'I have always been fascinated by the art of singing…' - admits the soprano Mirela Bunoaica - a name that lovers of opera music will surely hear again. She graduated from the University of Music in Bucharest - the canto department, under the patronage of the soprano Maria Slătinaru Nistor. Her singing abilities and her talent have brought her, so far, multiple awards, the most recent of them at the Panama City Opera in August 2012. Her international career began four years ago, when she received a one-year contract in the program for young artists from Munich's Bavarian State Opera. And, one by one, some of the greatest lyric theatres open their doors to her. In the interview she granted us, soprano Mirela Bunoaica spoke about her projects:

Thank you for agreeing to this interview. The readers of the Radio Romania Music website will be pleased to find out new information about the soprano Mirela Bunoaica. Will you please tell us a bit about your main projects for the season 2011-2012?

Over the season 2011-2012 I have had some very important projects. One of my biggest accomplishments was the concert I had in 2011 in Carcassonne, France, alongside the maestro Jose Carreras. I performed arias and duets, outdoors; it was an important concert, a very beautiful one, with a whirlwind of applause and many encores. I was very excited to have had the chance to sing alongside one of my childhood icons and I am extremely happy that this event took place.

How did it feel, collaborating with Jose Carreras?

As everyone knows, Jose Carreras is a great tenor, and I was very happy that he himself chose me, through the agency I am currently working with. It went very well; he is an amazing person and a formidable tenor.

What other events have marked your career in 2011-2012?

Recently, I sang in Germany, on Freiburg's theatre scene, in Francesco Cilea's L'Arlesiana, alongside distinguished performers, such as Giuseppe Filianoti and Juan Orozco. It was my opera debut in a concert. Furthermore, we have made a record of L'Arlesiana. Recently, I won an important award in Panama and I am very happy and deeply honoured for receiving these distinctions - the First Place Award and the Rivelas Award.

In the season 2012-2013, you will be in Austria, at Vienna People's Opera, where you will perform in a cantata. What is it about?

It is the Carmina Burana, which I will perform on the Vienna People's Opera scene, on 28^th and 30^th September. Furthermore, I will perform in Carmina Burana two more times in October.

Did you begin rehearsing?

I will begin rehearsing in two days, on 13^th September.

So, you are already studying the score of Carmina Burana. How does it seem to you? Is it a difficult score?

It is a very difficult part; it has fragments in an acute tone, and fragments in a grave tone. I believe it is appropriate for my voice and I am delighted to perform in Carmina Burana.

What projects will follow this appearance?

I will sing at the Verona Arena, in a concert named Opera on Ice - a show successfully launched last year. Some of the most famous champions of figure skating, the orchestra and the choir from the Verona Arena Theatre, are all partaking in this, alongside, of course, world renown singers, who will interpret famous arias from different operas.

What will you sing?

I will interpret three arias: Je Veux Vivre from Charles Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Sempre Libera from La Traviata, and Caro Nome from Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi.

You've mentioned La Traviata. From what I know, next year, in France, you will appear on stage a few times as Violeta Valery.

Yes. Next year, I will perform seven times in La Traviata in the role of Violeta Valery, in the theatres I will be collaborating with, from Angers and Nantes.

What other roles are you preparing for?

For the moment, as you know, I am preparing for Carmina Burana. After the project with the Verona Arena, I will begin studying for the roles I will be interpreting on the scene of the Stuttgart State Theatre - with whom I have a contract for the next year - Violeta in La Traviata, Gilda in Rigoletto, Naneta in Falstaff, Mimi in Boema, and others.

On what other scenes of lyric theatres do you hope to be performing in the future?

I would love to perform at the Convent Garden, at the Metropolitan Opera - famous operas, and to sing in Vienna. Furthermore, I hope to perform once again at Munich's Bavarian State Opera, with whom I collaborated a few years ago.

Thank you and I wish you all the best in your projects.