Verdi Gala: Nicole Chevalier has to withdraw, Hulkar Sabirova steps in!

Soprano Nicole Chevalier has had to cancel her appearance at the Verdi Gala on Wednesday 26 August at short notice for family reasons. Thankfully, soprano Hulkar Sabirova will step in for her, so that the concert at the Glocke with the Bremen Philharmonic, conducted by Marko Letonja, can go ahead as announced. Tickets already purchased remain valid.

German soprano Hulkar Sabirova was born in Uzbekistan, where she began her musical training, which she later continued graduating at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Mannheim. Recent highlights include her debut in the title role of Verdi’s »Aida« at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and her debut as Rosalinde in »Die Fledermaus« at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam. She has also appeared as Leonora in Verdi’s »La forza del destino«  at the Opéra National de Lyon. Other notable engagements to date have taken Hulkar Sabirova to the Semperoper Dresden, the Hamburg State Opera, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Savonlinna Opera Festival and the St Gallen Festival, amongst others. In the 2026/27 season, she is set to make her role debut as Abigaille in Verdi’s »Nabucco« at the Mainfrankentheater in Würzburg, after which she will reprise the role at the Leipzig Opera.