Soprano Nino Machaidze made her LA Opera debut in 2009 as Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore, returned in 2011 as Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia and as Juliette in Romeo et Juliette. A native of Tbilisi, Georgia, she is a graduate of the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala in Milan and appeared at La Scala as Marie in La Fille du Regiment in 2007. Those performances, followed by her debut at the Rome Opera in the same role, launched her international career. In 2008 she made a sensational debut at the Salzburg Festival as Juliette. She sang her first Elvira in I Puritani in Bologna in 2009, followed by Juliette in Venice. She sang her first Lucia di Lammermoor in Brussels, followed by her debut as Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia at the Theater an der Wien. She made debuts at Covent Garden in Roméo et Juliette and at both the Metropolitan Opera and Paris Opera as Gilda in Rigoletto. She recently appeared in Roméo et Juliette at La Scala and the Arena di Verona, and in the title role of Thais in Seville. (www.NinoMachaidze.com)