Sofija Petrović
Sofija Petrović was born in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1991 and graduated in 2014 from the University of Music Sciences there, receiving her bachelor's degree in singing from the Russian soprano Lyudmila Gross. In 2012, the soprano won the Grand Prix at Serbia's most prestigious competition and received a scholarship from the government of Belgrade.
In the same year, Petrović was the youngest finalist at the International Ferruccio Tagliavini Competition in Austria, whereupon mezzo-soprano Elena Obraztsova invited Sofija to be her guest in St. Petersburg and take part in her masterclass in Moscow.
In the summer of 2013, Petrović received a scholarship to participate in the masterclass of Julliard singing teacher Daniel Ferro in Tuscany, Italy. She also sang in a series of concerts in Florence and Greve in Chianti and worked with Massimiliano Bullo and singing teachers such as Peter Castaldi, Ricardo Herrera, and Bruno Rigacci.
In October of the same year, Petrović was heard in Vienna by singing teacher Bill Schuman and subsequently invited to audition for the four-year training programme at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, where she began her studies in September 2014. In June 2015, Petrović was invited to prepare for the title role in Madama Butterfly at Martina Arroyo's summer programme in New York City. During the same period, she travelled to Nancy, France, to work with baritone Ludovic Tezier, where she sang Marguerite's aria from Mefistofele at the Opéra National de Lorraine under the direction of Michael Balke.
In November 2015, Sofija joined the Atelier Lyrique of the Opéra National de Paris as a guest artist until July 2018. In October 2016, she sang the role of Mrs Coyle in Benjamin Britten's Owen Wingrave at the Opéra Bastille under the baton of Stephen Higgins. In January 2017, Petrović appeared in a concert at the Palais Garnier, performing an aria from Ariadne auf Naxos. In October 2017 she returned to Paris to sing the role of the opera singer in Philippe Boesmans' Reigen under Jean Deroyer, and in January 2018 sang Cassandre in Berlioz' Les Troyens in concert at the Palais Garnier. Petrović appeared at the Opera Bastille in the 2018/19 season, covering the role of Cassandre in Berlioz's Les Troyens, and sang Aksinya in Warlikowski's new production of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. She returned there in the 2019/20 season as Mademoiselle Jouvenot in Adriana Lecouvreur.
In the same season, she sang with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra and the Innphilharmonie Rosenheim. In 2021, Sofija covered the title role in Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini
at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and played Esmeralda in Franz Schmidt's Notre Dame at the St. Gallen Festival. In 2022, she sang with the Serbian Symphony Orchestra and made her debut in her home country for the first time in the role of Carmen at the Serbian National Theatre. She opened the 54th Bemus Festival in the Kolarac Concert Hall with Sir Bryn Terfel and Maestro Bojan Suđić. Her most recent debut was at the Teatro Massimo Bellini as Principessa di Bouillon in Adriana Lecouvreur by Cilea and Carmen at the Jerusalem Lyric Theatre. Her upcoming roles include Maddalena in Rigoletto and Amneris in Aida.