Shira Karmon, Elias Meiri, Clara Montocchio
Biography Shira Karmon, Elias Meiri, Clara Montocchio
Shira Karmon
The Israeli soprano, often described as a singer with "a voice full of luminosity and stage presence", gave her European debut at the Saarländisches Staatstheater Saarbrücken in Germany and performed in Berlin at the Komische Oper and Neuköllner Oper, at the Chamber Opera in Hamburg, at the Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg, France, at the Bavarian State Theatre in Passau, the Fürth Theater, Germany and the Teatro Comunale di Bolzano in Italy. International Festivals include the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, the Opera Festivals in Chiemgau Germany and in Aberdeen, United Kingdom. In these Venues, she was heard as "Mimi" in La Bohème, "Countess" in Le Nozze di Figaro, "Donna Elvira" in Don Giovanni, "Fiordiligi" in Cosi fan tutte and "Giulietta" in Les Contes d’ Hoffmann.
Karmon made remarkable appearances at the Schwetzingen Festival and Berlin Festival in Peter Eotvös's "As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams", and at the Semper Depot in the Modern Opera Festival in Vienna: „Out of Control“ as well as at the Festival „Wien Modern“ with the World Premiere of the satire opera: „Whatever Works“. She worked with directors such as Giancarlo del Monaco, John Cox, Federico Davia, Isabel Ostermann, Anette Leistenschneider and Michael Scheidl as well as with conductors such as Stuart Bedford, Bruno Rigacci, Hiroaki Masuda, Heiko M. Förster, Jeanpierre Faber, Walter Kobéra and Simeon Pironkoff.
As a renowned concert singer Ms. Karmon performed at the Contertgebow in Amsterdam, at the Berlin Konzerthaus, at the Lincoln Center New York, at the Styriarte Graz, in Mar del Plata, Argentina and the Villa Medici in Rome. Her wide concert repertoire includes the solo soprano part in „The Wedding“ by Stravinsky and in Beethoven’s Choral Phantasy which she sang at the opening Gala of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv, with musicians such as Daniil Trifonov. She gave a concert at the Wiener Staatsoper/Studiobühne with pianist Paul Gulda within the Yiddish Culture Festival Vienna and performed Salomon Sulzer, and Julius Sulzer Songs with Prof. Lorne Richstone in the special project „Die Wanderer“, initiated by the Jewish Museum in Hohenems, and featured in Vienna Hamakom Theater, the Austrian Hospice in Jerusalem, and the Salomon Sulzer Hall in Hohenems Voralberg. Lately Karmon sang the Jeremiah Symphony by Leonard Bernstein in MuTh Vienna and was hired by the Austrian Culture Center to perform in Istanbul New York, Washington and Israel.
Shira Karmon explores the Jewish Repertoire to its in many facets such as the Spanish Jewish tradition performing with guitarist Rainer Maria Nero in "SHIRA", as well as the Yiddish swing, performing with Jazz pianist Elias Meiri.
Karmon also became member of the Soundingjerusalem Festival and collaborated with the Artis Quartett among other prestigeuos artists.
The Israeli Radio Network "Kol Hamusica" in Jerusalem featured Shira Karmon repeatedly. She studied at the Rubin Academy in Tel Aviv and at the Manhattan School of Music in New York and holds prizes of the Competition "Lied of the 20th and 21st Century" of the Kulturkreis der Deutschen Wirtschaft as well as the best performance of an Israeli Piece from the Institute of Israeli Music.
Shira Karmon Soprano
Clara Montocchio
was born and raised in Vienna, Austria of South African parents. She grew up in a highly musical family environment and began taking piano lessons at a young age. At age 9 she started performing on stage and hasn’t stopped since.
After five years of classical voice training, she went on to complete her studies in Musical Theatre in Vienna. At the moment she is working on her degree in Popular Music/Jazz Voice at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna while working as a freelance actress, dancer and jazz singer across Europe.
Clara Montocchio is known for her outstanding musicality, her versatility and her talent for deep emotional expression. Although singing will always be her first love, she is fascinated by interdisciplinary work and loves embracing the freedom to move fluidly between genres.
She is a highly sought after vocalist in the Austrian Jazz circuit and, being a passionate Lindy Hop Dancer, she founded Vienna’s first all-female Swing Band “The Thrill Seekers” in 2019. In recent years she has also become deeply involved with Yiddish Music, performing regularly with Elias & the Yiddish Maidels, Moritz Weiß Klezmer Trio (Album “Klezmer Explosion” released 2020) and Styrian Klezmer Orchestra (Album "The Bigger Picture" to be released Nov 2022).
She has performed at renowned theatres and venues in Austria such as Musikverein, ORF Radiokulturhaus, Muth Konzertsaal, Porgy & Bess, Stadttheater Baden, Styiarte Festival, Kultursommer Wien, Dschungel Wien, Stadttheater Klagenfurt and Brucknerhaus Linz, as well as in Germany, England, Slovakia, Croatia, Czech Republic and her second home South Africa.
