Contralto MARIJANA MIJANOVIC is rapidly becoming one of Europe's leading soloists in the baroque repertoire. She was born in Valjevo, the former Yugoslavia. In 1994, after her piano studies at the Academy of Belgrade, she came to the Netherlands and went on to study voice at Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam with Dutch mezzo-soprano Cora Canne Meijer. In 1997 she won numerous international voice competitions, including the Jo Bollekamp and the Erna Spoorenberg Competition, as well as the Prix Jeunesse at the International Opera Competition in Amsterdam's Concertgebouw.

Mijanovic has appeared with most of Europe's leading ensembles and conductors, most notably William Christie, Emmanuelle Haim, Marc Minkowski, Philippe Herreweghe, Paul McCreesh, and René Jacobs. Her U.S. debut was in 2002 with Les Arts Florissants performing the role of Penelope in Monteverdi's Il ritorno de'Ulisse at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. She returned in 2004 with the Venice Baroque Orchestra, performing in Boston and New York.

This concert marks her Los Angeles debut.

10/06