Karine Babajanyan completed her vocal studies with honors at the Conservatory of Eriwan, later perfecting her technique in Rome with Mirella Parutto and in Stuttgart with Dunja Vejzovic.

The Armenian soprano began her career at the National Theatre in Yerevan. After first appearances in Germany in Berlin, Essen, Hannover, Koblenz, and Bielefeld, she was named a soloist of the Stuttgart Staatsoper from 2003 to 2011. During these years she performed such diverse roles as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Elettra in Idomeneo, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Leonora in Il trovatore, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, Mimì in La bohème, Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly, Tosca, and Norma.

The soprano’s exceptionally wide-ranging repertoire is apparent from guest engagements that have brought her to the Bavarian State Opera (new production of Mefistofele), Berlin Staatsoper (Così fan tutte), the Hamburg Staatsoper (Madama Butterfly, Ariadne auf Naxos), the Frankfurt Oper (Madama Butterfly), the Dresden Semperoper (La bohème), the Zurich Opera (La juive), the Salle Gaveau, the New National Theatre Tokyo (Madama Butterfly), the Beijing Opera (Un ballo in maschera), the New Israeli Opera Tel Aviv (La juiveand Jenufa), the Bregenz Festival (Tosca and Aida), the Grand Théâtre de Genève (Madama Butterfly), the Finnish National Opera (Così fan tutte), the Royal Opera of Copenhagen (Così fan tutte), the Ópera de Bellas Artes of Mexico City (Eugene Onegin), the Vlaamse Opera of Antwerp (Madama Butterfly, Don Carlos, and Don Giovanni), Warsaw (Don Carlo), and the opera houses of Basel (Eugene Onegin and Norma) and Bern (Mazeppa), among others.

In 2016/2017 the soprano starred as Elena in Mefistofele at the Bavarian State Opera of Munich, sang the title role of Manon Lescaut in a new production at the Hannover State Opera, where she could also be heard as Tosca, Mimi in La bohème and Senta in Der fliegende Holländer. She returned to the Hungarian State Opera Budapest as Mimi in La bohème and to the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Dusseldorf in the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos. As Mimì in La bohème she made her debut at the prestigious Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago.

In the season 2017/2018 Karine Babajanyan returned to the Staatsoper Stuttgart in the title role of Madama Butterfly, performed Tosca at Oper Leipzig and the Yerevan Opera Theatre, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at the Philharmonie of Paris, the title role of Aida in a new production at the Hanover State Opera, where she also appeared in the title role of Manon Lescaut and as Elisabetta in Don Carlo.

Engagements of the season 2018/2019 include house debuts at the Wiener Staatsoper as Tosca, a role she also performed at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and at the Leipzig Opera. Further role debuts include Minnie in a new production of Puccini’s La fanciulla del West at Leipzig Opera, Carlotta in a new staging of Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten at the Hannover State Opera, Lisa in Das Land des Lächelns at the Grand Opera Shanghai and later at the Palace of Arts in Budapest, as well as performances in the title roles of Carmen at the Dubai Opera

in Yerevan, Madama Butterfly and Aida at the Hanover State Opera and the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf.

As Minnie, she took the stage in “La fanciulla del West” at the Korean National Opera in Seoul. She later sang “Iris” at the Konzerthaus Berlin in 2020 and earned a nomination for a major OPUS Klassik Award in 2021. Her album “Puccini Arias” is available through EMI Records. Additionally, in 2008, she made an appearance in the James Bond movie “A Quantum of Solace”, performing as Tosca during the Bregenz Festival.

Season 2021/22 spotlighted the remarkable talent of Karine Babajanyan with four significant debuts. She graced the stage of Milan’s Teatro alla Scala with Igor Stravinsky’s “Les Noces,” and portrayed Lisa in P.I. Tchaikovsky’s “Pikovaja Dama” at Opéra de Toulon. At MÜPA Budapest’s “Wagner Days,” she shone as Sieglinde from “Valkyrie”, under the direction of Adam Fischer, and starred in “Turandot” at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago. Looking ahead, Babajanyan is set to captivate audiences in roles like Madama Butterfly and Tosca at the Leipzig Opera and again as Floria Tosca at the Burgplatz Festival in Braunschweig.

Karine Babajanyan has collaborated with esteemed conductors including Daniel Oren, Adam Fischer, Ivan Repusic, Srba Dinic, Felix Krieger, Carlo Rizzi, Nicola Luisotti, Robin Ticciati, Lothar Zagrosek, Muhai Tang, Stefan Soltesz, Alexander Joel, Helmut Rilling, Piergiorgio Morandi, Jonathan Nott and Carlo Montanaro. Equally, her stage presence has been directed by distinguished figures such as Peter Konwitschny, Daniele Abbado, Philipp Himmelmann, Graham Vick, Jossi Wieler, Tatjana Güurbaca, Monique Wagemakers, Michael Schulz, and Dietrich Hilsdorf.