At the age of 14 Fatma Said embarked on a musical journey that would take her from her home in Cairo to the Academy of Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists and ultimately to the world’s most prestigious concert and opera stages. As an exclusive Warner Recording Artist she released her debut album El Nour in 2020 to much critical acclaim, winning numerous awards including the Gramophone Classical Music Award for ‘Best Song Album’, the BBC Music Magazine’s Vocal Award as well as Germany’s Opus Klassik.
Fatma took her first singing lessons in Cairo with soprano Neveen Allouba and later studied Opera Singing at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin with Professor Renate Faltin. Fatma subsequently was awarded a scholarship to study at the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala in Milan, becoming the first Egyptian soprano to perform on this iconic stage. In Milan she sang - among numerous other roles - Pamina in a new Peter Stein production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, after which Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung heralded, “The flawless, radiant Fatma Said as Pamina is a discovery.”
Fatma is looking forward to an exciting 22/23 season: As Artist in Residence at the Konzerthaus Berlin she will present a range of colorful programs including the release concert of her second Album Kaleidoscope in September 2022, a recital with Sabine Meyer and Malcolm Martineau, as well as concerts with Giovanni Antonini, Iván Fischer and Alondra de la Parra. Being a passionate Lied singer Fatma will be returning to give recitals at the Schubertiade in Hohenems, Wigmore Hall in London and make her debuts at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Celebrity Series in Boston. She will appear in concerts with the Munich Symphony Orchestra, Concerto de’ Cavalieri, the Bayer Philharmonic and a gala at the venerable Abdeen Palace in Cairo. Fatma will also return to the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg for a series of Christmas concerts with Daniel Hope.
Recent highlights include her debut at the Royal Albert Hall with Mozart’s Requiem at the BBC Proms with Nathalie Stutzmann, performing Mahler’s 4th Symphony with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with Kazuki Yamada, Ravel’s Shéhérazade with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and Cristian Măcelaru at the Berliner Philharmonie as well as the Cleveland Orchestra with Stéphane Denève. Further highlights include Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate with Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo and Gábor Takács-Nagy, recitals at Snape Maltings, Radebergkonzerte Series in Cologne, De Singel in Antwerp, Edinburgh International Festival, Wigmore Hall, Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, Schubertiade, Morellino Festival and a gala concert with Rolando Villazón at the Zorlu Center in Istanbul as well as his televised 50th birthday gala.
Throughout the past years she has also appeared on the stages of Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Staatsoper Hamburg, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Royal Opera House in Muscat, Wexford Opera in Ireland, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Philharmonie Cologne, Konzerthaus Berlin, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Vienna Konzerthaus, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Pembroke Music Festival, Schubertiada Festival of Valdegovia, Lockenhaus Festival, Schumann Festival in Bonn, Mozart-Woche in Salzburg, Beethoven Festival in Bonn, and the Music Festival of Bad Kissingen amongst others. Throughout the past years she has participated extensively in concerts, recitals and festivals in many major concert halls and opera houses across the world including Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the Hamburg Staatsoper, the Royal Opera House in Muscat, the Wexford Opera in Ireland, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Philharmonie in Cologne, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, the Birmingham Symphony Hall, the Pembroke Music Festival, the Schubertiade Festival of Valdegovia, the Lockenhaus Festival, the Schumann Festival in Bonn, the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, the Music Festival of Bad Kissingen, the Dinard Music Festival, among others.
Fatma’s operatic roles on stage include Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Nannetta (Falstaff), Clorinda (La Cenerentola), La Pastourelle (L'enfant et les sortilèges), Berta (Il barbiere di Siviglia), 1st Ecologist (contemporary opera CO2), Feanichton (Bataclan) and the role of L’Amour (Orphée et Eurydice) at the Teatro alla Scala. She sang Genovieffa (Suor Angelica) with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons in a concert performance and the main role Tharsis in the new production of Mozart’s T.H.A.M.O.S. during the Mozart-Woche Festival 2019.
Fatma Said is a strong advocate for causes that are close to her heart: In September 2021, Fatma performed at Global Citizen Live in Paris – a worldwide 24-hour livestreamed charity event which sees artists from around the world campaign to end the hunger crisis, protect the planet and plan its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The artists lineup included musicians such as Elton John and Ed Sheeran. She represented Egypt on Human Right’s Day in 2014, 2017 and 2018 at the United Nations in Geneva as well as at the Luxor Temple and sang for children's right to education and dignity through music. In 2016, she received an honorary award from Egypt’s National Council for Women. In the same year she became the first Egyptian opera singer ever to be awarded the state’s Creativity Award, one of Egypt’s highest accolades, for her outstanding artistic achievement on an international level.
Fatma continues working with Professor Renate Faltin and has had distinguished professors and coaches, such as Julia Varady, Claar Ter Horst, Anita Keller, Wolfram Rieger and Tom Krause, who have strongly influenced her musical development and helped her hone her musical interpretation.
Fatma won several major singing competitions including the 8th Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition (Dublin, 2016), the 7th Leyla Gencer International Opera Competition (Istanbul, 2012), 2nd prize at the 16th International Robert Schumann Lied Competition (Zwickau, 2012) and the Grand Prix at the 1st Giulio Perotti International Opera Competition (Germany, 2011).
Fatma is also an ambassador for Opera for Peace and is supported by the stART academy of Bayer Kultur.