New Amsterdam Opera

Israeli mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani, a 2010 grand finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the recipient of an Adler Fellowship at the San Francisco Opera, is fast-becoming one of the most sought-after young singers today.

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Ms. Lahyani’s 2016-2017 season begins as a soloist in a world premier collaboration with Alonzo King LINES Ballet at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. She then returns to Seattle Opera as Flora in La Traviata, and as Varvara (role debut) in Janáček's Katya Kabanova. In the spring, she returns to The Metropolitan Opera as Flora in La Traviata conducted by Nicola Luisotti, and Maddalena (cover) in Rigoletto. Later in the season, Lahyani joins the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra as a soloist in Mahler Symphony no. 2 under the baton of Christopher Warren-Green.

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Last season included performances and covers at the Metropolitan Opera as Maddalena in Michael Mayer’s production of Rigoletto, Lola in Sir David McVicar’s production of Cavalleria Rusticana, and as a Serving Woman in a highly acclaimed new production of Elektra by legendary director Patrice Chéreau, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, which was seen live in HD around the world. Ms. Lahyani also joined both Opera Las Vegas and PORTopera in the title of Carmen, earning rave reviews for her portrayal of the iconic role.

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Ms. Lahyani sang over 50 performances at the Metropolitan Opera, making her debut during the 2013-2014 season in Anthony Minghella’s production of Madam Butterfly as the first Israeli born to ever sing on their stage. During that season she also appeared in Massenet’s Werther directed by Richard Eyre, and in Rusalka under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin (both productions were seen live in HD). During the 2014-2015 season she performed the roles of the Palestinian Woman in John Adams' The Death of Klinghoffer, Flora in Willy Decker’s iconic production of La Traviata, and Rosette in Laurent Pelly’s production of Manon.

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Other recent engagements including her Seattle Opera Debut as Dryad in Ariadne auf Naxos, Hansel in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel With Opera Fairbanks, the title role of Carmen with the Wolf Trap Opera, the Page in Atom Egoyan’s production of Salome with The Canadian Opera Company, Third Lady in The Magic Flute with The Dallas Opera, and Rigoletto in concert with The Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel.

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Lahyani is an alumna of the prestigious Adler Fellowship of the San Francisco Opera, where she made her debut in 2010 as Wowkle in La Fanciulla del West under conductor Nicola Luisotti. Other roles and productions with the company include Siegrune in Die Walküre, Sister Marta and The Duenna in Cyrano de Bergerac, the world premiere of Christopher Theofanidis’s Heart of a Soldier under conductor Patrick Summers, Janáček's The Makropulos Case, Maffio Orsini in Lucrezia Borgia, and the title role of Carmen. With the International Vocal Art institute in Tel Aviv Lahyani performed the roles of Charlotte in Werther, Mather Marie in The Dialogues of the Carmelites, and the title role in Mascagni's Zanetto.

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Ms. Lahyani’s concert work portfolio includes performances as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus under the baton of Nicola Luisotti, Ravel’s Sheherazade with the Jerusalem Symphony, Brahms’s Alto Rhapsody with the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra, and the alto soloist in Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream with Kurt Masur and the San Francisco Symphony.

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Ms. Lahyani received her Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in Music from the Mannes College of Music in New York.