From: Montreal, Canada. LA Opera: Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro (2022, debut); Dorabella in Così fan tutte (2025).
Tunisian-born Rihab Chaieb is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Program where she appeared in numerous productions, including L’Italiana in Algeri (Zulma), Luisa Miller (Laura), Cavalleria Rusticana (Lola) and Hänsel und Gretel (Sandman). Returning since as a guest in Don Giovanni (Zerlina) under Cornelius Meister, she appears there this season as Nefertiti in Phelim McDermott’s unforgettable production of Philip Glass’ Akhnaten, conducted by Karen Kamensek.
In the 2021/22 season, Rihab Chaieb debuts at Washington National Opera in Così fan tutte (Dorabella), sings Penelope on a European concert tour and recording of Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria with Ensemble I Gemelli and Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, returns to Opéra et Orchestre National de Montpellier as Maddalena in Marie-Eve Signeyrole’s new staging of Rigoletto, and joins Palm Beach Opera in the title role of Carmen. In concert, Chaieb joins the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for Handel’s Messiah, and Les Violons du Roy for Mozart’s Requiem.
Demonstrating strong repertoire versatility in recent seasons, Rihab Chaieb debuted as Charlotte in Werther at Opera Vlaanderen under Giedrė Šlekytė, at Houston Grand Opera in the world premiere of Tarik O’Regan’s The Phoenix, as Rosina (The Barber of Seville) at Cincinnati Opera and as Offenbach’s Fantasio at Opéra de Montpellier. For Dutch National Opera, Chaieb sang Lola in Robert Carsen’s new staging under Lorenzo Viotti, Dorabella at Teatro Santiago de Chile, Kasturbai in Philip Glass’ Satyagraha at Opera Vlaanderen, and received unanimous acclaim for her first Carmen in Lydia Steier’s intense new production for Oper Köln.
On the concert stage, Rihab Chaieb has performed with Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal under Johannes Debus in Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and in a programme of Rossini under Kent Nagano; with both Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under Otto Tausk and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Carlos Miguel Prieto in de Falla’s Three-Cornered Hat; and at the Toronto Summer Music Festival in her first Das Lied von der Erde. Last season, Rihab Chaieb joined Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s line-up of soloists for an audiovisual recording of Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with Orchestre Métropolitain for broadcast on DG Stage, Deutsche Grammophon’s new online platform.
A former member of both Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio, where she earned major acclaim as Sesto (La Clemenza di Tito), and San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program, where she debuted as Cherubino (The Marriage of Figaro), Chaieb also enjoyed several summers at the Glyndebourne Festival as Mércedès (Carmen) under Jakub Hrůša, and Flora (La Traviata) under Andrés Orozco-Estrada.
The recipient of many major grants, Rihab Chaieb has also enjoyed competition success, taking Third Prize at the 2018 Operalia Competition, winning the 2016 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, and taking prizes at both the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the 2018 George London Foundation Competition.
