Among her notable engagements is Eva in Wagner’s Meistersingern von Nürnberg: in 2016 she sang the role first at Theater Erfurt (conductor: Joana Mallwitz) and subsequently at DNT Weimar (conductor: Kirill Karabits); in February 2017 she was called at short notice to sing the role at La Scala, Milan (conductor: Daniele Gatti). Shortly afterwards, she appeared as Iolanta at the Prague State Opera and alongside actor and director Dominique Horwitz in the revue Reformhaus Lutter with the WDR Funkhausorchester Köln.

Papandreou made her debut at the Wiener Musikverein in 2021 in Britten’s War Requiem with the Wiener Symphoniker under Ivor Bolton. In 2022 she sang the Kaiserin in Richard Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten at Staatstheater Nürnberg (conductor: Joana Mallwitz, director: Jens-Daniel Herzog); in 2023 she stepped in at short notice for rehearsals of the same role at the Osterfestspiele Baden-Baden (director: Lydia Steier). Other important roles include Chrysothemis in Elektra, the title roles in Dvořák’s Rusalka and Cherubini’s Médée, and Marta in Weinberg’s The Passenger. Further guest appearances have taken her to the Opéra de Nice Côte d’Azur, St. Gallen and the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra.

Her repertoire reflects an exceptional stylistic and dramatic range: from Mozart – Elettra, Contessa and Vitellia – and Cherubini to the German Romantic repertoire with Agathe, Eva, Ariadne, Chrysothemis, Marschallin and Kaiserin, and to Verdi and Puccini with Amelia (Simon Boccanegra), Elisabetta, Desdemona, Mimì, Cio-Cio-San and Liù. Her French repertoire includes Marguerite (Faust), Antonia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) and Alice in Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Robert le diable, as well as Brunehilde in Ernest Reyer’s Sigurd, a role she performed in the work’s German premiere. Her Russian repertoire ranges from Jaroslawna in Borodin’s Fürst Igor to Tchaikovsky’s heroines Tatjana, Iolanta, Agnès Sorelle (Jeanne d’Arc) and Nastasia (Die Zauberin). Operetta is also firmly part of her repertoire, with roles including Rosalinde, Saffi, Sylva Varescu, Gräfin Mariza and Lisa.

She has a particular interest in rarely performed works and rediscoveries: alongside Reyer’s Sigurd, these include the title roles in Gurlitt’s Nana and Testi’s Mariana Pineda (world premiere), Pizzetti’s Fedra, Weingartner’s Orestes and Zillig’s Rosse. In May 2024, she sang Leonore/Ministerin in the world premiere of Charlotte Seither/Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fidelio schweigt! at Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen. As Maria in Terrence McNally’s Master Class, she also impressed in a purely acting role.

Lied and concert repertoire are equally important parts of her artistic spectrum. She has a long-standing partnership in Lied with pianist Ralph Neubert. Her concert repertoire includes Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs, Ernest Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer, Gioachino Rossini’s Petite Messe solennelle, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem.

She regularly works with directors including Jean-Louis Grinda, Tatjana Gürbaca, Jens-Daniel Herzog, Vera Nemirova, Armin Petras, Stefano Poda, Gabriele Rech, Nina Russi, Michael Schulz and Katharina Thalbach, and with conductors including Joana Mallwitz, Manlio Benzi, Rasmus Baumann, Roland Böer and Kirill Karabits.

Born in London and of Greek nationality, Ilia Papandreou trained in Boston (USA) and London, as well as with Hara Savino in Frankfurt am Main and Athens; she also took part in masterclasses with Montserrat Caballé. Following her first engagement at Theater Erfurt, she has worked as a freelance artist since 2015.