“Calgary Opera’s opening night performance of Carmen:…On one hours’ notice, mezzo-soprano Beste Kalender, originally scheduled to sing the role of Mercedes, learned that she would have to sing the title role. This she did, and with remarkable success…” - Kenneth Delong, Calgary Herald, 2015

Described as having “a voice that is both fluid and expressive” (Edmond Johnson, Opera News, 2015), Beste Kalender performed as an Emerging Artist with Calgary Opera during past season where she made her main stage debut with the company in the title role of Bizet’s Carmen.

Turkish native mezzo soprano has been named Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques du Canada for a third time in 2015 and recently won Bourse Lyrique Coréen & Bourse Lyrique Allemande and other engagements through which she will be representing Canada in Korea (Sori Festival), Bologna (Teatro Comunale di Bologna) and Germany in 2016. In 2014, she made her French debut with Les Chorégies D’Orange and represented Canada in France. She has recently made her American debut in the title role of Music Academy of The West’s production Rossini’s La Cenerentola and will be performing at The Song Continues Masterclass Series with Stephanie Blythe at The Carnegie Hall in January 2016.

Beste’s repertoire includes roles such as: Hansel; (Hansel and Gretel, CoOPERAtive Program at Westminster), Cenerentola (La Cenerentola, Rossini-Music Academy of The West), Mercedes (Carmen, Bizet-Music Academy of The West); Carmen (Carmen, Bizet-Calgary Opera), Fox (The Cunning Little Vixen, Janacek-Glenn Gould School Opera-GGS), Zerlina (Don Giovanni, GGS Opera), Marcellina (Le Nozze di Figaro, Mozart-Calgary Opera, cover), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro, Mozart-Opera by Request), Third Lady (The Magic Flute, Mozart-GGS), Ellen (Three sisters who are not sisters, Rorem-GGS) and Tancredi (Tancredi, Rossini-Summer Opera Lyric Theater).

Beste holds an M.A. degree from the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto and an Artist Diploma in voice from The Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School. She has also received training at IVAI in Montreal, Opera On The Avalon, CoOPERAtive Program and The Music Academy of The West Summer Music Festival. Beste is a recent recipient of the Canada Council for The Arts Grants for Professional Musicians.