Saudi Arabia hosted its first ever International Opera Festival from June 18 to June 20 with several globally renowned artists participating in the event. For the first time international opera shows and performances from around the world were displayed in the Kingdom.

The festival’s lineup includes Australian-American lyric soprano Danielle de Niese, Armenian baritone Gevorg Hakobyan, and Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja, with the pioneering Saudi performers being Sawsan Albahiti, the Kingdom’s first professional opera singer; Khayran Al-Zahrani, Saudi Arabia’s first male opera singer; and Mostafa Shirah. Each day of the concert during the three-day festival featured a two-hour performance by a Saudi singer paired with an international opera singer beginning with Albahiti and Calleja on Saturday, who performed an assortment of classic opera pieces. The event will also include a special exhibition for opera with classic arts and associated possessions, such as fashion, and opera history with its musical instruments.