Lamara Chkhonia ლამარა ჭყონია
Born	December 27, 1930 Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic
Known for	Soprano
Children	Eteri Lamoris Natela Nicoli
Awards	People's Artist of the USSR

Lamara Chkonia (born December 27, 1930) is a Georgian soprano. As one of a number of opera singers who made contributions to the vocal culture of Georgia and the former Soviet Union, Lamara was one of the few women to break through the Iron Curtain.

Early years

Chkonia was born in Georgia (then part of the Soviet Union), to a theatrical and musical family. Her uncle Akaki Chkonia, a writer and a director of the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre, was executed in 1937 during the Great Purge. At Tbilisi State Conservatoire,^[1]

She studied with Valerian Cashelli, who had performed at Milan's La Scala and other Opera Houses in Italy for several years. Under his tutelage, her art was influenced by the Italian school of opera. After her tenure at home in Georgia's Tbilisi Opera, she was accepted as a leading soloist of the Kiev National Opera and Ballet Theatre. During that time, she debuted in productions of other famous theaters including the Kirov Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.

Lamara Chkonia – Madame Butterfly, Kiev 1968 MB

Specialisms

Chkonia's repertoire consists of about 40 opera parts, including Violetta,^[2] Madame Butterfly,^[3][4] Gilda, Marguerite,^[5] Rosina,^[6] and many others.

Chkonia made many recordings,^[7] including 15 CDs (over 250 works) for the "Golden Fund of the USSR" with the National Radio of Moscow, Tbilisi, and Kiev with the participation of the Soviet Union best symphony orchestras. She has had several concert tours outside of the Soviet Union, where she received praise from critics.

Success and international recognition

Chkonia has won competitions, including the Glinka Competition held in Moscow, the Sofia Competition held in Bulgaria, and the Prague Spring held in Czechoslovakia. She also won the Best Actress award at the Madame Butterfly Competition held in Japan. She was the first female singer from the former Soviet state of Georgia to become a vocal competition laureate.

She has been invited to official state and private solo concerts, where her audiences included Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, Josip Broz Tito, Indira Gandhi, François Mitterrand, John F. Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Gustáv Husák, Yuri Gagarin, Todor Zhivkov, Erich Honecker, Nicolae Ceaușescu, János Kádár, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Eduard Shevardnadze. She was also a frequent guest on state television shows such as Blue Light, Morning Post, Music Mail, and others.

Chkonia became a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1979-1984).

Lamara Chkonia's name is included in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.^[8]

Later years

In 1996, Lamara Chkonia moved permanently to Madrid to live with her youngest daughter, soprano Eteri Lamoris. There she engaged in teaching. She took up teaching and occasionally conducted master classes in France and Portugal. With 40 years of experience in teaching, Lamara Chkonia nurtured many singers (including her own daughters: Eteri Lamoris and Natela Nicoli).^[9]

Lamara Chkonia Rosina Kiev 1968

In September 2011, Chkonia’s 80th birthday was celebrated at Batumi Music and Art Center.

Accolades

In 1976, she was awarded People's Artist of the USSR, the highest artistic honor of the time.

In 1984, the Higher Education Commission of the USSR awarded her the title of professor of the Higher Academy of Music.

Lamara Ckronia's State Awards include:

• "Znak Pochteca" (Order of the Badge of Honor), USSR 1974
• «Кредо» (Credo), and "Орден Великомученицы Варвары" (order of St. Barbara) Ukraine 2011;^[9]
• "Order of King Tamar” and The Presidential Order of Excellence", Republic of Georgia 2011
• Premio "Cigno D'Oro," Italy 2011

References