Latvian soprano Maija Kovalevska made her operatic stage debut in 2003 at the Latvian National Opera in Riga, her native city. The very next year, she won the Riccardo Zandonai first prize at the International Competition for Opera Singers in Riva del Garda and the Latvian Grand Music Award. In 2006, she sang the part of Mimi in “La Bohème” at the Palau de les arts Valencia and debuted as Mimi in the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In the same year, Kovalevska won first-prize at the 2006 Operalia Competition.

Kovalevska was “an affecting Mimi, singing with a fluid, dark-hued voice, earthy timbre and strong top notes. She was impassioned in her Act III duet with Marcello and poignant in the final scene, ghostly pale, frail and believably consumptive. -The New York Times

Hear  Maija Kovalevska sing the role of Mimi, the seamstress for Pacific Symphony’s production of “La Bohème,” April 19, 21 and 24, at 8 p.m. at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. www.PacificSymphony.org/Boheme