Born in Rijeka, Croatia, Anamarija Knego graduated from Zagreb’s Music Academy in flute and voice and she received her diploma in opera singing.
She participated in several competitions and reached the finals of the Montserrat Caballe Competition in Zaragoza. After joining the ensemble of the Rijeka Opera, her diverse repertoire began to grow impressively. In 7 years she has appeared as a leading soprano in Eugene Onegin, Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Otello, Falstaff, La bohème, Werther, Nikola Šubić Zrinjski, Madama Butterfly, Traviata, Romeo et Juliette, Carmen, Le nozze di Figaro, Gianni Schicchi, with Don Carlo, Turandot (Liu) and Anna Bolena, Lulu on the horizon for the coming seasons.
International appearances include Tatiana in Krakow (Opera Krakowska) alongside Mariusz Kwiecien as Onegin; and Ljubljana (SNG Opera in balet), performances of Carmina Burana and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Pannon Philharmonic, conducted by Tibor Boganyi; Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare in Egitto) at Cankar Hall in Ljubljana, also included in the program of the next Savonlinna Opera Festival (postponed in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic to 2022); Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare in Egitto at Savonlinna 2022; Mimì (La bohème) at Jyvaskylan Ooperan in Finland. She regularly performs in the productions and concerts of the “Summer Classics” Festival in the Amphitheater of Pula (Istria, Croatia). In 2018, she participated in the first international recording of the famous Croatian opera Nikola Šubić Zrinjski by Ivan Zajc for the prestigious German recording company CPO, playing the role of Jelena to critical acclaim. She has also recently worked with the Zagreb Philharmonic and Symphonic Orchestras and the Croatian Radio and Television Choir.
In 2015, Anamarija received the most important national award (Croatian Theatre Award) for the best opera singer of the year for the role of Miss Jessel (The Turn of the Screw). She also received several audience awards from the Croatian National Theater in Rijeka for her performances as Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare in Egitto), Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly), Violetta (La Traviata), Elisabeth de Valois (Don Carlo).
She has worked with conductors such as Ville Matvejeff, Paolo Bressan, Stefano Rabaglia, Paolo Olmi, Beatrice Venezi, Philipp von Steinaecker, Tibor Boganyi, Valentin Egel, Evgeny Volynsky, and stage directors including Michael Znaniecki, Fabrizio Melano, Dražen Sirišćević, Dora Ruždjak Podolski, Ewa Buchmann, Marin Blažević, and Diana Haller.
