Teiya Kasahara
笠原貞野
“Soprano Teiya Kasahara is a force of nature.”
Welcome!
My name is Teiya Kasahara, or 笠原貞野 in Japanese, but most people call me Teiya or T. I use they/them pronouns, and if you’d like more information on what they/them pronouns are all about, click here.
“an artist with extraordinary things to say”
What I do
I primarily sing in the classical vocal style in both traditional and contemporary operas, concert works and songs. I also create interdisciplinary theatre work that often has thematic overtones which strive to reimagine and broaden what canonical opera could be. I’m an artistic associate with Confluence Concerts and a co-founder of Amplified Opera. When I’m not performing I also act as a guest clinician and speaker at various post-secondary music institutions.
Why I DO IT
I love to connect with artists and audiences to understand each others’ truths and to be able to express that energy through imaginative, musical ways. Through my art and artistic practice I strive to be free, fulfilled and whole, and I hope that my work and collaborations with other artists will lead to all of our collective liberation.
Feel free to click through my site to learn more about the projects I’m creating, or what my upcoming performances will be this season.
You can also find me on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Patreon for exclusive monthly content. Or if you’d prefer, sign-up for my quarterly e-newsletter to have performance updates delivered to your inbox.
What’s Next
April 2024
Verdi’s Requiem with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra April 27 at George Weston Recital Hall and April 30 at Koerner Hall.
May 2024
A queer reframing of Schumann’s Dichterliebe, entitled Whose Love? with David Eliakis on the piano, presented by Confluence Concerts on May 3 & 4 at Heliconian Hall.
Read more about Dichterliebe: Whose Love? in the latest issue of WholeNote.
The Queen In Me
ON TOUR
Sep 20-30, 2023
National Arts Centre — Ottawa
A co-production between Amplified Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Nightwood Theatre, & Theatre Gargantua
The Queen of the Night, one of opera’s infamous “fallen women” takes a stand and refuses to finish her famous aria. Instead she reveals her own story through a blend of original text and performing other opera arias in her own way on her own terms.
Created & performed by Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野, directed by Andrea Donaldson and Aria Umezawa. Nominated for 5 Dora Mavor Moore awards, book this show today.
“... a timely, provocatively entertaining addition to the genre.”
Projects
PROJECT T
Coming soon!
THE BUTTERFLY PROJECT
A re-imagination of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and an exploration of the Japanese songs used in the opera with new arrangements and electronics.
19 VIDEOS FOR COVID-19
As the pandemic hit Toronto in March 2020, Teiya decided to make 19 videos singing opera from their balcony, garnering them nickname “the balcony soprano” (Toronto Star). #balconysoprano #19forCOVID19
Amplified Opera
Teiya is a co-founder of Amplified Opera (est. 2017). They co-lead this company with co-founders Aria Umezawa, Marion Newman and Asitha Tennekoon to centre equity-seeking artists in an effort to have challenging conversations about opera, art and society.
Media
audio
sound design, new compositions, archive recordings, podcast interviews
photo
production stills of operas and concert performances, backstage candid moments & more
video
art song, concert & operatic excerpts, 19 videos for COVID-19, collaborations with other artists, etc