Farrah El-Dibany (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: فرح الديباني) (born 12 February 1989) an Egyptian

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

. She is the first Egyptian and African singer to join the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

Academy in 2016. In 2013, she was awarded 3rd Prize at the International Giulio Perotti Singing Competition and she sang the role of Cornelia in

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

's ''

Giulio Cesare ''Giulio Cesare in Egitto'' (; ; HWV 17), commonly known as , is a dramma per musica (''opera seria'') in three acts composed by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music in 1724. The libretto was written by Nicola Francesco Haym ...

'' at the

Cairo Opera House The Cairo Opera House (, ''Dār el-Opera el-Masreyya''; literally "Egyptian Opera House"), part of Cairo's National Cultural Centre, is the main performing arts venue in the Egyptian capital. Home to most of Egypt's finest musical groups, it is ...

, and in 2022 she sang

La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. It was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by the First French Republic against Austria, and was originally titled "". The French Na ...

, the French national anthem, as large crowds celebrated the re-election of President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

at the Champ-de-Mars.

Education

El-Dibany was born in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

on 12 February 1989, into a family of music lovers, in which her grandfather, a physician, his hobby was playing the piano. She studied at Deutsche Schule der Borromäerinnen Alexandria from 1993 to 2007. In the meantime, she started voice lessons with Névine Allouba ( fr) in 2003. In 2005, she entered the Arts Center of the

Bibliotheca Alexandrina The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Latin, 'Library of Alexandria'; , ) (BA) is a major library and cultural center on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria, Egypt. It is a commemoration of the Library of Alexandria, once one of the larg ...

. Between 2007 and 2012, El-Dibany pursued the study of architecture at the

Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport The Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (AASTMT) or (AAST) () is a regional university operated by the Arab League, which runs programs in marine transportation, Business school, business, and engineering. AASTMT started as ...

and

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Science. She then continued her music education and joined Júlia Várady's class at the

Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin The in Berlin, Germany, is one of the leading universities of music in Europe. It was established in East Berlin in 1950 as the () because the older (now the Berlin University of the Arts) was in West Berlin. After the death in 1962 of one of ...

, where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Opera in 2014. She obtained her Master of Arts from the

Berlin University of the Arts The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the second largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research uni ...

in 2016.

Career

In 2015, she played an excerpt from ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'' at Neuköllner Oper in Berlin, which earned her a nickname, the "Egyptian Carmen". In September 2016, she joined the Paris Opera Academy to be the first Egyptian to do so. In 2021, El-Dibany has been honored at the World Youth Forum by Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and was the first ever to receive the prestigious Hassan Kamy Award at the Manial Palace Festival, presented by prince Abbas Helmy and renowned pianist Ramzy Yassa. In the same year, she was invited by the

Institut du Monde Arabe The Institut du Monde Arabe (, ''Arab World Institute''; abbr. IMA) is an organisation founded in Paris in 1980 by France with 18 Arab countries to research and disseminate information about the Arab world and its cultural and spiritual values. ...

to perform masterpieces by singers

Asmahan Amal al-Atrash ( ', North Levantine ; November 25, 1912 – July 14, 1944),

Fairuz Nouhad Wadie Haddad (, ; born November 20, 1934 or November 21, 1935), known as Fairuz (, ), is a Lebanese singer. She is widely considered an iconic vocalist and one of the most celebrated singers in the history of the Arab world. She is pop ...

and

Dalida Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida (, ; ), was an Italian naturalized French singer and actress. Leading an international career, Dalida has sold over 140 million records worldwide. Some ...

. On 12 November 2021, she performed ''Wehyat Albi'' by

Abdel Halim Hafez Abdel Halim Ali Shabana (), commonly known as Abdel Halim Hafez (, ) (21 June 1929 – 30 March 1977), was an Egyptian singer, actor, conductor, businessman, music teacher and film producer. Abdel Halim is considered to be one of the greatest ...

during the 75th anniversary of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. On 24 April 2022, she performed alone on stage the first verse and the chorus of

at the

Champ de Mars Champ, CHAMP or The Champ may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Champ (cartoon character), an animated dog introduced in 1960 * The Champ, played on radio and created by Jake Edwards (radio personality), Jake Edwards * Champ ...

, on the occasion of the re-election of

as president of the republic. On 18 December 2022, she sang La Marseillaise at the

Lusail Stadium Lusail Stadium (, ) is a Stadium, football stadium in Lusail, Qatar. Owned by the Qatar Football Association, it is the largest stadium in Qatar and the Middle East by capacity; one of eight stadiums built for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, it hosted ...

before the

2022 FIFA World Cup Final The 2022 FIFA World Cup final was the final match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the 22nd edition of FIFA's competition for men's national football teams. The match was played at Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, on 18 December 2022, the Qatari ...

match between

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Prizes

She won top awards from competitions in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, most notably: * 2007: First prize in the singing competition of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Culture * 2008: Second prize in the Jugend musiziert competition * 2013: Third prize in the Giulio-Perotti International Singing Competition * 2017: Prize from

Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg ( Schloss Rheinsberg chamber opera) is an international opera festival for young singers, founded and first directed by composer Siegfried Matthus. It takes place every summer at the historical Schloss Rheinsberg, in ...

* 2018: Prize from Wagner Foundation * 2019: Prix Lyrique de l'AROP from the

Awards

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Chevalier ribbon

Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, awarded by Marc Baréty, French Ambassador to Egypt in April 2022.

References

External links