Gala El Hadidi (Mezzo-Soprano) Known for her portrayal of Carmen, Gala is the first Egyptian to ever perform this role internationally. While still a student at the German school, she made her debut as a 17 year old on the main stage of the Cairo Opera House. A year later, she signed a contract with the Cairo Opera House, becoming the youngest soloist ever at the Company. As a Mezzo-soprano with a voice destined to perform femme fatale roles, she knew she had to develop a certain maturity before she can tackle those roles, so she enrolled at AUC while singing at the Cairo Opera. Gala continued her vocal studied with Tenor Sobhi Bidair, Tom Krause in Finland and Marylin Horne in USA, as well as, at the International Bach Academy in Stuttgart. She obtained B.A. in Philosophy and a M.A. in English and Comparative Literature, writing the first thesis of its kind at AUC on the literary transposition into music (Thesis titled “Carmen Debating the Femme Fatale”). Soon after she was admitted into Yale University where she obtained her second masters (M.M.) in Opera Performance. Upon graduation she was offered a Soloist contract at the Saxony State Opera in Germany, the famous Semperoper and stayed there from 2010-2016. In 2010, she received an encouragement award at Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 2011, she won the jury prizes at the »Stella Maris« International Vocal Competition.In 2013, Gala became the first Egyptian finalist at the BBC Cardiff Singer Of The World. She worked with renowned conductors, most notably Christian Thielemann, and with Singers: Juan-Diego Florez, Waltraud Meier, Evelyn Herlitzius, to name a few. Concert and recital engagements led her to sing on the following stages: Berlin Philharmonic, Konzerthaus Berlin, Stuttgart Liederhalle, Auditorio Nacional di Madrid, Kennedy Center, Stavanger Konzerthus, Savonlinnasali, Musikhuset Aarhus, St. David’s Hall and Cadogan Hall in London. She is featured in the Deutsche Grammophon CD recordings of the Grammy nominated (»Elektra«) with Thielemann, Pape and The New Year’s Eve Concert 2010 with Thielemann and Fleming. She recently made her debut at Dresdner Musikfestspiele singing the 2nd Alto alongside Waltraud Meier in (»Mahler 8th Symphony«), at Verbier Festival singing De Falla’s (»El Amor Brujo«), as well as, making her house debuts as (»Carmen«) at the Ankara State Opera, Theater St. Gallen, Liège Opera de Wallonie, Zurich Opera house and Festival Opera en plein air in Paris. Upcoming Engagements include the Live CD recording of Berlioz (»Cleopatre«) with the Camerata Concertgebouw and (»Die Gezeichneten«) at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Word Count 423 .