Overview
Biography
Mezzo-soprano Carla Dirlikov Canales has been praised by Opera Magazine for possessing a voice that “grabs the heartstrings with its dramatic force and musicality.” In 2014 she became the first singer ever to win the prestigious Sphinx Medal of Excellence, an honor bestowed upon her by Justice Sotomayor in a ceremony and concert at the Supreme Court of the United States. In 2015 she became the first opera singer to be names as one of Foreign Policy's 100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2015.
Ms. Canales is in demand at opera houses and concert venues around the world. In 2015 she reprised the role of Maddalena in Rigoletto with Leo Nucci at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, the same company with whom she performed the title role in Carmen, Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino at and Princess Eboli in Don Carlo. She debuted Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’Ete with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Yucatan, and returned to China for a series of solo recitals at China’s National Center for the Performing Arts and Guangzhou Opera House, among other venues. Ms Canales made her European concert debut at Italy’s Spoleto Festival, and has been a part of the artist roster of the Glyndebourne Festival.
At China’s NCPA in Beijing Ms. Canales sang the role of Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffmann as well as the title role in the legendary Royal Opera House production of Carmen. A frequent interpreter of Carmen, Ms Canales has sung the title role in twelve countries over eighty times over the last four years. For her 2015 portrayal of Carmen in Le Tragedie de Carmen this spring, Opera News claimed, “Carla Dirlikov, a well-practiced, sexy Carmen, dominated the show”.
As a concert soloist she has sung Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at Avery Fisher Hall with the National Chorale, Handel’s Messiah at Carnegie Hall and at the Kennedy Center. In September of 2014 she was featured in the UNAM Anniversary Concert which was nationally televised in Mexico . This year, she performed on the Hispanic Heritage Awards which is nationally televised in the United States through PBS, and was a guest artist for Vice President Biden's Hispanic Heritage Month Reception, and also for the National Endowment for the Art's 50th Anniversary Celebration.
Ms Canales will begin 2016 with a recital appearance at Chile's acclaimed Teatro del Lago, and in the same month she will be a part of the opening plenary session for the APAP Conference in NYC. She will also speak and perform at the SphinxCon in Detroit, and she will reprise the title role in Carmen with the Shanghai Opera.
Carla Dirlikov Canales is the proud daughter of a Bulgarian father and a Mexican mother. For her advocacy work with underpriviledged youth of over a decade, the U.S. State Department recently conferred upon her the title of Cultural Envoy. Ms Canales is the first opera singer to join the roster of the President’s Committee for the Arts and the Humanities’ Turnaround Arts initiative, which promotes arts education in public schools. She was also recently added to the prestigious roster of the Americans for the Arts Artists Committee. and she is a board member of the Artful Learning model, established by Leonard Bernstein.
Ms Canales was recently a guest speaker at the Business Innovation Factory Summit as well as at TEDxMidAtlantic in Washington DC. She has also been a guest speaker and performer with the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanics as well as with the Aspen Institute.
In an effort to create connections through the arts and culture Ms Canales founded the The Canales Project in 2015.
Ms. Canales is an alumna of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, where she studied with Bill Schuman. She received a Bachelor of Music degree in Music from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Shirley Verrett. She continued her studies at the Conservatoire National de Paris, and completed her Master of Music in Opera Performance degree at McGill University in Montreal. She is fluent in Spanish, French, Italian and English.
