Soprano Sigal Chen’s voice has been described as “phenomenal..breathtaking..and stunning..with impressive legato and beautiful phrasing”. She has been given accolades for her “dramatic delivery and wide-ranging repertoire”. As an emerging professional, her featured repertoire includes Krystyna Zywulska in Heggi’s Out of Darkness, Sor Andrea in Carla Lucero’s Juana and Cio-Cio San in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. A genuinely captivating singer-actress, Ms. Chen excels in more challenging repertoire, including contemporary music.
A frequent performer of Mozart operas, Ms. Chen was most recently seen as Fiordiligi in Cosí fan tutte (2019) with Varna International in Bulgaria and with the Miami Music Festival as Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro (2019). She has sung the roles of Contessa (2017), Pamina in Die Zauberflöte (2015) in Carnegie Hall, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro (2014) all with Manhattan Opera Studio. Other engagements include performing with New York Lyric Opera Theatre Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and Madame Herz in Der Schauspieldirektor.
Ms. Chen has interpreted several great Puccini and bel canto heroines. Mimi in La Bohème (2018) with NY Opera Forum and the title role of Suor Angelica (2015) with New York Lyric Opera Theatre in Symphony Space. She performed the title role of Semiramide (2014) at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center with the New York Opera Forum and the title role of Maria Stuarda (July 2015). A champion of new music, Ms. Chen was chosen to create the musically demanding role of Suzanne in the world premiere of Israeli composer Aharon Harlap’s Hebrew opera Thérèse Raquin at the Israel Music Festival with the Jerusalem Academy Orchestra. As a soprano soloist, Ms. Chen has sung at Holocaust commemoration events at New York’s City Hall and the UJA Federation of New York. She has also been the featured soprano soloist in Vivaldi’s Gloria and Mendelssohn’s Elijah at the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts. She frequently sings solo and duet recitals in both New York and Israel, encompassing a broad range of styles, including opera, operetta, Lieder, musical theater, popular and Jewish (Yiddish, Ladino and Hebrew) music.
A recipient of the John Corigliano scholarship, Ms. Chen earned her Master’s degree in Music Education from Lehman College. She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in voice from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. As a member of the Academy’s Opera Studio, Ms. Chen performed Adele in Die Fledermaus, Frau Fluth in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, First Nymph in Rusalka, Naide in Ariadne auf Naxos, and the title role in Ponchielli’s Lina. In 2018, she was a second round finalist in the Southold Opera House and in 2019, a finalist at the Vienna Summer Music Festival Competition. In 2020, Ms. Chen was awarded first prize for the North International Music Competition, semi-finalist NYIOP International Vocal Competition, Semi-Finalist SAS Opera Vocal Competition 2020 and was awarded first prize for Music and Stars Awards 2020, and a semi-finalist for the Music International Grand Prix Competition.
