Nomeda Kazlaus (born as Nomeda Kazlauskaitė on February 13, 1974, in Vilnius, Lithuania) is a Lithuanian operatic soprano who has appeared in leading roles in many European opera houses including the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and the Teatro Malibran in Venice.
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Kazlaus studied piano and musicology at the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Art in Vilnius from the age of 6 and continued to the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, where she graduated with a doctoral degree. A professional pianist, Nomeda altered her musical career early in her studies to become an opera singer. Starting as a high dramatic mezzo-soprano, her professional debut was in the title role of Bizet's Carmen, followed by roles of Eboli in Don Carlos, Prezziosilla in La forza del destino, and others. Her current repertoire includes Brünnhilde and Sieglinde in Die Walküre, Elisabetta in Don Carlo, Desdemona in Otello and other roles in the dramatic soprano range.
Kazlaus' biggest breakthrough came in Andorra in 2000, during the master classes given by Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé. Having witnessed her performance, Caballe greeted and complimented her. The encounter led to an artistic collaboration between them, glimpses of which are featured in the documentary Caballe, Beyond Music (Morena Films, 2003) and in Montserrat Caballé 40 anys al Liceu (Fundacio Gran Teatre del Liceu, 2002). She was also a main guest at the Montserrat Caballé prasentiert Stars von Morgen (Franco-German ARTE TV) in 2001. A series of joint concerts soon followed, culminating in a Pierre Jourdan production of Henry VIII by Camille Saint-Saëns, featuring Montserrat Caballé as Catherine of Aragon, Simon Estes as Henry VIII and Nomeda Kazlaus as Anne Boleyn.
Kazlaus has taken part in masterclasses with Montserrat Caballé, Anatolij Goussev, Ernst Haefliger, Francisco Araiza, Julia Hamari, Thomas Hemsley, Louis Manikas, and others. She has worked with conductors Yehudi Menuhin, Valery Gergiev, Anton Guadagno, Tugan Sokhiev, Jacek Kaspszyk, José Collado and others, and with theatre directors Pierre Jourdan, Eimuntas Nekrošius, Michal Znaniecki, Jurij Aleksandrov and others. She has performed with Simon Estes, Montserrat Marti, Carlos Alvarez, Vasilij Gerello, Ian Storey, Vittorio Vitelli, and others.
Kazlaus received the Richard-Wagner-Verband Bayreuth Grant (Germany) for dramatic soprano singers in 2003. She has performed in leading roles and gala concerts at the Ravenna Festival in Italy,[1] the Peralada Festival in Spain,[2] Moscow Spring in Russia, Usedom (Germany) and other international festivals. She has performed at St. John's, Smith Square in London, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Gostiny Dvor (with Montserrat Caballé, on the occasion of the innauguration of the Hall), the Moscow Conservatory Tchaikovsky Grand Hall, the Cankar Hall in Ljubljana (Slovenia), and at other international venues.
Kazlaus sang the role of Brünnhilde in 15 international performances of Richard Wagner's Die Walküre between August 2007 and April 2008. In 2009 she released her solo album The Art of Dramatic Soprano.
In May 2010 Nomeda Kazlaus facilitated the arrival of Montserrat Caballé in Vilnius, where they gave a joint gala concert [3] at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their collaboration.