Italian soprano Damiana Mizzi began her musical training at the age of 8, studying piano. She went on to attend the Nino Rota Music Conservatory in Monopoli (Bari), earning her diploma under Maria Grazia Pani, and completed her studies with Amelia Felle and then with Mariella Devia. In 2008, she obtained a master’s degree in performance at Nino Rota Music Conservatory.
A finalist at Placido Domingo’s Operalia 2017, Mizzi has won many international contests, such as the 2012 AsLiCo (first prize), 2014 Viñas Competition (extraordinary prize reserved to a finalist), 10th annual International Ottavio Ziino Competition (first prize) and 12th annual Valerio Gentile International Prize (first prize).
She made her debut in 2004 in the role of Rosina in Paisiello’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, and in 2005, she was Valencienne in Lehàr’s La vedova allegra.
In the following years, she interpreted many roles such as Adina in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore, Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Lauretta in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, the title role in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Giulietta in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Corinna in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims, Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff, Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème, Elena in Rota’s The Straw Hat of Florence, Elisetta in Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto, Sofia in Sarro’s La furba e lo sciocco (first Italian performance), Serpina in La serva padrona in the two versions by Pergolesi and Paisiello, Clorinda in Rossini’s La cenerentola, Elvira in L’italiana in Algeri, Oscar in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera and Satirino in Cavalli’s La Calisto.
During these years, she has worked in many important theaters and festivals, including Teatro alla Scala of Milan, Teatro dell’Opera of Rome, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Teatro La Fenice of Venice, Teatro Regio of Turin, Teatro Regio of Parma, Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo, Royal Opera House Muscat, Theater Lübeck, Reate Festival, Ravenna Festival, Stresa Festival, Musikfest Bremen and Savonlinna Opera Festival.
Mizzi is very active in the world of contemporary music, performing regularly many important composers such as M. D’Amico, F. Pennisi and G. Battistelli. She collaborated with Nuova Consonanza Festival in Rome, singing premieres of many composers.
She has worked with important conductors including Riccardo Muti, Kent Nagano, Donato Renzetti, Bruno Campanella, Christophe Rousset, Fabio Biondi, Riccardo Frizza, Lü Jia, Gianpaolo Bisanti, Andrea Battistoni, Roland Böer, Daniel Smith, Marco Angius, Alejo Perez, Nicola Paszkowski, Luigi Piovano, Christian Capocaccia and Francesco Lanzillotta.
She performs regularly with many chamber-music groups and is a member of the Hemisphaeria Trio. She teaches at the Higher Institute of Musical Studies “G. Verdi” in Ravenna.
2021
