ELENA PANKRATOVA was born in Yekaterinburg and received her musical training in her hometown – initially as pianist and choral conductor. She obtained her opera and concert singer´s diploma with distinction at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. From 1996 to 2000, Elena Pankratova was ensemble member of the Staatstheater Nuremberg. Performances for example lead her to the Oper Frankfurt, the Berliner Staatsoper, to the Savonlinna-Festival, to the Semperoper, La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, the Teatro Real Madrid or the Liceu Barcelona. Current and future engagements are for example Färberin (London, Munich, Copenhagen), Sieglinde (Mariinskij-Theater St. Petersburg), Turandot (Puccini Festival Torre del Lago, Naples, Munich, St. Petersburg), Elektra (Dresden, Lyon), Leonore (Geneva), Tosca (Savonlinna), Kundry (Bayreuth), Ortrud (Berlin), Venus (Munich), Norma (St. Petersburg).