Ilseyar Khayrullova

Born in Tatarstan, Russia, mezzo-soprano Ilseyar Khayrullova graduated with distinction from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory "N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov" and won the International Competition "Playing Slonimsky" in St. Petersburg.

From 2013 to 2018, she was a permanent member of the ensemble at the Vienna State Opera, where she performed various roles including Fenena in Verdi's "Nabucco," Olga in "Eugene Onegin," the Schoolboy in Berg's "Lulu," and Bersi in Giordano's "Andrea Chénier." Notably, her portrayal of Olga in the new production of Péter Eötvös's opera "Tri Sestri," conducted by Eötvös himself, was highly acclaimed.

Khayrullova's guest performances have taken her to the Operklosterneuburg Festival as Maddalena in Verdi's "Rigoletto," and as the Schoolboy in Alban Berg's "Lulu" at the Enescu Festival in Bucharest. She also performed in the Tonhalle Zurich, taking the alto part in Hermann Suter's "Le Laudi" with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich under the baton of Peter Kennel. Additionally, she appeared as Olga in Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" at the Theater Freiburg and the Theater Winterthur.

In 2021, Khayrullova was featured as Wowkle in a new recording of Puccini's "La Fanciulla del West" by the San Francisco Classical Recording Company / Pentatone, conducted by Lawrence Foster. She also performed Flora in Verdi's "La Traviata" at the Kulturpalast in Dresden with the Dresden Philharmonic under Daniel Oren, which was also recorded by the San Francisco Classical Recording Company / Pentatone.

She was awarded the "Irma-Jansa Singing Prize" in 2023. Since the 2022/23 season, she has been a permanent ensemble member at the Staatstheater Kassel, where she has performed roles such as Fricka in Wagner's "Rheingold" and Preziosilla in Verdi's "La forza del destino."

In the 2023/24 season, Khayrullova will take on the title role in "Carmen" and perform at the Theater Ball 2023. The 2024/25 season will see her in roles such as Marguerite in Berlioz's "La damnation de Faust," Varvara in Janáček's "Káťa Kabanová," Alto in Bruckner's "Te Deum," and the title role in the revival of "Carmen."

She has worked with distinguished conductors including Marco Armiliato, Philippe Auguin, Francesco Angelico, Jiří Bělohlávek, Semyon Bychkov, Guillermo García Calvo, Myung-Whun Chung, Daniel Oren, Ádám Fischer, Mikko Franck, Michael Güttler, Jakub Hrůša, Lawrence Foster, Graeme Jenkins, Patrick Lange, Marko Letonja, Jesús López-Cobos, James Gaffigan, Ingo Metzmacher, Tomáš Netopil, Jonathan Stockhammer, Evelino Pidò, Speranza Scappucci, Peter Schneider, and Franz Welser-Möst.

Directors she has collaborated with include Sven-Eric Bechtolf, Willy Decker, and Valentin Schwarz.