Mayan Rachel Goldenfeld is an Italian-Israeli soprano, based in Germany. Equally praised for her vocal prowess, musicality, acting skills and impressive stage presence, Mayan Goldenfeld is celebrated as a highly versatile performer across a broad range of repertoire and genres. Her performances encompass both opera and theater, showcasing her exceptional vocal range and artistic depth, combining a particular affinity for early music with a repertoire extending to contemporary works and world premieres.
In the 2026/27 season, she makes four role debuts at Theater Bielefeld: Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Adele in Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus, Ge Ensslin in Ketan and Vivan Bhatti’s Der rote Wal, and the title role in Pierangelo Valtinoni’s Der kleine Prinz.
Goldenfeld has been a member of Theater Bielefeld’s soloist ensemble since 2023, following a season in its interdisciplinary studio program, which brings together opera, acting, and dance. Her roles with the company include Ninetta in La gazza ladra, Venus in Le Grand Macabre, First Niece in Peter Grimes, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Nannetta in Falstaff, Lenio in The Greek Passion, and the title role in Valtinoni’s Alice im Wunderland. She also created the leading role of Sie in the world premiere of At Your Doorstep.
Mayan's work expands beyond the operatic stage - she made her theatrical debut as an actress under the direction of Peter Kastenmüller in his critically acclaimed staging of the novel Herkunft (Saša Stanišić), in which she developed and brought to stage the character of Zagorka. She also embodied the role of Tülay in a three season long run of Gün Tank’s Die Optimistinnen, and contributed to Konrad Kästner and Dariusch Yazdkhasti's staging of Nathan der Weise (Lessing). Equally fascinated by the stage as the workings behind the scenes, she worked as concept consultant to Nick Westbrock in his staging of the opera The Concert (Wim Henderickx), as well completed an internship with the directing team under Wolfgang Naegele in his production of The Tales of Hoffmann at Theater Bielefeld.
Beyond Bielefeld, her engagements with the early music ensemble I Gemelli include a recording and concert tour of Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine and the role of Minerva in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. These collaborations have taken her to Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence, Barcelona’s Palau de la Música, the Opéra National de Bordeaux, Angers Nantes Opéra, and the Concerts d’Automne festival in Tours.
Her concert repertoire includes, among other pieces, Bach’s St Matthew Passion and St John Passion, Mahler’s 2nd and 4th Symphonies, and Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony, which she performed in venues such as the Leipzig Gewandhaus and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.
Early music holds a central place in Goldenfeld’s artistic life. Her roles include Erice in Cavalli’s L’Ormindo at the Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden; Amor and Damigella in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea; Sangaride in Lully’s Atys; and the title role in Jommelli’s Didone abbandonata at the Schwetzingen Festival, broadcast by SWR2. She has worked with early music specialists including Sigiswald Kuijken, Werner Ehrhardt, Andrea de Carlo, and Michael Hofstetter.
In 2022, she co-founded the early music duo Sull’onde with harpsichordist Tung Han Hu. The duo received the Bärenreiter Prize at the Göttingen Handel Competition that year, leading to her appointment as a Bärenreiter Jubilee Ambassador. She is also a prize-winner of the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg Competition and a finalist of the Froville International Baroque Competition.
Goldenfeld studied with Efrat Ben Nun at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music and Patricia McCaffrey at Brooklyn College Conservatory, earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees respectively. She continued her training at the Hochschule für Musik Mainz’s Baroque Vocal Excellence Programme and completed an Advanced Studies Certificate in Early Music at the Berlin University of the Arts, studying with Doerthe Maria Sandmann. She continues to work regularly with Abbie Furmansky in Berlin.