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Elīna Garanča (born September 16, 1976) is a Latvian mezzo-soprano. Born into a musical family in Riga, Garanča entered the Latvian Academy of Music in 1996 to study singing with Sergej Martinov. She continued her studies in Vienna with Irina Gavrilovici and in the United States with Virginia Zeani. Garanča began her professional career at the Südthüringisches Staatstheater in Meiningen and later worked at the Frankfurt Opera. In 1999 she won the Mirjam Helin Singing Competition in Helsinki, Finland. Garanča's international breakthrough came in 2003 at the Salzburger Festspiele when she sang Annio in a production of Mozart's La clemenza di Tito, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Major engagements followed quickly, such as Charlotte in Werther and Dorabella in Così fan tutte at the Vienna State Opera (2004) and Dorabella in a Paris production directed by Patrice Chéreau (2005). In 2006 she returned to La clemenza di Tito, singing the part of Sesto. Her recordings include the Grammy Award winning Bajazet conducted by Fabio Biondi, in which she sang the role of Andronico. In 2005 Garanča signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon.