Balık sisters

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Didem Balık and Sinem Balık (born May 21, 1974) are Turkish identical twins famous as opera singers. Didem is a mezzo-soprano while Sinem is a soprano. The sisters, who claim to be the only identical twin opera singers performing professionally, are also known by the nickname "the Opera twins." Since 2000, Didem and Sinem have been living and performing in Vienna, Austria.

Born in İzmir, Turkey, Didem is five minutes older than Sinem. They have three younger brothers. The twin's study of music began when they were only four years old, before they could read and write. Their music teacher taught them musical notation with the help of colors; they remembered that red denoted C, blue D, yellow E, lilac F, and so on. At age of nine, the Balıks left piano playing and dedicated themselves to singing.^[1]

The twins were educated in the State Conservatory of Dokuz Eylül University in İzmir, and then attended the master classes of Lia Lantieri (1998), Katia Ricciarelli (2000), Dolora Zajick (2000-2003) and Placido Domingo (2003-2004). Their teachers were Tanju Nebol, Toma Popescu and Francisco Gutierrez. They continued their education in Prayner Conservatory of Vienna in Austria between 2001 and 2003.

Following the graduation from the conservatory in İzmir, they won the audition at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall in Istanbul and started singing there. In 1999, the twins entered an audition at the Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival in Antalya, where they were discovered by Toma Popescu, an expert lecturer in singing at the Vienna Music Academy. After their further education in Vienna, Didem and Sinem gave several concerts in Europe and also in the United States. The Balık sisters wore traditional Turkish clothing kaftan at their appearances with Turkish music.

In addition to operas, the sisters sing operettas, Broadway musicals, French melodies, Italian Neapolitans and German songs.

In 2001, the sisters were finalists at the "4th International de Vivo Voix Competition".