Dilber Yunus (Uyghur: دىلبەر يۇنۇس, Chinese: 迪里拜尔·尤努斯, pinyin: Dílǐbàiěr Yóunǔsī; (1958 - ). Born in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. Dilber is a lyric soprano with coloratura technique. She has been called the "Philomela of China," in reference to the Athenian King Pandion I's daughter, who, according to legend, turned into a nightingale.
Dilber was admitted in 1976 to the Xinjiang Song and Dance Troupe. Four years later she enrolled in the Department of Vocal Music and Opera at Beijing's Central Music Conservatory, and while still a student there won an award in the Finland International Opera Competition. In 1987 Dilber finished her master's degree at the Conservatory and promptly joined the roster of the Finnish National Opera company, later adding a position with Sweden's Malmo Opera. She twice won the Birgit Nilsson Stipend,[1] in 1997 and 1998.
Dilber is considered to rank among the more accomplished singers of her generation in her voice category, with a clarion and powerful top. She has been praised for restraint in her use of ornamentation and for vocal balance. Among her recordings is an acclaimed La sonnambula by Bellini, on which she sings Lisa, made live in Amsterdam in 1992 for the Naxos label.
Her husband Yu Xiaoyang (1960-2005), a Chinese director, died on January, 2005.
Dilber has given hundreds of solo concerts and recitals around the world and has taken the following roles in staged productions of operas: