The German mezzo--soprano, Amira Elmadfa, was born in Lich/Hessen and grew up in Vienna,. She started her musical education at the University of Vienna, where she studied Music and Theatre Sciences. In parallel, she obtained singing lessons with KS Hilde Zadek. In 2003, she started her singing studies at the Karlsruhe Conservatory of Music, which she completed with diploma in 2009. She attended master-classes with KS Brigitte Fassbaender, KS Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and KS Julia Varady. While still studying at the Karlsruhe Conservatory, she participated in numerous productions, amongst others at the Festival Schwetzingen, the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele and at the State Theatre of Karlsruhe, and could be seen in such roles as Händel’s Lucrezia, L’enfant in L’enfant et les Sortileges, and Pauline in Pique Dame. She is prize winner of the International Hilde Zadek Competition in Vienna, won the 1st Prize in Das Lied, the International Song Competition in Berlin founded by Thomas Quasthoff, the Lied Special Prize at the Bergheim Singer Prize and the Advancement Award at the Competition of the Freiburg Academy.
From 2009 to 2013, Amira Elmadfa was a member of the Theatre Kiel ensemble and could be seen here in such roles as Sesto in George Frideric Handel's Giulio Cesare, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Niclausse /Muse in Les Contes d‘Hoffmann, Page in Salome, Hänsel in Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel, 2nd Dame in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Dorabella in W.A. Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Goffredo in Rinaldo, Siebel in Faust, Zerlina in W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni, Flora in La Traviata, Ottilie in Im Weissen Rössl, Rosette in Manon, Nerone in G.F. Handel's Agrippina and Zenobia in Radamisto. She was invited at the Händel Festival in Karlsruhe as Isis in G.F. Handel's Giove in Arco. Further engagements include her debut at the Lucerne Festival in a solo recital as well as various concerts, among others at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York, in Jerusalem and a tour accompanied by Helmut Deutsch.
Amira Elmadfa made her successful debut as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier at the Altenburg Theatre in Gera. In April 2015, she made her debut at the German Opera Berlin as Flora in La Traviata. In spring 2016 she was re-engaged in this very role for performances with Patrizia Ciofi, Saimir Pirgu and Thomas Hampson.
In the 2015-2016 season, she was Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, the Fox in The Cunny Little Vixen, Mercedes in Georges Bizet's Carmen and as Giunone in La Calisto at the Darmstadt State Theatre.
Concert engagements brought the attractive artist to the Music Days Franken, the Thüringer Bachwochen, the Händel Festival in Karlsruhe, and the Basle Concert House. She sang Lieder evenings at the Lucerne Festival, at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, the Arnold Schönberg Center, the Kiel Theatre and on the MS Europa. She participated as a soloist at the Konzerthaus Vienna in a series of J.S. Bach Cantatas (Bach-Kantaten Abonnement-Zyklus at Wiener Konzerthaus) with the Ensemble Claudiana conducted by Luca Pianca and in Giovanni Battista Pergolesi´s Stabat Mater with the Mandelring Quartet. In spring 2016 she sang J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor (BWV 232) at the Darmstadt Stade in Darmstadt and the Mass in Zürich.
In the 2016-2017 season, Amira is a.o. as Cherubino at the Vienna Popular Opera and the Staatsoperette Dresden State Operetta. She performs Hänsel, Dorabella and Mercedes at the Darmstadt State Theatre. In 2017 she will also portray Hänsel in Dresden. |