Born in Brisbane, Lyric Soprano Ayse Gӧknur Shanal has won awards and scholarships
including the Australian Singing Competition, Dame Joan Sutherland Scholarship and
Award, Opera Foundation’s Metropolitan Opera Award (New York), McDonald’s Operatic
Aria, Queen’s Trust for Young Australians, Symphony Australia’s Young Performers Award Vocal Category, Australian Music Foundation Award (London), Countess of Munster Scholarship (London) and Lorelei Prize at Neue Stimmen International Singing Competition (Germany).
In 2013, she received the Most Outstanding Singer Award in Sydney Eisteddfod’s Victoria Jennifer Warren Accompaniment Award.
As a soloist, Gӧknur has appeared with the symphony orchestras in Sydney, West Australia, Melbourne, Adelaide and with Willoughby Symphony and Sydney Sinfonia. She has also performed with Opera Australia’s touring company, OzOpera singing the role of Mimì in La Bohème.
Gӧknur holds a Bachelor of Creative Arts Degree from University of Wollongong. She has
studied at Royal College of Music, in London, Sydney Conservatorium of Music and
Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, in New York, as an
adjunct member.
After taking a break from singing, Gӧknur completed a Graduate Law Degree at University of Western Sydney. In 2013, she returned to the music profession, her performance schedule rapidly filling up. Engagements included A Baroque Evening with Handel with Countertenor Peretta Anggerek, roles in Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, John Rutter’s Magnificat, with conductor Paul Terracini and two recitals as part of Willoughby Spring Festival, and performances for Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Foundation.
Gӧknur won the 2014 National Liederfest Competition, held in Melbourne and will release her debut CD this year.
In October Gӧknur will perform the role of Lia in Debussy’s L’Enfant Prodigue for Harbour City Opera.
