About
Israeli-Dutch soprano Shira Miriam Cohen is specializing in Early Music and Opera. Based in Amsterdam, Shira is researching the music of the Portuguese synagogue of the 18th century, focusing on the oratorio “Esther” by C.G. Lidarti. In the upcoming season, Shira is going to perform the leading part of the oratorio, as well as Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor (April 2022).
Her operatic repertoire includes the role of Pamina (“Die Zauberflöte”), Mrs. Gobineau (“The Medium”), Ms. Pinkerton (” The Old Maid and the Thief”), several roles in Purcell’s “The Fairy Queen” and Ravel’s “L’enfant et les Sortilèges”. In 2019 she performed the role of Lucifero Agellico in the oratorio “La Caduta Dell’angeli” by Francesco Rossi with Phoenix Ensemble. Shira performed with leading Israeli orchestras, including Tel Aviv Soloists, Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra, and The Barocadde Ensemble, under conductors including Barak Tal, David Shemer, and Yi-An Xu. Shira is also a frequent guest in the recital concert series of pianist and conductor Gil Shohat. In 2021 Shira performed with Sweelinck a-cappella repertoire in TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht. The same year she took part in the concert series “The Silesian Apollo”, held by Academia Ars Augusta in Görlitz.
Shira started her musical education playing the clarinet. Shira later graduated with excellence from the “Reut School of Arts” in Haifa as a singer, studying with Vlada Blinder and Ye’ela Avital. In 2020 she received her Bachelor’s in Voice from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, Tel Aviv in the class of Sharon Rostorf-Zamir. During her studies, Shira was a member and a soloist of Moran Singers Ensemble, and Gary Bertini Israeli Choir.
Currently, she is focusing on early music and continuing her studies at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Xenia Meijer.
Shira is also a member of the Bella Tel-Aviv Trio. The trio has performed many concerts in Israel and completed a concert tour in Guangdong province in China in 2019. Shira participated in masterclasses of Chen Reiss, Claron McFadden, Jed Wenz, Brita Schwarz, Antonella Ginaze, and Jill Feldman. Shira is a scholarship recipient of the Buchmann-Mehta Excellence Scholarship (2018-2020), and the America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship (2020-2021).
