Chen Reiss

Chen Reiss was born in 1978 in Holon

Chen Reiss was born in Holon in 1978, the eldest of 4 children, and grew up in Herzliya. Her father was born in Hungary and ran a garage. Her mother, Yafit, was a singer in theater, opera and choir.

As a child she studied piano and dance. She attended Thelma Yellin High School and learned French, German and Italian along with voice training. After the army she moved to New York and studied music at Brooklyn College with Ruth Falcon.

In 2003 she joined the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, where Zubin Mehta became her mentor, and since 2006 she has worked as an independent singer. She debuted with the Vienna State Opera in 2009 and has sung there regularly. In 2006 she recorded the soundtrack for Tom Tykwer's film Perfume with the Berlin Philharmonic.

Her album Liaisons, released in 2011, received a Diapason d'Or. She sang at the Christmas Eve 2014 Midnight Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. In 2018 she debuted at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden as Zerlina in Don Giovanni. She is married with 2 children.