Livermore Valley Opera Bios

Mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani is a native of Israel. She served as a soldier-musician in the Israeli Defense Forces, where she performed as a soloist with the army orchestra in state ceremonies, radio recordings, and concerts throughout Israel and the United states. Ms. Lahyani has been awarded scholarships by the American-Israeli Cultural Foundation, the Ronen Foundation, and the Israeli Vocal Arts Institute. She regularly took part in The International Opera Summer Program in Tel Aviv, where she sang the role of Rebecca Nurse in a production of The Crucible and the title role in Mascagni's Zanetto. Ms. Lahyani received her Bachelor of Music and her Master of music from Mannes College of Music in New York. With the Mannes Opera she sang the roles of Frugola in Puccini's Il Tabarro, Cherubino in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro,Mather Marie in the production of Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites, and the role of Flora in Verdi's La Traviata.

She also appeared in opera scenes singing the title role in Carmen, Meg in Falstaff, Enrichetta in I Puritani, and Charlotte in Werther. In the summer of 2009, Ms. Lahyani sang the role of Beppe in L'Amico Fritz at the Merola opera program of the San Francisco Opera. In the fall, she made her debut with the Jerusalem Symphony in Ravel’s Scheherazade and sang the role of Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte with the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program. Ms. Lahyani is a finalist of the Joy in Singing Competition, 2008, a winner of the MONC New York District, 2009, and a winner of the MONC Western Washington/Alaska District, 2010.