The Turkish soprano was born in Ankara in 1990. As a member of the children's choir of the Ankara State Opera, she appeared on stage at an early age in productions such as Turandot, Il Pagliacci, Othello and La bohème, and in 2001 as a soloist in Fazil Say's Nazim Oratorio. In 2007 she began her singing lessons with Oylun Erdayı, soloist mezzo-soprano at the Ankara State Opera and Ballet Theatre. İlkin Alpay studied philosophy at Bilkent University and then opera singing at Baskent University State Conservatory in her hometown and graduated with high honor degrees.

 

In May 2016, she won 1st prize at the 18th Siemens Opera Competition. As a member of the opera studio of the Baden State Theater in Karlsruhe between 2016-2021, she sang Ännchen in Freischütz, Gianetta in L'elisir d'amore, Taumännchen in Hänsel und Gretel, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro, Le petit Yniold in Pelléas et Mélisande.

 

In 2017 she made her debut with a solo recital at Carnegie Hall in New York, as soloist in Ahmed Adnan Saygun's Yunus Emre Oratorio at Konzerthaus Berlin and at the "German President's Citizens' Festival" at Bellevue Palace in front of Frank-Walter Steinmeier. In October 2018, Siemens AG engaged her for a concert with Neue Philarmonie on the Day of German Unity in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, she portrayed the title role in "The Diary of Anne Frank" of Grigori Frid, which was filmed in a co-production between the Staatstheater Karlsruhe and the Staatstheater Cottbus.

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In the 2021/2022 season she made her debut at Baden State Theatre Karlsruhe as Serpetta in La Finta Giardiniera and at the Aalto Theater Essen as Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi. During her Master's studies at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe with Prof. Christiane Libor, she was granted the Bayreuth Scholarship by the Richard Wagner Scholarship Foundation in 2020. Her numerous role portraits in Karlsruhe were honoured in 2020 with a nomination as Best Young Artist in the magazine Opernwelt.