Song and Piano recital

Cleo Mitilineou is considered one of the truest operatic treasures Cyprus has produced. Her performances have been praised by the international press and her repertoire encompasses a wide range of roles. She returns to Cyprus to appear in Pharos Arts Foundation's Cyprus Artists Series for a song recital with pianist Maria Antoniou-Chimonidou. The recital, which will include ariettes and songs by Bellini, Donizetti, Fauré, R. Strauss and the premiere of two songs by Cypriot composer Neophytos Stratis, will take place on 29 April 2009, at Casteliotissa Hall, 8.30pm.

The soprano Cleo Mitilineou studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest with vocal coach Magda Nador and the director Kovalik Balázs. Upon attaining her Masters degree in Singing Teaching and Opera, Mitilineou completed her training at the Opera studio of the Hungarian State Opera House in 2001. This was followed by a series of engagements at the Hungarian State Opera House until 2008.

Recipient of several awards, including the special prize in Don Giovanni Singing Competition in Verona, first prize in Miskolc Opera Festival Competition in Hungary and the Magda Olivera scholarship in Fransisco Vinias Singing Competition in Barcelona, Cleo Mitilineou has also been semifinalist in the prestigious Cardiff Singer of the World, in which she represented Greece in 2003. She has also been an active participant in master-classes by renowned opera figures, such as Margarita Lilova, Eva Marton, Renata Scotto, Ileana Cotrubas and Sherril Milnes.

Born in Nicosia, pianist Maria Antoniou-Chimonidou studied at the University of Texas at Austin with a Fulbright Scholarship. She received a Masters of Music Degree in Piano Performance under the guidance of Professor Betty Mallard and has participated in master-classes held by such renowned pianists as Robert Roux, Boaz Sharon and Louiz de Moura Castro. She has also been awarded several prizes, among them the first prize at the Sidney Wright Accompanying Competition.