Greek mezzo-soprano Alexandra Achillea is carving a career as a versatile artist, equally at home in opera, art song, chamber music, folk, and new music collaborations.
Some of her recent performance highlights include a European tour with Martha Argerich as a soloist with the Peace Orchestra under Ricardo Castro, appearing at several renowned venues such as the Philharmonie de Paris, Auditorium Manzoni, and Teatro Galli; BBC Proms debut at the Glasshouse with the Royal Northern Sinfonia conducted by Ellie Slorach; Dallapiccola's Goethe-Lieder at the BBC Total Immersion: Italian Radicals at the Barbican; and Lili Boulanger’s Psalm 130: Du fond de l'abîme at the Barbican Hall under Marius Stravinsky. In 2022 she made her Carnegie Weill Hall recital debut with pianist Élisabeth Pion, and later that year, they performed Messiaen’s epic cycle Harawi at Barbican’s Milton Court, which they regularly revive ever since. Her performances have been broadcast on BNR Radio Bulgaria, BBC Radio 3: New Generation Artists, and RSI Radiotelevisione Svizzera.
She has appeared at international festivals including Settimane Musicali di Ascona, Musicon Durham, Oropa Music Festival, Chipping Campden Festival, Cambridge Summer Music Festival, Music Village Festival, Horto International Music Festival, Plovdiv Chamber Music Festival, and in esteemed venues like Snape Maltings, Cafe Oto and Wigmore Hall.
On the opera stage, Alexandra has performed the roles of Sister Helen Prejean in the London stage premiere of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, Ottavia in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, The Queen in Ethel Smyth’s Fete Galante and Signora Guidotti in Rota’s I due timidi (Guildhall Opera). She has created two roles in chamber operas for Opera Makers in association with The Royal Opera House and joined the 2023 Glyndebourne Opera Chorus. In a collaboration with Figure Ensemble, she performed a staged reimagining of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater reworked by Alex Mills, alongside Dame Emma Kirkby and directed by Sophie Daneman.
Passionate for new music, she collaborates closely with composers, developing and premiering new work. Recent projects include Beatrice Ferreira’s pas de deux for voice and electronics premiered at nonclassical’s 20th anniversary at Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room, and Eden Lonsdale’s voicings, a concerto for voice written for her and premiered at Britten Sinfonia’s Magnum Opus Showcase at St Giles Cripplegate.
Improvisation is central to her practice, as she explores the dialogue between her Balkan heritage and Western classical traditions through her work with folk and medieval ensembles. She is one third of the emerging Balkan polyphonic trio Alkanna Graeca, a project that weaves together her diverse influences and places cultural embodiment at the heart of ritual and performance. Their work is quickly gaining momentum, selling out venues and captivating audiences in festivals throughout the UK & Greece, with several international collaborations and their debut album underway.
Her interdisciplinary work includes performances in Hannah O’Shea’s A Litany for Women Artists at Tate Britain, as well as projects presented in London and Singapore galleries including One Room Gallery, The Showroom, and ArtNexus. She also collaborated with electronic sound artist NPK Studio on Illuminated River, a long-term public art installation that lights up the Thames bridges.
Alexandra’s voice has also featured in film and media projects, including the BFI-funded documentary Our Land by Orban Wallace with music by Daniel Inzani, Audible’s Original audiobook The Mysterious Affair at Styles with a score by Johnny Flynn, and an upcoming Netflix production scheduled for release in 2027.
Her accolades include the 2023 Guildhall Gold Medal and twice reaching the finals of the Maria Callas Foundation Competition. She has also held Artist in Residence positions with Britten Pears Arts (2022), the VOCE Centre in Corsica (2024), and the Samling Institute (2024).
An alumna of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Alexandra holds both a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Studies and an Artist Masters in Opera Studies, and in 2023/24 returned as a Vocal Fellow, co-leading a project for the creation of new vocal music. She also studied Musicology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and Historical Performance at the Early Music Centre of the Athens Conservatoire.
She is grateful for the support of the Help Musicians UK Sybil Tutton Opera Award, The Athena Scholarship, Jane Ades Ingenuity Scholarship and Guildhall School Trust Scholarship, the Early Music Centre of Athens Conservatoire Historical Performance Scholarship, and the Dow Clewer Scholarship.
