Title: Associate Professor of Music
Office: Jenson-Noble 158
Phone:  1.563.387.1795
E-mail: kanaka01@luther.edu
Degree: D.M.A., Voice Performance, University of North Texas
Interests: Voice, opera first year seminar

Soprano Karen Kanakis is hailed for her fine vocal technique and dramatic flair. “Her voice and her stage presence are a delight,” wrote the critic of the Denton Record Chronicle of her performance as Sybil in the world premiere of Hans Schaeuble’s Dorian Gray. Her signature role is Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata, which she has performed both in the United States and in Italy. Other operatic credits include Alice Ford in Falstaff, Abigaille in Nabucco, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Adina in L’Elisir d’amore.  She made her Italian debut singing the role of Fanny in Rossini’s La cambiale di matrimonio in Castelfranco-Veneto.

Active also in concert and oratorio, Ms. Kanakis has been a featured soloist with symphony organizations performing the Verdi Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Brahm’s Ein Deutches Requiem, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, and Orff’s Carmina Burana.  She frequently performs solo art song recitals, and in 2008 she made her Carnegie Hall debut in the Weill Recital Hall alongside her husband, baritone Jacob Lassetter.  She can also be heard on composer Brooke Joyce’s album “Waves of Stone” on the Innova label.

A regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Ms. Kanakis has performed as an Apprentice Artist with both the Des Moines Metro Opera and the Utah Festival Opera Company, where she performed the roles of  Clorinda in La Cenerentola and Isabelle/Madeline in The Face on the Barroom Floor. She earned her Bachelor of Music cum laude from Missouri State University and her Master of Music from Stephen F. Austin State University. A Rotary International Graduate Scholar, Ms. Kanakis also studied abroad at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, Germany. She went on to the University of North Texas, earning the DMA degree in voice and opera.

Before joining the voice faculty at Luther College, Ms. Kanakis taught at both Texas Women’s University and Missouri Southern State University. Her students frequently win competitions on an off campus and go on to top graduate schools for vocal study.  Ms. Kanakis’ students have also appeared in young artist programs with the Santa Fe Opera, The Ryan Opera Center (Lyric Opera of Chicago), Glimmerglass Opera, Wolftrap Opera, Seattle Opera, Indianapolis Opera, and Cedar Rapids Opera.