Louisa Panou Takahashi Welty died Jan. 16 of pancreatic cancer at her home in Charlottesville, Va. Born in 1949 on the island of Cyprus, she became interested in opera at the age of 12 when she first heard recordings of Maria Callas. Soon, Louisa was taking voice lessons, and at the age of 15, she auditioned for the Young Artist Program at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Sicily. She was accepted for the following year.
Not long afterwards, Panou was singing small roles in major productions on that theater’s famous main stage. Two years later, she began to attend the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, from which she graduated in an unusually short time. She also studied chamber music at the Conservatorio di Musica “Giuseppe Verdi” in Milan and opera at the Bayerisches Staatstheater in Munich.
After completing her studies, she married flutist Tone Takahashi, and between 1970 and 1985, she sang opera throughout Western Europe and Greece. She also gave recitals, some of them with her husband. A gifted teacher, she joined the faculties of the University of Athens and the Conservatory of Music in Thessalonica.
When Panou came to the United States, she again increased her prodigious knowledge of music. In 1987, she earned a master’s degree from Kent State University in Ohio, and two years later she received a doctorate from Florida State University. After completing her U.S. degrees, she sang, taught voice, and directed opera at Brigham Young University in Utah, at the University of Minnesota, and at South East Missouri State University.
In 1994, Panou founded the Operafestival di Roma, a nonprofit summer education program that continues today under the direction of her second husband, Dr. William Welty. The Operafestival offers three weeks of intensive postgraduate training in Italy, including coaching, language study, masterclasses and rehearsals, and culminating in recitals and opera performances with orchestra. During Panou’s 11 years as the program’s artistic director, she directed 15 operas and guided the careers of more than 500 young singers.
“Louisa was one of those truly special people you come across in life,” wrote Metropolitan Opera baritone Charles Edwin Taylor. “She was more than a musician, more than an impresaria, more than a friend. She was a blessing, a ray of love and light. The world is a little dimmer without her and it is up to those of us who knew her to follow her example and let our lights shine a little more brightly so as to make up for the loss of her glow.”
“Louisa was an extraordinary and tireless producer who was a great champion for young singers and the art of opera,” remembers Zeffin Quinn Hollis, a bass-baritone well known for his portrayal of operatic villains. “She will be greatly missed.”
From 1996 to 2005, Panou directed the opera workshop at the University of Virginia’s McIntire Department of Music, where she also taught voice. In 1998, she married William “Bill” Welty, whom she said she “adored without measure.” A former dean and current professor emeritus of Pace University’s Lubin School of Business, Dr. Welty oversees the administrative aspects of Operafestival di Roma and offers direction to participants interested in arts management.
Panou is survived by her husband; her brother, Theodoros, and his family, who remain in Cyprus; four stepchildren, and six stepgrandchildren.
