Asmik Grigorian

Asmik Grigorian (born 12 May 1981 in Vilnius) is a Lithuanian operatic soprano of Armenian ancestry.

Life and career
In 1999, Asmik Grigorian graduated from National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Art in Vilnius. She studied music at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and graduated from it with a master's degree in 2006. Grigorian made her operatic debut in Christiansand (Norway) in 2004 as Donna Anna directed by Jonathan Miller, in 2005 she made her Lithuanian debut as Violetta also directed by Jonathan Miller, and in 2006 she became one of the founding members of Vilnius City Opera, singing in Puccini's La bohème (Mimi and Musetta), Leoncavallo's Pagliacci (Nedda), Verdi's Il trovatore, Puccini's Manon Lescaut, Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame and Eugene Onegin, Sweeney Todd, and Massenet's Werther. Grigorian later performed at the Latvian National Opera (in 2005 under the direction of Andres Jaegers) and the Mariinsky Theater, performing in Puccini's Il Trittico, Verdi's Otello, Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Prokofiev's The Gambler, and Dvorak's Rusalka. She is the recipient of the highest Lithuanian theatre award, the Golden Stage Cross [ lt], in 2005 and 2010.

Since 2011, Grigorian has performed in various opera houses on the international stage. She was noted in operas such as Tchaikovsky's Nastasya in The Enchantress at the Theater an der Wien in September 2014 and as Tatiana in Eugene Onegin at the Komische Oper Berlin in 2016.

In May 2016, Grigorian was honoured at the International Opera Awards in London as the Best Newcomer ("Young Female Singer"). In December 2016 she performed at the Royal Swedish Opera in the title role of Giordano's Fedora. In her debut at the Salzburg Festival in August 2017, she sang the role of Marie in Alban Berg's Wozzeck to critical acclaim. Rupert Christiansen of The Telegraph praised Grigorian as a "superb musician, with deep understanding of Bergian vocal style".

Grigorian made her Edinburgh International Festival debut in August 2019 when Komische Oper Berlin brought their production of Eugene Onegin to Edinburgh.

During the 2019/20 season, Asmik performed as Manon Lescaut at Oper Frankfurt, she also returned to her hometown of Vilnius where she performed as Polina in The Gambler. This role was reprised towards the end of her season at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. Performances of Bellini's Norma Elektra by Richard Strauss and Janacek's Jenůfa were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Asmik began her 2020/21 season as Madama Butterfly at the Vienna State Opera and then at the Mariinsky Theatre, then later in the season at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. She appeared as Lisa in Pique Dame at the Mariinsky Theatre, Dvorak's Rusalka at the Teatro Real in Madrid conducted by Ivor Bolton and the title role in Salome by Strauss at the Bolshoi Theatre conducted by Tugan Sokhiev. She performed as Senta in Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer at the Bayreuth Festival and in Elektra at the Salzburg Festival, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst.

Grigorian's 2021/22 season began with a house and role debut at the Royal Opera House in a new production of Jenůfa conducted by Henrik Nánási. In concert, she performed as part of the Deutsche AIDS-Stiftung Gala at the Berlin State Opera, and as Marie in Drei Bruchstücke aus Wozzeck at the Teatro del Maggio and the Elbphilharmonie. At the Vienna State Opera, Asmik performs as Manon Lescaut. She went on a European tour with pianist Lukas Geniusas in support of their recently released album, Dissonance. Asmik returned to the Salzburg Festival to perform the three leading roles in a new production of Puccini's Il Trittico, directed by Christof Loy.

Asmik commenced the 2022/23 season with a continuation of her album recital tour with pianist Lukas Geniusas. She returned to two of her signature title-roles this season, firstly, in Rusalka at the Dvořák Prague festival and then at the Royal Opera House and secondly, in Jenůfa at the Wiener Staatsoper. Grigorian later appeared in the title-role of The Enchantress and as Manon Lescaut at Oper Frankfurt. She also made her Japanese debut as the title-role in Salome with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. To end her season, Grigorian returned to the Salzburger Festspiele where she made her role debut as Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth.

Her 2023/24 season began with Madama Butterfly in which she made her house debut at Arena di Verona.. In December 2023, she made her debut in Turandot at the Wiener Staatsoper next to Jonas Kaufmann in a new staging by Claus Guth. On May 11, 2024, she sang Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly on her first Metropolitan Opera Live in HD transmission.

Grigorian is the official ambassador for the Rimantas Kaukenas Charity.

Family
Asmik Grigorian is the daughter of the Armenian tenor Gegham Grigoryan (1951–2016) and the Lithuanian soprano Irena Milkevičiūtė (b. 1947), LMTA professor. Her parents performed the leads in Madama Butterfly together at the Metropolitan Opera while Milkevičiūtė was pregnant with Asmik.

She has two children, one son and one daughter.

Grigorian also has three brothers, Irvidas Česaitis, Vartan Grigorian, who is a conductor, and Tigran Grigorian.

Concert repertoire

 * Requiem Op. 96 – Mieczysław Weinberg (World Premiere)
 * Requiem - Andrew Lloyd Webber
 * Requiem in D minor, K. 626 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
 * Stabat mater – Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
 * Messa da Requiem - Giuseppe Verdi
 * Symphony No. 8 – Gustav Mahler
 * War Requiem, Op. 66 – Benjamin Britten
 * Requiem in B♭ minor, Op. 89 – Antonín Dvořák
 * Stabat Mater, Op. 58 (B. 71) – Antonín Dvořák
 * Symphony No. 14 in G minor, Op. 135 – Dmitri Shostakovich

Awards

 * Ópera XXI: Female Opera Singer of the Year (2022)
 * Best female singer in International Opera Awards (2019)
 * Order for Merits to Lithuania, Knight's Cross (2018)
 * Best emerging artist in International Opera Awards (2016)
 * Austrian Theater Awards – Best Leading Role (2019)
 * Opernwelt Critics Choice – Singer of the Year (2019)
 * Franco Abbiati award (2020)
 * Olivier Award (Jenůfa) for best production (2022)
 * Order for Merits to Lithuania, Knight's Cross (2018)
 * Stage Cross in 2005 for Best Debut as Violetta
 * Stage Cross in 2009 for Best Singer for Mrs. Lovett
 * Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts (2019)
 * Armenian Movses Khorenatsi Medal, 2021
 * Sängerin des Jahre: OPUS KLASSIK Award Winner, 2023

Discography

 * With Dmitri Hvorostovsky: Dmitri Hvorostovsky Sings of War, Peace, Love and Sorrow, as duet partner in War and Peace by Sergey Prokofiev and The Demon by Anton Rubinstein. Delos International, 2016
 * Dissonance, Asmik Grigorian & Lukas Geniusas, Alpha Classics, 25 March 2022.

DVDs

 * 2019: Strauss – Salome (Julian Pregardien, Asmik Grigorian, John Daszak, Romeo Castellucci, Anna Maria Chiuri, Gabor Bretz)
 * 2021: Strauss – Elektra (Ausrine Stundyte, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, Asmik Grigorian, Michael Laurenz, Franz Welser-Möst)
 * 2021: Dvořák – Rusalka (Asmik Grigorian, Eric Cutler, Karita Mattila, Katarina Dalayman, Ivor Bolton)
 * 2022: Wagner – Der fliegende Holländer (Georg Zeppenfeld, Asmik Grigorian, Eric Cutler, John Lundgren, Oksana Lyniv, Dmitri Tcherniakov)
 * 2023: Puccini – Il Trittico (Alexey Neklyudov, Roman Burdenko, Joshua Guerrero, Karita Mattila, Giulia Semenzato, Franz Welser-Möst, Christof Loy)