Bahar H. — Singing Teacher — Plateau-Mont-Royal, Montreal

Bahar Harandi is an Iranian Canadian soprano coloratura with a repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary music. She started her musical journey with playing violin, since singing is forbidden for women in Iran. After finishing her bachelor's degree as a violinist, Bahar moved to Canada to follow her passion for singing. She got two masters’ degrees in voice and opera from the University of Victoria and the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal. She is now living in Vienna to finish her postgraduate degree in Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien. Bahar’s experience as a singer in Canada includes many performances with renowned conductors such as Jacques Lacombe, Alain Trudel, Rosemary Thomson, and Peter Butterfield. She appeared as the first solo soprano with Massawippi Vocal Ensemble in Beethoven à l'Abbaye concert, The Great Mass in C Minor and Vesperae solennes de confessore, with Victoria Symphony Orchestra, La fée (Cendrillon) and Dr. Blind (Die Fledermaus) in Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, Despina (Così fan tutte) with Long Reach Opera, Cricket and Frantík (The Cunning Little Vixen) with Opera NUOVA, and Belinda (Dido and Aeneas) with Opera Studio of Victoria Conservatory as well as other recitals and concerts in Canada. She will sing a recital in Bourgie Hall of Montréal in April 2024. Bahar is a recipient of the Bourse d'Excellence, the Bourse Gabrielle-Lavigne, and the Adjudicator’s and Operatic Awards of Greater Victoria Performing Art Festival. She is also an invited candidate for the Ningbo International Vocal Competition in China, in December 2023.

As every single student has different abilities, talent, and need, I plan my courses for each of them individually. While my focusing on technique, musicality, diction (for voice lessons), style, and interpretation, I keep music theory as a part of my lessons as I believe it is essential for improving the performing skills. I encourage my students to make conversations about the work we do in each lesson, ask questions, talk about their understanding of the piece they are working on, and to describe their emotional connection with it. I find this kind of conversations very helpful to develop the interpretation skills and creativity. I teach in three languages: English, French, and Farsi.