Farrah El-Dibany

Farrah El-Dibany (born 12 February 1989) is an Egyptian mezzo-soprano. She is the first Egyptian and African singer to join the Paris Opera 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's Giulio Cesare at the Cairo Opera House, and in 2022 she sang La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, as large crowds celebrated the re-election of President Emmanuel Macron at the Champ-de-Mars.

Education El-Dibany was born in Alexandria on 12 February 1989, She obtained her Master of Arts from the Berlin University of the Arts in 2016.

Career In 2015, she played an excerpt from Carmen 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 to perform masterpieces by singers Asmahan, Fairuz and Dalida. On 12 November 2021, she performed Wehyat Albi by Abdel Halim Hafez during the 75th anniversary of UNESCO.

On 24 April 2022, she performed alone on stage the first verse and the chorus of La Marseillaise at the Champ de Mars, on the occasion of the re-election of Emmanuel Macron as president of the republic. On 18 December 2022, she sang La Marseillaise at the Lusail Stadium before the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final match between France and Argentina.

Prizes She won top awards from competitions in Athens, Rome, Thessaloniki, Istanbul and Berlin, 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 2018: Prize from Wagner Foundation 2019: Prix Lyrique de l'AROP from the Paris Opera

Awards 54px Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, awarded by Marc Baréty, French Ambassador to Egypt in April 2022.