Marie Fajtová

Soprano Marie Fajtová first studied piano (Prof. Jan Novotný) and later opera singing (Prof. Jiří Kotouč) at the Prague Conservatoire. She later honed her singing technique with the American soprano Nancy Henninger and KS Christa Ludwig.

In 2008, Marie won the Grand Prize at the Barbara Hendricks International Vocal Competition in Strasbourg. In 2004 she was a finalist in the Antonín Dvořák International Singing Competition, where she received the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK award. In 1996 she won the Bedřich Smetana International Piano Competition. She was nominated for a Thalia Award for her role as Norma.

Since the 2007/2008 season, Marie has been a soloist at the National Theatre Opera in Prague. She has performed the roles of Violetta (Verdi - Traviata), Norma (Bellini - Norma), Donna Anna (Mozart - Don Giovanni), the Countess (Mozart - The Marriage of Figaro), Pamina (Mozart – The Magic Flute), Fiordiligi (Mozart - Cosi fan tutte), Antonia (Offenbach – The Tales of Hoffmann ), Adina (Donizetti – L’elisir d’amore), Norina (Donizetti - Don Pasquale), Penelope (Britten - Gloriana), Musetta (Puccini – La bohème), Euridice (Gluck – Orfeo ed Euridice), Armida (Handel - Rinaldo), Karolina (Smetana - Two Widows), Barča (Smetana – The Kiss), Despinio (Martinů – The Greek Passion) and others.

Máří is a regular guest at the Estonian National Theatre (Violetta, Margaret, the Countess), the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki (Margaret, Violetta), the Teatro Verdi in Trieste (Donna Anna, Musetta, Countess Susanna in Wolf Ferrari opera), and she has also been a guest at the Royal Opera of Versailles, Theater de Caen, Opéra de Rennes, Grand Théatre de Luxembourg (Armida, Handel - Rinaldo) and Helikon Opera in Moscow (Margaret).

She has released a vocal CD Pensive Songs and has recorded for Bayerischer Rundfunk, Klassik Radio, MEZZO TV and Czech Radio. She participated in the recording of the internationally acclaimed Il Diamante Serenata ZVW 177 by J.D. Zelenka (Nibiru 2009). Among the many countries she has performed in are Spain, France, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, Brunei, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, Cambodia, Malaysia and Korea.

Among the noted conductors she has worked with are: Gianluigi Gelmetti, Risto Joost, Jiří Kout, Jiří Bělohlávek, Asher Fish, Michael Schwiercewski, Ondrej Lenárd, Enrico Dovico, Charles Olivieri-Munroe, Tomáš Netopil and Václav Luks.