The Greek National Opera bids farewell to Kiki Morfoniou with deep emotion and grief

The prominent GNO mezzo-soprano passed away today at the age of 89.

The renowned mezzo-soprano from the Greek National Opera, Kiki Morfoniou, passed away on Thursday, 18 December 2025, leaving behind a significant legacy of opera performances. Throughout her remarkable 30-year career at the Greek National Opera, she showcased the entire mezzo-soprano repertoire, leaving her mark on more than 40 operas. Her performances alongside Maria Callas at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus have been etched in Greece’s operatic history with golden letters.

The legendary mezzo-soprano Kiki Morfoniou was born in Athens in 1936. She studied piano with Fofi Vafeiadou and singing with Irene Skepers at the National Conservatory. She graduated in 1956 and was awarded the first prize along with a certificate of excellence. She continued her studies in Milan for three years on a state scholarship, alongside conductors Antonio Tonini and Antonio Narducci. In 1958, she was engaged as a chorister at the Greek National Opera, and in 1959, she signed a permanent soloist contract. Between 1958 and 1987, she performed major mezzo-soprano roles in 40 operas in 93 productions or revivals, including Faust, Carmen, The Mother’s Ring [To dahtylidi tis manas], Il barbiere di Siviglia, Il trovatore, La Gioconda, and others. She participated in the Greek National Opera premieres of numerous works, such as Dialogues des carmélites, Nabucco, Kassiane, The Khovansky Affair [Khovanshchina], Medea, Bluebeard’s Castle [A kékszakállú herceg vára], Falstaff, Dido and Aeneas, Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, L’incoronazione di Poppea, Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Don Quixote, and Kostas Karyotakis, among others. She performed at the Epidaurus Festival next to Maria Callas, as Adalgisa in Norma (1960) and Neris in Medea (1961). She also performed at the following festivals: Musical July in Trapani, Sicily; Spoleto; Athens; Corfu; Heraklion; and the Dimitria Festival in Thessaloniki. Furthermore, she collaborated with the Athens State Orchestra, the Thessaloniki State Orchestra, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation Symphony Orchestra, and the Brussels and Cologne Radio Orchestras. Since 1974, she taught at the Athens Conservatory. She served as a member of the Greek National Opera’s Board of Directors in the 1990s. She recorded works by Greek composers, such as Kalomiris, Theodorakis, and Hadjiapostolou.

The Greek National Opera honoured Kiki Morfoniou in 2023 at the opening of events commemorating the 100th anniversary of Maria Callas’ birth. At the premiere of Cherubini’s Medea, on 25 April 2023, at the Stavros Niarchos Hall, Giorgos Koumendakis, the Artistic Director of the GNO, awarded her an honorary plaque as an acknowledgement for “her significant contribution to the art of opera, her unmatched performances, but also for her ethos, love, and devotion to the Greek National Opera.” Her final appearance was in the GNO’s documentary on Maria Callas (2023), where she discussed their historic collaboration in Epidaurus.

With deep respect for Kiki Morfoniou’s work and memory, the management and staff of the Greek National Opera express their profound sorrow and grief and extend their condolences to her family and loved ones.