Leyla Gencer, one of the greatest sopranos of the 20th century, was born in Istanbul. She started her formal education at the Istanbul Municipal Conservatoire and was later trained by the renowned Italian soprano Giannina Arangi-Lombardi and Apollo Granforte. Gencer was a regular performer with the Ankara State Opera and Ballet Chorus until she made her operatic debut as Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana in 1950. Within a few years, she earned a reputation as a rising star, and was regularly invited to perform at official ceremonies for the Turkish Government.

Gencer made her Italian debut at Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, once again performing as Santuzza, and she returned the following year to Naples to perform in Madama Butterfly and Eugene Onegin. On January 26, 1957 Gencer made her debut at the world famous Teatro alla Scala in Milan, as Lidoine in the world premiere of Poulenc’s Les Dialogues des Carmelites.

Between 1957 and 1980, the acclaimed soprano performed in various leading roles at the Teatro alla Scala. The roles included operas by Verdi, Bellini, Donizetti, Mozart, Monteverdi, Gluck, Tchaikovsky, Britten, and Pizzetti.

After performing with such distinguished Italian maestros as Vittorio Gui, Tulio Serafin, Gianandrea Gavazzeni and Riccardo Muti, her outstanding performances of Donizetti’s forgotten operas ensured that she was remembered as one of the stars of the “Donizetti Renaissance.”

With her extensive repertoire consisting of 72 roles within a broad array from lyric soprano to dramatic coloratura, Leyla Gencer was the primadonna of La Scala for 25 years, an era during which legendary names such as Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Monserrat Caballé, Joan Sutherland and Beverly Sills dominated the opera world.

The legendary singer bid her farewell to the opera scene in 1985 with her performance of Francesco Gnecco’s La Prova di un’Opera Seria at La Fenice Theatre, however, she continued performing at concerts and recitals until 1992.

From 1982 on, Leyla Gencer dedicated herself to the education of young opera artists. She worked as the Didactic Artistic Director of As.Li.Co. of Milan between 1983–88 and was appointed by Maestro Riccardo Muti to run La Scala’s School for Young Artists between 1997–98. Until her passing away in 2008, Gencer was the artistic director of the Academy for Opera Artists at the Teatro alla Scala, where she also taught opera interpretation. She also served as the President of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts’ Board of Trustees.