Friends

Elina Garanca loves being on stage with up-and-coming and established young singers and thrilling the audience. This year, opera superstars Iulia Maria Dan and Kang Wang will provide goosebump-inducing moments.

Iulia Maria Dan, Soprano

Romanian soprano Iulia Maria Dan’s ‘richly coloured, beautifully finished but still radiantly clear sound’ (Sydney Morning Herald) has made her a sought-after performer in Europe. Last season, she debuted at Opéra de Rouen as Micaëla in Carmen and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and as Contessa Le Nozze di Figaro at Staatstheater Wiesbaden. Recent highlights include debuts at Oper Leipzig, Ravenna Festival, Opéra Royal de Versailles and Gran Teatre del Liceu. Dan has performed major roles at the Norwegian National Opera, Romanian National Opera, and Semperoper Dresden. As a member of Staatsoper Hamburg and Bayerische Staatsoper ensembles, she played roles such as Helena, Agathe, and Mimì. She has also performed at the Verbier Festival, Oper Graz, and Bregenz Festival. Dan is a graduate of the National University of Music in Bucharest and has received numerous awards.

Iulia Maria Dan, Photo: Alexandra Richter

Kang Wang, Tenor

Australian-Chinese tenor Kang Wang is a former member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program of the Metropolitan Opera and a finalist in the 2017 Cardiff Singer of the World competition. The 2024-25 season sees Mr. Wang appear as Macduff in Macbeth at the Washington National Opera, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Canadian Opera Company, Alfredo in La traviata with the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy, Rodolfo in Luisa Miller at the Washington Concert Opera. In the past seasons, Mr. Wang made his debuts as Rodolfo in La bohème at the Canadian Opera Company and Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Houston Grand Opera in Texas, as the title role of Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Palm Beach Opera and at the Metropolitan Opera as the Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier. 

Kang Wang, Photo: Kaylene Fu

ZukunftsStimme Maja Triler, Soprano

Slovenian soprano Maja Triler is this year's ZukunfsStimme 2025. She impressed with her voice and secured first place - which means she will be heard at the big classical open airs in Göttweig and Kitzbühel. She performed numerous opera roles during her studies, including Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Despina in Così fan tutte, Frau Fluth in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi at the Schönbrunn Palace Theater. She has received several awards for her artistic achievements: She won the gold prize at the TEMSIG competition, the Slovenian national music competition. In 2023, she was awarded second place at the Heinrich Strecker Competition in Baden near Vienna and the Hans Staud Music Prize for Young Singers. In the current year 2025, she was honored with the second prize at the operetta competition of the Lehár Festival Bad Ischl as well as at the Hedda Urbani Singing Competition of the Friends of the Vienna State Opera.

Maja Triler, Photo: Shirley Suarez

This year, the artists will once again be accompanied by the Vienna Volksoper Orchestra, which will offer a captivating sound experience. As always, Barbara Rett will charmingly host the evening.