Indian-American soprano MAYA KHERANI has been lauded for her vibrant voice and exciting characterizations in repertoire from the Baroque to the modern. Current and upcoming projects include a debut at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and Versailles as DRUSILLA/FORTUNA L’incoronazione di Poppea; AUTONOE Sartorio’s Orfeo with Philippe Jaroussky Opéra national de Montpellier; Muffat’s Missa in labore requies Philharmonia Baroque in San Francisco; Mahler Symphony No. 4 Vancouver Symphony; Handel’s Belshazzar, Messiah and Bach’s Mass in A major American Bach Soloists; a world premiere project as PIPER Pay the Piper Glyndebourne; MUKHTAR Sankaram’s Thumbprint Portland Opera; Messiah Boston Baroque and Portland Baroque Orchestra, Reena Esmail’s Meri Sakhi Ki Avaaz (My Sister’s Voice) Berkeley Symphony; SUSANNA Le Nozze di Figaro Opera San Jose and a debut (tba) with Pacific MusicWorks.
Most recent engagements include her European debut with the Fondazione Giorgio Cini – Seminari di Musica Antica singing the modern-world première of French Baroque works from Caribbean. She then returned to sing in a follow-up program, directed by Mr. Memelsdorff and Vivica Genaux. Additionally, she sang the title role of PARTENOPE Opera NEO, BEATRICE Three Decembers and BELINDA Dido and Aeneas Opera San Jose, POLLY PEACHUM The Threepenny Opera West Edge Opera, ROSINA Cinnabar Theater, Laura Kaminsky’s Today It Rains Opera Parallèle and MUSETTA La Bohème West Bay Opera.
Additional recent engagements include DESPINA in Così fan tutte and LISETTE in La Rondine Opera San Jose, ALTISIDORE in Boismortier’s Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse at Central City Opera, her debut in the role of MEERA in the world première of Jack Perla’s River of Light Houston Grand Opera (HGOco), BRITOMARTE in Martín y Soler’s L’arbore di Diana (The Chastity Tree) West Edge Opera, JILL in the world première of Jack and Jill and the Happening Hill Salt Marsh Opera, the title role of SEMELE Pocket Opera, and FRASQUITA Carmen West Bay Opera. Other premières include Neil Rolnick’s Anosmia, released by Innova Records in 2013, and Dante de Silva’s “graphic opera” Gesualdo with Opera Parallèle. A passionate interpreter of early music, Ms. Kherani has been featured with the American Bach Soloists, the San Francisco Bach Choir, the Amherst Early Music Festival, Early Music Vancouver, and the American Handel Society Festival.
Ms. Kherani’s numerous awards include semi-finalist in the 2020 Glyndebourne Cup, 3rd place in the 2021 Handel Aria Competition, the 2015 McGlone Award from Central City Opera, 1st Place and Audience Favorite at the James Toland Vocal Competition, 2nd Place at the Peter Elvins Vocal Competition the Kalvelage Award at West Bay Opera’s Holt Competition, two Encouragement Awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and the top overall Barlow Award at the San Francisco Bay Area NATS competition, where she also won 1st Place in both the Professional Art Song and Aria categories.
Ms. Kherani graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University with a B.S.E. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and certificates (minors) in Music Performance, Materials Science, and Robotics and Intelligent Systems. At Princeton, she received the Isidore and Helen Sacks Award for excellence in Music Performance and was a dancer and choreographer for Naacho South Asian Dance Company and a member and soloist in the Princeton University Glee Club. She holds a Master of Music degree with honors from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Professional Certificate from the Boston University Opera Institute.
Margaret Levine
Phone: +44 7788 564195
Email: margaret@atholestill.co.uk
Representation: Worldwide
News | Maya Kherani
News | Maya Kherani
"From her opening ornate aria, Maya Kherani’s Partenope sailed through Handel’s effusive coloratura with gleaming precision and impassioned conviction. She dominated this production the same way an excellent Violetta commands Verdi’s La Traviata."
Ken Herman, San Diego Story, Aug 6 2018
"Best of all may have been soprano Maya Kherani as Susanna. Her bright tones sparkled throughout the opera, and “Deh vieni, non tardar” in Act IV was delightful. Kherani had great chemistry with her Figaro, Isaiah Musik-Ayala. Their sense of timing of the physical humor was spot on and very funny."
Charlise Tiee, San Francisco Classical Voice, Oct 18 2016
"The center of their machinations, and of the opera, is Figaro’s bride-to-be, Susanna, portrayed by soprano Maya Kherani with a mischievous brightness. Her tight vibrato and nimble high notes are increasingly in demand around the Bay Area, and I most recently heard her sing as the soprano soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with Chora Nova, where her clear high D (yes, a note above the usual benchmark, a high C) wowed an audience. Not only is her voice astonishingly acrobatic, but her acting was so believable..."
Adam Broner, Repeat Performances, Oct 22 2016
"Maya Kherani in fact makes a perfect Susanna, pretending helplessness in the manner of an Indian "bruha" archetype as she schemes her way through one crisis after another. Her singing is the same, understated but packed with small, well-crafted touches. Her cadenza at the end of "Deh vieni, non tardar" proved exceptionally artful and moving, even with the knowledge that she was really just playing a prank on her new husband."
Operaville
"At the center of the production are two glorious performances by Efraín Solís in the title role and Maya Kherani as Susanna (...) both possess gorgeously expressive voices and warm and uncommonly winning stage presences. They sang beautifully throughout, bringing nuance and a lively musicality to Mozart's melodies while clearly articulating the text and playing the underlying emotions (...) Kherani's meltingly tender "Deh vieni non tardar" aria, which was the highlight of the entire performance. The sheer beauty of Kherani's golden soprano is a wonder, as is her ability to infuse her character with spunk and wit (...)"
BroadwayWorld
