Louisa Panou left her native Cyprus at age 16 to become an apprentice at Teatro Massimo di Palermo. She holds a diploma di canto from St. Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, certificates from Conservatorio di Musica Giuseppe Verdi and Bayerisches Staatstheater, a Master’s from Kent State and a Doctorate from Florida State. Among her teachers have included Gino Becchi, Arrigo Pola, James Stuart and Franco Ferraris. Louisa has performed and taught in Italy, Germany, Austria, Greece and the United States. She now serves as an opera director and voice teacher at the University of Virginia. Louisa is the Artistic Director and founder of Operafestival di Roma. She can be reached at operafest@aol.com or www.operafest.com
