Ilona Domnich is a lyric soprano (leggero), described by Opera Now as ”A memorable voice of silken beauty with a luminous edge to the tone, a sensitive musician and an actress of magnetic presence” and was chosen by Opera Now as one of the magazine’s Top 10 high flyers, ” a new generation of sopranos who are destined to have impressive careers”. Ilona Domnich was highlighted as artist of the month in Opera magazine and was the Daily Telegraph’s choice of ‘best British-based talent’.
Ilona Domnich first came to the attention of legendary singing teacher, Vera Rosza during a masterclass. She went on to win the prestigious Wingate scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music and since those early days has gained a formidable international reputation for daring and excellence on stage. Her teachers and coaches have included Vera Rosza, Enid Hartle, Joan Rodgers, Susan Roberts, Montserrat Caballe, Ludmilla Andrew, Thomas Hemsley, Donald Maxwell and Anthony Legge.
Ilona Domnich’s operatic highlights include Tosca (Tosca),Tatyana (Eugene Onegin) Glauche (Medea), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Mimi (La Boheme), Magda (La Rondine), Melisande (Pelleas et Melisande), Gilda (Rigoletto), Olympia/Antonia/Giulietta (Tales of Hoffmann), Jacqueline (Fortunio), Elle (La Voix Humaine), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Eurydice (Der neue Orpheus), Venus (Judgement of Paris), Madam Herz (Der Schauspieldirektor), Blondchen (Die Entfhrung aus dem Serail).
Ms Domnich has worked in close collaboration with English National Opera, BBC Concert Orchestra, Grange Park Opera, Buxton Opera Festival, English Touring Opera, Northern Sinfonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Concert Orchestra, Southbank Sinfonia, Festival de Musique de Menton, Trasimeno Music Festival and Anghiari in Italy, Chopin festival in Mallorca, Aldeburgh festival, London Song Festival, the Chelsea Schubert Festival, North Norfolk and the Jersey International Festival as well as the Perth, Rye and Newbury Spring festivals.
She has appeared in concerts in London at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Barbican, Westminster Cathedral, St. Johns Smith Square and St. Martin in the Fields and has sung internationally in Paris, Menton, Segura, Rome, St. Petersburg, Jerusalem, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Dubai and Beirut.
She has a particularly strong connection to the orchestra of St. Johns under the baton of John Lubbock OBE, with whom she has performed in concert in a whole range of repertoire, ranging from early music to the late Romantics in song via oratorio and opera.
Her fruitful collaboration with Southbank Sinfonia under Simon Over led to the recording of an Operatic CD ‘Surrender’ together with baritone Leo Nucci, available on Signum Classics ( to Purchase click here ). Ilona Domnich is also featured on the Toccata Classics label in songs with orchestra by Michael Csanyi-Wills, on Dutton Vocalion on the score to ‘Scott of the Antarctic’ by R. Vaughan Williams, on OSJ Alive in Faure Songs, on FHR in chamber works by Shostakovich, on Quartz in ‘Le secret – Love songs and arias’ and on Naxos in the world premiere recording of Timothy Hamilton’s Requiem. A 2021 recording for Dutton Vocalion is released featuring Ms Domnich with the BBC Concert Orchestra under Martin Yates in ‘Rout’ by Sir Arthur Bliss.
Always inventive and keen to explore new directions, Ilona Domnich has also developed and performed a one woman cabaret-style show, ‘Voix du cabaret’, based on songs sung by Marlene Dietrich, Jacques Brel and Edith Piaf. It features jazz pianist Mark Risi with jazz double bassist/flautist Ian Marcus and is directed by James Bonas.
In 2022 Ilona started an exciting collaboration with ‘Klezmerish’, four incredibly outward-looking classically trained musicians who met whilst playing with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. From rip-roaring klezmer and dynamic tango to their self-penned gypsy jazz, Klezmer-ish bring a trademark twist to whatever genre takes their fancy.
In October 2019, Ms Domnich was invited by acclaimed German violinist, Linus Roth to take part in the inaugural Weinberg focus event to be held at Wigmore hall. Curated by Roth, the events featured a selection of the composer’s vocal and chamber music in the centenary year of his birth. Roth has since invited Ms Domnich to perform at his Schwaebischer Fruehling festival 2021 and Shostakovich Days at the Gohrisch Festival in Germany 2020, where he is the Artistic Director. There next concert is planned in September 2023 at the Wigmore Hall
2022-23 Ilona has been singing the title role of Tosca with Diva Opera company, touring UK, Chanel Islands, France and South Africa ‘…The Tosca of Ilona Domnich is a real revelation. Dramatically flamboyant, vocally volcanic but using an admirably mastered musicality, phrasing with emotion the famous, and awaited, prayer of the second act, she is a Floria Tosca worthy of the best stages. A true dramatic soprano, she shows incredible power against Scarpia.’ Classic Toulouse
