she sang the first performance of Harutunian’s orchestral song cycle In my Mother’s Memory by the composer’s request in October 2000. 

As a busy touring artist she has appeared with the NCOA as guest soloist in London and Canterbury Festival in the UK, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Fresno in the USA, Geneva in Switzerland as well as Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. 

In May 2003 Ms. Badalian sang three concerts in Yerevan and Dilijan dedicated to Benjamin Britten’s 90^th anniversary, marking the composer’s historic month long visit to Armenia in 1965.  In July she will appear in Nagorno Karabagh with three performances and a special benefit Open-Air Gala Concert in Shushi for the reconstruction of the Arts and Sciences Institute.  In the fall she will sing the leading role in a new ANO production of the Armenian opera Anush by Armen Dikranian and will appear with three concerts in St. Petersburg as part of the city’s 300^th anniversary celebrations. In 2003 she sang in Britten’s War Requiem  at Canterbury Festival