Aida Garifullina

When Tatar-born soprano Aida Garifullina released her debut album in 2017, she had already established a reputation as a major up-and-coming opera star in both Russia and the West. Garifullina was born in 1987 in Kazan, then the capital of Soviet Tatarstan (now part of the Russian Federation). Her mother was a choral conductor who named her after perhaps the most famous of all operatic roles, spotted her talent, and groomed her for a singing career. Garifullina gave her first performance at age five on Russian television in a singing competition. She was accepted into the voca...