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The Emirati tenor, Zahid Siddiqui, grew up in Dubai and began singing lessons at the age of 7, but he has been singing for as long as he can remember. Although he initially intended to pursue a career in musical theatre, his interest in opera started after he went to see Verdi’s La Traviata at the Royal Opera House and he has dreamed of singing at Covent Garden ever since. He won the vocal prize at Young Musician of the Gulf in both 2015 and 2016 whilst living in Dubai. He moved to England to study Music at the University of Manchester, specialising in Choral and Solo classical singing (2016-2019). Hew studied there under tuition with Andrew Heggie, and has tried to be involved in as much performing as possible, whether it be solo or ensemble, throughout his time at the University. He sang tenor in the University’s Chamber Choirs - Ad Solem and The Cosmo Singers - as well as in Kantos Chamber Choir and Manchester Renaissance EnsembleIn 2017, he sang the role of Satyavan in Gustav Holst's Sāvitri (February 2017), as well as Rinuccio in The Opera Shack's abridged version of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi (December 2016). He played the Sorceress/Spirit in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and El Remendado in Georges Bizet's Carmen. Zahid has been selected as one of the University’s Concerto Soloists for two years running. Zahid aspires to become an opera singer and wished to undergo further training once he has completed his undergraduate study at the University.
Zahid Siddiqui was accepted on to The Sixteen's Young Artists Programme Genesis Sixteen for 2018-2019. Since August 2019, he studies Music at at Royal College of Music in London (expected graduation in July 2021). |
