Marija Jelić

Marija Jelić is a Serbian soprano born in Belgrade. After completing her master’s degree in music, she continued to study with Nelson Calzi, Bruna Baglioni and Fernando Cordeiro Opa. She played Micaëla (Carmen) and Binički’s Stanka (At Dawn) at the Belgrade National Theatre, and Mimi (La Bohème), Aida (Aida) and Tosca (Tosca) at the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad, Elizabeth (Don Carlo).

She performed at numerous concerts in Azerbaijan, Argentina, Italy, Latvia, Estonia, Germany, Mexico, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Greece, USA, Croatia and Slovenia.

At the Ljubljana Festival in 2021, she participated in a concert performance of Carmen with Elīna Garanča and Jonathan Tetelman, with Karel Mark Chichon as the conductor, in Ohrid at the Gala concert on the opening of the 60th Ohrid Summer Festival, in Belgrade with Placido Domingo and the Symphony Orchestra of the Serbian Radio and Television in 2021, in Croatia with José Cura and at Plovdiv festival in Beethoven’s Symphony No.9. She also performed with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and maestro Sébastien Rouland and sang the role of Mimi in La Bohème at the Jerusalem Opera Festival (Israel). She played the same role in Estonia at the Narva Opera Festival. In Latvia, she sang with the Riga National Opera Orchestra at the Sigulda Opera Festival and the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra. She was performing Elizabeth of Don Carlo at the Plovdiv opera house.

In 2021, Marija held a solo concert at Carnegie Hall with pianist Anthony Manoli, and in 2022, she performed at the Ohrid Summer Festival with Britten’s Illumination cycle.
In 2023, Marija performed H. Gorecki’s Symhony No.3 with Belgrade Philharmonic orchestra and maestro Gabriel Feltz. She performed Aida in Cairo, Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Sofia Philharmonic orchestra, Aida at the National Opera in North Macedonia, Countess in Le nozze di Figaro in Opera Carolina in Charlotte (USA), Judith in Bartok’s Bluebeard castle at the Narva Opera Festival (Estonia), a gala opera concert with the Toluca Philharmonic orchestra (Mexico) and Maddalena di Coigny in Andrea Chenier in Belgrade. In Seoul, Marija was performing Mimi in La Boheme at the Seoul Lotte concert hall. In 2024, Marija performed with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded Adolph Adam’s world premiere of “Griseldis” for the Naxos publishing company. She was singing the role of Mimi in Puccini’s opera La Boheme at the Taipei Performing Arts Center with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra. In 2024, among other concerts and performances, she sang at a gala concert for the opening night of 75th season in Opera Carolina (USA), Tosca at the National Opera and Ballet in North Macedonia, a concert with the “Umberto Giordano” ensemble at Camerata musicale Barese (Bari) and she debuted as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana at the Heraklion Cultural Center (Greece) under the baton of Maestro Myron Michailidis in December 2024. In April 2025 she sang Verdi’s “Requiem” at the Santa Maria dei Servi church in Bologna with Michele Pertusi and Fabio Armiliato.

She is president of the International Opera Foundation established in Belgrade (Serbia). Marija has also completed bachelor and master’s studies at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of Belgrade and she is currently a PhD student at same faculty.