Hale Soner
Hale Soner was born in Istanbul and studied at the Mimar Sinan State Conservatory in Turkey, graduating, in 2003, from the class of Sema Tüzün. While still a student, she sang recitals and concerts, as well as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and 1st Lady in Die Zauberflöte at the Cemal Resit Rey Opera in Istanbul and the Istanbul State Opera.
In 2004 Hale Soner won the prestigious Siemens Opera Singer Competition in Istanbul, which resulted in her being invited to join the opera studio at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe. During this time she continued her studies with Prof. Güzin Gürel and attended master classes with Renata Scotto, Anna Vandi, Alfonso Antoniozzi, Roberto de Candia and Hilde Zadek.
In 2008 she was awarded the Belkis Aran Prize in Turkey, as well as the Lina Pagliughi Special Prize at the 4th Duchi d’Acquaviva Competition.
She has appeared at the Teramo-Atri Duchi d’Acquaviva Festival, Italy, the Festival of Northern Cyprus and the Istanbul Festival as well as in concerts with the Mikkeli Chamber Orchestra in Mikkeli and Savonlinna, Finland.
Since 2010 Hale Soner is a member in the ensemble of the opera house in Magdeburg, where her repertoire includes roles such as Violetta, the title role in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Lucia di Lammermoor, Queen of the Night, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Musetta in La Bohème and Oskar in Un ballo in maschera. As a guest she has been engaged at the Teatro Comunale Bologna (Elvira in I Puritani), the Opera Bonn and the St. Margarethen Festival, Austria (Donna Anna in Don Giovanni).
Since January 2016, Hale Soner has been studying with Edita Gruberova under the auspices of the Karajan Förderungspreis for Young Artists, which was awarded to Mme Gruberova in 2013.