Aruhan Galieva

Galieva was born in Leeds, Yorkshire to Kazakh violinist Marat Bisengaliev and British flutist Stina Wilson. She began singing as a child and worked with Karl Jenkins, performing from the age of 11.^[1] She attended the King's School, Canterbury from 2005 to 2010.^[1] She was a music scholar and chorister at school.^[2] Galieva joined the National Youth Theatre's REP Company.^[3]

She performed her singing debut aged 11 at the Abai Opera Theatre in Almaty, Kazakhstan.^[1] This was followed by her British debut at the Royal Albert Hall, London when she was 13.^[1] Galieva gained prominence through her work as a solo soprano on Karl Jenkins' Tlep under Sony BMG and her work on the follow-up album Shakarim which was premiered at the Royal Festival Hall.^[4]

In 2012, Galieva appeared in Joe Wright's film adaptation of Anna Karenina.^[5] In 2014, she was one of the leads in the BBC Three film Glasgow Girls,^[1] a true story about the titular activists.^[1] In 2015, she made her professional theatre debut at Shakespeare's Globe as Blanche of Castile in James Dacre's production of King John.^[5]

In 2016, Galieva appeared in "Men Against Fire", an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror.^[5] From 2017 to 2018, she played Besa Kotti in the BBC medical soap opera Doctors.^[5] In 2020, she appeared in "Can You Hear Me", the seventh episode for the twelfth series of Doctor Who.^[1][5]

Galieva brought her first solo comedy show Eco Maniac to the 2022 Brighton Fringe Festival,^[6] for which she was awarded a Luke Rollason bursary. She was nominated for an Off West End Award for her supporting performance as Lauren in Kinky Boots at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch.^[7] She has writing credits on the web series Nasty Neighbours and The B@it, as well as the SeanceCast.^[5]

In July 2025, Galieva appeared in BBC Radio 4 comedy series Time of the Week as part of an ensemble cast of character comedians.^[8]

In the 2022 local elections, Galieva unsuccessfully stood to represent Abbey Wood for the Green Party on Greenwich Council.^[9] At the 2024 General Election, Galieva was the Green Party candidate for South Derbyshire. She became an ambassador for the Bat Conservation Trust.^[10]