Since 1996 she has been employed at the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc with the status of Opera Principal, and since 2019 she has held the title of National Opera Principal.
Croatian national opera principal Kristina Kolar studied at the Musical Academy in Zagreb in the class of Ljiljana Molnar-Talajić, and graduated in 2002 in the class of Zdenka Žabčić-Hesky. She completed her studies in Milan and Trieste. Since 1996, she has been employed at the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka. She has performed in numerous roles in Croatia and abroad, including:
Turandot (Turandot), Carmen (Carmen), Aida (Aida), Macbeth (Lady Macbeth), Tosca (Tosca), Manon Lescaut (Manon), La Gioconda (Laura), Andrea Chenier (Maddalena), Così fan tutte (Dorabella), Nabucco (Abigaille, Fenena), Die Fledermaus (Rosalinde, Prince Orlovsky), Cavalleria rusticana (Santuzza, Lola), Adrianna Lecouvreur (Principessa), La forza del destino (Preziosilla), Hamlet (Gertruda), Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira), Norma (Norma), Nikola Šubić Zrinjski (Eva), Porin (Irmengard), and others.
She makes regular guest appearances abroad (Japan, Finland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia, Poland) and performs as a soloist in concert. She has collaborated with conductors such as Nikša Bareza, Loris Voltolini, Miroslav Homen, Jiři Štrunc, Andreas Sebastian, Pavle Dešpalj, Ville Matvejeff, Hilary Griffins, Srboljub Dinić, Gabriel Chmura, Dimitrij Kitajenko, Francesco Rosa, Ivan Repušić, Antonello Allemandi, Robert Homen, Igor Švara, Tonči Bilić, Tibor Boganjyi, Eddi de Nadai, Alan Bjelinski, Nada Matošević, Ivan Skender, Tomislav Fačini, and with orchestras such as the Zagreb and Rijeka philharmonics, the Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, the München Rundfunkorchester, the Pannonian Philharmonic and the Jyvaskyla Symphony Orchestra.
She has won many prestigious awards in Croatia, and is especially proud of the Milka Trnina Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievements, which she won for her portrayal of Santuzza in the opera Cavalleria rusticana performed at Rijeka Summer Nights (2011/2012) and the annual Marijana Radev Award by the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb for the role of Manon Lescaut in the opera of the same name (2017).
So far, she has made eight recordings: Igor Kuljerić: Glagolitisches Requiem (“Glagolithic Requiem”) (BR Klassik), Sakralna glazba riječkih skladatelja (“Sacred Music by Rijeka Composers”), Hrvatska solo popijevka (“Croatian Solo Songs”), Hrvatska duhovna glazba (“Croatian Spiritual Music”), Frano Parać: Missa Maruliana and the operas Nikola Šubić Zrinjski by Ivan Zajc (for HRT and CPO) and Porin by V. Lisinski (HRT).