Hrvatski

Kuhar Šoša, Marija - soprano

Date created: 06.04.2017.
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MARIJA KUHAR ŠOŠA (born 1982 in Žminj, Croatia) attended High school of music in Pula where she studied music pedagogy and piano. She studied music pedagogy and singing and graduated in the class of Lidija Horvat Dunjko at the Music Academy of Zagreb in 2006.

While studying, she participated in various projects and won several prizes:

In 2003 she won second prize at the Croatian national singing competition in Dubrovnik.

In 2004 and 2005 she won first prize at the Croatian chamber music competition in Varaždin and Zadar.

In 2005, as the youngest finalist, she won three special prizes (two concerts and „Studienauftrag“ at opera house Halle) at the International singing competition in Passau (Germany).

In 2005 she won two prizes; first prize and Special prize of the Split Opera House, at the First Croatian competition organized by Vero Vision and Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.

In 2006 she won special prize at International music competition for young musicians under the age of 26 in Samobor (Croatia).

In 2006 she was awarded Rector's prize of University of Zagreb for the performance of Mozart's Requiem.

During her study she was granted a scholarship from the Croatian government as a special gifted student.

Her engagements in the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb include Shepherdess (M. Ravel: Child and magic), Luiga (G. Donizetti: Covenienze e incovenianze teatrali), Pamina, Papagena and 1. Knabe (W. A. Mozart: Die Zauberflöte), Zerlina (W. A. Mozart: Don Giovanni), Oscar (G. Verdi: Un ballo in maschera), Annina (G. Verdi: Traviata), Constanza (F. Poulanc: Dialoques of the Carmelites), Frasquita (G. Bizet: Carmen), Genovieffe and Lauretta (G. Puccini: Il Tritico), Clorinda (G. Rossini: La Cenerentola), Nanetta (G. Verdi: Falstaf), Blumenmadchen (R. Wagner: Parsifal) Maria Bellacante (P. Lunda: Hexe Hillary), Adela (J. Strauss: Die Fledermaus), Adina (G. Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore), Gretel (E. Humperdinck: Hansel und Gretel), Jelena (I pl Zajc: Nikola Šubić Zrinjski), Esmeralda (B. Smetana: Prodana nevesta), Musetta (G. Puccini:La boheme), Susanna (W.A.Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro).

At the Split Summer Festival she sung Tebaldo and La voce del cielo (G. Verdi: Don Carlo). She also sung Oscar  (Verdi: Un ballo in maschera) in Messina (Italy) in 2008. In „Marin Držić“ theatre in Dubrovnik she sung Bastienne (W. A. Mozart: Bastienn und Bastienne). She sung Catalina (E. Palomar: Juana) in the Halle Opera House (Germany). She also participated in Handel's opera Acis and Galatea as Damon and Coridon in Dubrovnik Summer Festival with Croatian Baroque Orchestra and conductor Philipp Pickett.

Other highlights include the Croatian prize for the best young opera singer in 2007 for the part of Constanze. She was also awarded with Mariana Radev prize for the best part in 2009 singing the role of Nanetta.

Kuhar Šoša received the award for the best young musician in Croatia in 2010 from the Zagreb Philharmonic.

She participated in various projects like: Charpentier: Te Deum, W. A. Mozart: Requiem, Exultate, jubilate, J. S. Bach: Magnificat, C. Saint-Saens: Oratorio de noel, G. Faure: Requiem, A. Vivaldi: Gloria, G. F. Handel: Messiah, B. Papandopulo: Osorski rekvijem, G. Mahler: Symphony No.4.

She worked with such leading conductors as Pavle Dešpalj, Ivo Lipanovic, Nikša Bareza, Vjekoslav Šutej, Ivan Repušić, Uros Lajovic, Lothar Zagrosek, Antonello Alemandi, Johanes Wildner, Marko Letonja and Zubin Mehta with whom she sung at the opening of Julian Rachlin festival in Dubrovnik, in 2011.

She is a member of Croatian Music Society and Croatian Freelance Artists' Association.

From 2006 until 2009 she was beneficiary of a grant of CEE Musiktheater and Deutsche bank.

She is now studying singing with Olivera Miljaković and Silvia dalla Benetta.

She has also been engaged as a professor of singing at the Music University of Pula since 2016.