Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Enas Masalha (born in 1979) is an Arab soprano who sang on the world's most famous opera stage.
Biography
Masalha was born in the village of Daburia in the Lower Galilee into a family whose members were many inclined towards music. Her parents grew up in a poor environment, but they invested a lot in raising their children, and provided their daughter with piano lessons since the age of five. Her parents accompanied her to the music school Emek Jezreel (near Kibbutz Mezra, about 20 km from Daburia) where she learned Western classical music. Masalha then continued her studies at the Rubin Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem. During her studies in Jerusalem, she played the role of “Marinka” in the opera “The Soldier Bride” (or “The Barter Bride”) by the Czech composer Badrijk Smitna, and she also recorded three psalms from the Psalms composed by Canadian-Israeli musician Aharon Harlap on the radio station “The Voice of Music” (affiliated with Radio Voice of Israel).
Professional Biography
Masalha was awarded and won a scholarship from the America-Israel Culture Fund (AICF) after registering for and winning the “Spring Competitions” for singing, which the institution holds to encourage young musicians in Israel. During the competitions, musicians from the “New Israeli Opera” (Tel Aviv Opera House) heard her and suggested that she participate in the “Opera Studio” program for young people. Masalha sang for two years at the Tel Aviv Opera House as part of this programme. On December 23, 2011, at a concert in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, the musician Daniel Barenboim heard her and invited her to sing the next day with the Israeli Orchestra at a concert in Tel Aviv marking the 75th anniversary of the orchestra’s founding and in a live broadcast on the Israeli channel First. Masalha told Haaretz newspaper about this meeting that Barenboim asked her: “What are you doing tomorrow?” She replied: “Tell me you….” As for Barenboim, he said, "Come to the orchestra and sing to me and Zubin Mehta." Masalha said she came to the concert in Tel Aviv with a piano player she managed to get at the last minute. Following this meeting with Barenboim, Masalha was awarded a scholarship by the Staatsoper Unter den Linden.
In Berlin, Masalha played the role of “Papagino” in the opera “The Magic Flute” and the role of “The Colored Woman” in the opera “The Gambler” by Sergei Prokofiev. Then she also played this role on the stage of "La Scala" in Milan, led by Danielle Barenboim. Masalha also acted in "Electra" and "Knight of the Rose" by Richard Strauss, and in "Tosca" and "Coffee Cantata". Other roles she played include: the role of the painter in the premiere of the opera “Half Moon” by the Israeli composer Michael Shenhav, and the role of the princess in the opera “The Sultana of Cadiz” by the Spanish composer Juan Arriaga in a show held in Ramallah.
Masalha studied for several years in New York and for a few years acted and sang in theaters in the United States and Europe, but decided to return to Israel and Palestine. According to what she told Haaretz newspaper, she felt alienated from European and American theaters and wanted to document her relationship with the culture in which she grew up and the audience back home. Masalha said that she decided to sing in front of the Arab audience to enhance the audience's familiarity with the opera, and although she was afraid that this audience did not like this musical style, she regularly performs in front of local Arabs. In her performances in Europe, Masalaha has performed at the Salzburg Festival (led by Danielle Barenboim), the Tanglewood Festival and the Veneto Festival in Italy.
In recent years, Masalaha sang with piano player Hagai Yodan in the framework of the program “Prayer and Singing”, which is part of The Sopranos project, and she created a project with the “Singer of Tel Aviv” group centered around a musical work by musician Noam Sivan entitled “Death and Birth”.
Masalha taught Jewish and Arab children in the city of Acre in the manner of a master class (study by meeting an artist) and provided vocal training to the Palestinian children who participated in the musical “Fawanees”. Masalha also offers vocal training and singing lessons for children at the Emek Jezreel Art House, where she taught herself in the past.
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Achievements and Awards
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