In addition, Ms Soulis has performed the roles of Rosina (Il Barbiere de Siviglia), Nicklauss (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Gluck's Orfeo, Dido, La Périchole, Musette (Leoncavallo's La Bohème), Pierotto (Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix), Mrs. Grose (Britten's The Turn of the Screw), Néris (Cherubini's Médée), Dinah (Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti) and Dryade (Ariadne auf Naxos) at theatres including Monte Carlo, Metz, Nantes, the Barbican Centre, Wexford and the Rossini Festival in Bad Wildbad.
In the 2005 - 2006 season, due to her interest in modern music, Ms Soulis created the roles of Teura and Third Narrator in the new opera Bonjour, M. Gauguin by the young composer Fabrizio Carlone, premiered at the Teatro Fondamenta Nuove di Venezia.
Also in 2006, Ms Soulis made her debut as Carmen at the Longborough Opera Festival in England, to great acclaim.
As a concert singer in Europe, Ms Soulis has performed many of Gustav Mahler's great orchestral song cycles: Rückert Lieder, Das Lied von der Erde and Symphony Nr. 8 with the Philharmonisches Orchester Regensburg and Kindertoten-Lieder with the Mährische Philharmonie. Other European credits include the Alto Solo in Beethoven's Symphony Nr. 9 and Mozart's Requiem and Mass in C Minor. In Canada, Maria Soulis has appeared in repertoire ranging from Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium and Handel's Messiah to Dvorak's Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah and A Rodgers and Hammerstein Evening. Ms Soulis is an avid recitalist and chamber music singer and enjoys presenting traditional as well as lesser known works.
Born in Canada of Greek parentage, Maria Soulis attended the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory of Music where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Composition and a Performance Degree (ARCT) in Piano, respectively. She was awarded grants from both the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council to further her studies in London and New York.
Her voice has been praised as having "ein rubinrotes Timbre" (a ruby red timbre) and "üppige Vokalfarben" (luxurious vocal colours; Münsterische Zeitung), "chaude et puissante" (warm and powerful; L'Atelier du Chanteur) and as being "gorgeous, dusky toned" (The Record, Kitchener, ON), "full of warmth and drama" (Birmingham Post) and "warmly expressive" (Financial Times, London).
Recent engagements include the Alto Soloist in Theodoraki's ballet Zorba in Toulon and Nice, and Olga (Eugene Onegin) with the Orquestra Gulbenkian, conducted by Lawrence Foster in Lisbon, the Alto Soloist in Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle in Switzerland and Canada, as well as reprising the role of Carmen for the Longborough Festival. Upcoming engagements include Dritte Dame (Die Zauberflöte) in Montpellier and at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris and the Alto Soloist in Zorba in Metz.