Recent operatic highlights include her sensational role debut as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin for Hamburgische Staatsoper; Micaela in Carmen for a new production by Andreas Homoki at Opéra Comique and at the Edinburgh International Festival; the role of Tosca in English National Opera’s 7 Deaths of Maria Callas to critical acclaim; Violetta in Dresden; and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; as well as performances as Mimi in Dresden; and Manon in Hamburg.

Kajtazi studied at the University of Prishtina, Faculty of Arts in Kosovo. From there she moved to Germany and within four years went from being one of the youngest members of the Young Artist Program at Deutsche Oper Berlin, to becoming a member of Aalto-Musiktheater in Essen, and then joining the ensemble of Hamburgische Staatsoper in the 2018/19 season, where she has since debuted several leading roles including Violetta, Mimi, Manon and Tatyana in Eugene Onegin. Kajtazi is grateful for ongoing collaboration with her singing teacher Caroline Isabel Merz.

In Summer 2016, Kajtazi made her Salzburg Festival debut as a member of the Young Singers Project, performing alongside Plácido Domingo and the Münchner Rundfunkorchester as Crobyle in Massenet’s Thaïs. As a young artist she was part of masterclasses with great artists like Christa Ludwig, Thomas Hampson, Ermonela Jaho and Malcolm Martineau.

In 2022 the President of Kosovo awarded Kajtazi as honorary ambassador of the republic of Kosovo. In 2018 she won the Audience Prize and Third Prize at the first ever Glyndebourne Opera Cup. Other awards include First Prize of the Riccardo Zandonai Competition, First Prize in the Spiros Argiris Sarzana Festival Competition in Italy 2014, and Dr. Wilhelm Oberdörffer Prize from Hamburgische Staatsoperin the 2019/2020 season. In April 2024 Kajtazi launched the first ever worldwide "Bajar Berisha" scholarship supporting Albanian artists studying in Germany. This important initiative was devised by Kajtazi with support of ODA Hamburg organisation for art and culture, and launched with a sensational benefit concert.

Other opera engagements include Nannetta in Falstaff in Hamburg directed by Calixto Bieito streamed live at the ARTE Opera Season, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro in Hamburg and for Opéra National de Lyon, Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro at the Opernhaus Zürich, Violetta for her debut at Opéra National de Bordeaux, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin and Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Musetta in La boheme in Hamburg, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as in Essen and Hamburg: Adina in L’elisir d’amore, Violetta, Liu in Turandot, Gretel, Musetta, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Annina in Eine Nacht in Venedig, Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro, Manon (Massenet), Micaela in Carmen, Gretel, and Pamina.

In concert Kajtazi has performed Beethoven 9 with Kent Nagano and the Hamburg Phiharmonic in performances at the Elbphilharmonie and Laeishalle Hamburg (2024); concerts of Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn with Riccardo Minasi and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg; Bianca in La Rondine with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester at Prinzregententheater Munich; concerts of Pulcinella and Musetta in Scènes de la vie de bohème at the Grand Théâtre de Genève.

Please note: this biography is valid for use until December 2024. Biographies are updated regularly, and we ask that they are not altered without permission. For updated version, please e-mail: rachel@srcreativeconsultancy.com / SR Creative Consultancy