BIOGRAPHY

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Lucie Kanková was born into an esteemed musical family in Prague, Czech Republic.  At the age of four, she started to play violin and piano.  She graduated at the Prague Conservatory, with a DiS. degree (diplomized specialist) in 2012.

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In 2010, Lucie was granted the opportunity to participate in a project by the Swiss composer Mathias Spohr, where she sang the main female role Miesmies in the contemporary opera Spiegel das Kätzchen, based on Paul Burkard’s famous novel. She performed on different stages in Czech Republic and Switzerland (Theater Winterthur, Langenthal, Zürich Rigiblick). After this production, she was inspired to develop a career as an opera singer. In 2015, Lucie completed her master’s degree, “MA Specialized Music Performance - Opera” at the Bern University of Applied Sciences – a Swiss Opera Studio, passing with distinction. In January 2018, Lucie graduated with a second master’s degree for soloists at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences; both post-graduate degrees being in the class of Prof. Barbara Locher.  Currently, she is studying on the PhD program “Interpretation and Theory of Interpretation”, at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

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Lucie Kanková holds many awards, from different competitions: 2nd prize (Junior) and 5 additional prizes at the Antonín Dvořák’s  International Singing Competition 2015;  1st prize (main category) and 8 additional prizes, including two contracts at the operas of Bratislava and Opava (CZ), as well as contracts with an opera festival in Kutná Hora (CZ), with 3 symphony orchestras; 2nd prize with a special prize for interpretation at the American International Czech & Slovak Voice Competition 2017; 2nd prize including all special prizes for interpretation and performances at the Bohuslav Martinů’s Competition in Prague; 3rd prize at the Bologna International Vocal Competition 2019; 2nd prize  and audience prize at the IFAC HANDA Australian Singing Competition 2020 and 1st prize at the Nomea Competition 2021 and the title of “The Best Opera Singer”. Recently, she won the Mimas Music Festival Competition, in June 2022.

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In addition to solo concerts, during the 2014/15 season, she portrayed two different roles in the Theatre Biel-Solothurn, singing Second Donna  Luigia in Donizetti’s Viva la Mamma and Kuchtík in Dvořák’s Rusalka. Lucie has experienced many different theatres in Switzerland (Visp, Baden, Schaffhausen, Vevey, Vernier, Düdingen, Thun, Burgdorf, Winterthur and Langenthal) with these productions. In 2016, she produced and sang the title role in Bohuslav Martinů’s Ariadne. Then, she has sang this same role in Switzerland and the Czech Republic. In 2018 she sang again Ariadne at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.

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Since 2017, she has performed in the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland and England with the South Bohemian Philharmonic, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Czechoslovakia Chamber Orchestra, Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, Thüringen Philharmonie, Lucerne Artists Orchestra, among others.

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In the 2017/18 season, Lucie sang Gala concerts at the National Theatres in Prague and Bratislava. During the summer 2019, she appeared in the role of Tempo and Fortuna in Dittersdorf’s Il Tribunale di Giove, in Olomouc, Hukvaldy and Kroměříž (CZ).

The Czech soprano also sang the roles of Ännchen in Weber’s Der Freischütz, Violetta Valéry in Verdi’s La Traviata, Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto and Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, at the Silesian Theatre of Opava (CZ); Fiordiligi in Così fan Tutte, at the South Bohemian Theater in Budweis; and Barče in Smetana’s Kiss, at the National Moravian–Silesian Theatre of Ostrava. In 2020, she interpreted Poppea in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea, at the National Theatre Pilsen. Since 2021, Lucie performs regularly the role of the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Prague National Theatre and she has also performed this role at the Opernfestspiele Munot 2022, in Switzerland and Germany.

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Lucie Kanková opened the season 2021/2022 as Violetta in La Traviata in a live TV broadcast, in Chisinau, Moldavia. In this same season, she made her debut at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège as Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, being conducted by Daniel Oren and directed by John Turturro. Then, she sang this same role in Prague, in June 2022.

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