Cretan soprano, Theano Papadaki captivates audiences with her magnetic stage presence, rich vocal tone, and expressive depth. She is in demand across opera and art song, with a gift for early and contemporary music.

In March 2026, Theano will appear with Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, performing Mozart's Requiem and Papanas' Requiem, in her hometown of Heraklion, Crete. In May she will rejoin Sholto Kynoch to revive their programme Songs of the Mediterranean at the Oxford Lieder Festival and the Elgar Hall, Birmingham. 

Theano's recent highlights include the title role of Poppea in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea with Hampstead Garden Opera. She starred as a soloist in the opening concert of the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival, performing Tavener’s The Veil of the Temple with The Monteverdi Choir (Times ★★★★★).

In October she appeared in recital at St Martin-in-the-Fields with Sholto Kynoch curating a programme inspired by the folk traditions of Greece and Italy, with music by Monteverdi, Berio, Ravel, Constantinides, and the modal music poem Niavent Manes by Marika Fratziskopoulou.

Other highlights in 2025 included: a second appearance at St Martin-in-the-Fields with the Kyan Quartet, performing the Aribert Reimann–Felix Mendelssohn cycle Oder soll es Tod bedeuten; a staged solo recital  with Apollo’s Cabinet at the Lichfield Festival; a solo appearance in Beethoven’s Mass in C in Athens; and a recital in Heraklion with the New Cretan Quartet. With baritone George Robarts, she premiered The Revolting Maid – a two-person comic opera by Pergolesi in a new English translation, directed by Sophie Daneman.

After graduating with Distinction from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Theano was selected by Sir John Eliot Gardiner to join the English Baroque Soloists for Deutsche Grammophon’s Stage+ documentary series A Journey through Monteverdi’s Italy, performing Monteverdi, alongside Anna Dennis, Mariana Flores and Silvia Frigato.

Theano is passionate about collaborating with other artists to create interdisciplinary performances where music, dance, poetry, and improvisation come into dialogue. Her most recent project, Sappho’s Daughters, was presented with great success at The Cockpit Theatre in London.

In 2023, she was awarded Third Prize at the International Lied Competition in Görlitz, Germany alongside pianist Thomas Eeckhout. Theano is a Britten Pears Artist and a City Music Foundation Artist. She holds a singing diploma (First Prize, Athens Conservatoire), a violin diploma, and a Masters in Musicology and Music Education (Greece, France).