Lilian Farahani is an internationally sought-after Dutch-Iranian soprano, renowned for her versatility, acting talent, and ability to fully embody her characters. Her expressive performances and captivating stage presence have earned her widespread acclaim.

In spring 2026, she will be the cover for the role of The Bride in ‘Innocence’, the last opera by Kaija Saariaho, at the Metropolitan Opera. A role she previously sang at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the Royal Opera House in London, Dutch National Opera and San Francisco Opera. Furthermore, she will sing the role of Musetta (‘La bohéme’) with the Opéra national de Lorraine in Nancy, Caen and Luxembourg.

Her 2024/2025 season includes performances at the Dutch Touring Opera with ‘The Pirate Queen’, a new opera by Monique Krüs and as Drusilla/Fortuna in ‘L’incoronazione di Poppea’.

Lilian has sung on the major Dutch stages with companies such as Dutch National Opera, Opera Zuid and Dutch Touring Opera, but also in the opera houses of Nancy, Bern, Essen, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and the International Maifestspiele Wiesbaden. Her repertoire includes Mozart roles such as Pamina (‘Zauberflöte’), Despina (‘Così fan tutte’), Zerlina (‘Don Giovanni’) and Susanna (‘Le nozze di Figaro’). But also Gretel (‘Hänsel und Gretel’), Carolina (‘Il matrimonio segreto’), Musetta (‘La bohème’) and Frasquita (‘Carmen’).

Lilian has worked with stage directors such as Simon McBurney, Lotte de Beer, Laurent Pelly, Monique Wagemakers, Simon Stone and Ted Huffman, with conductors such as Gianandrea Noseda, Raphaël Pichon, Antony Hermus, Ed Spanjaard, Patrick Fournillier, Kenneth Montgomery, Antonello Manacorda, Sacha Goetzel and Susanna Mälkki, with orchestras like the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, The Hague Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Ensemble Pygmalion, London Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, The Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Essener Philharmoniker, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and members of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

Besides opera, operette and the classical repertoire of Lieder, Lilian feels at home singing contemporary works. Besides Saariaho’s ‘Innocence’, she sang leading roles in ‘Anne and Zef’ by Monique Krüs, Death Knocks’ (Christian Jost) and ‘The infernal comedy’ by Michael Sturminger with the Dutch National Theater. In the spring of 2019, her debut CD ‘Woman – the making of…’ with works of Jake Heggie, was released, along with pianist Maurice Lammerts van Bueren. In her second CD, ‘Nomad’ (2024), Lilian performs Persian Folk Songs by the contemporary Iranian composer Reza Vali.