Rinat Shaham

Rinat Shaham was born in 1980 in Haifa

Rinat Shaham was born in 1980 into a musical family. Her brother is the violinist Hagai Shaham. She began voice training with Duki Atzmon as a student at the WIZO Haifa arts school.

She attended the summer program of the Music Academy of the West in 1995, 1996 and 1997, where she worked with Marilyn Horne. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees in music at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She held a scholarship from the America-Israel Foundation.

Her first role with the Philadelphia Opera Company was Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni. She has sung major roles with the New York City Opera, the Royal Opera House, the Berlin and Vienna State Operas and the Glyndebourne and Aix-en-Provence festivals. She has also appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Her roles include Carmen, Charlotte in Werther, Mélisande and Judith in Bluebeard's Castle. In 2001 she made her feature film debut in Taking Sides by István Szabó. She is married to the violist and filmmaker Peter Bucknell.