Carla Dirlikov Canales

Carla Dirlikov Canales has been praised by Opera Magazine for possessing a voice that “grabs the heartstrings with its dramatic force and musicality.” In 2014, she became the first singer ever to win the prestigious Sphinx Medal of Excellence, an honor bestowed upon her by Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a ceremony and concert at the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2015, she became the first opera singer named to Foreign Policy magazine's annual 100 Leading Global Thinkers list for her work using music to bridge cultural barriers. Most recently, Canales was named one of Musical America’s "30 movers and shapers" of 2018.

Canales is in demand at opera houses, concert venues, and festivals around the world, including the Royal Opera House in China; the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Belgium; the Spoleto Festival in Italy; and the Glyndebourne Festival in England. As a concert soloist she has performed at Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center. In September 2014 she was featured in the UNAM Anniversary Concert, which was nationally televised in Mexico, and in 2016 she made her solo concert debut at the Teatro del Lago in Chile. 

She received training at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, University of Michigan, Conservatoire National de Paris, and McGill University in Montreal. Born to a Bulgarian father and a Mexican mother, she is fluent in Spanish, French, Italian, and English, and speaks conversational German.