Project T

an autoethnographical and living document
of the art and life
of transgender
opera singer
Teiya Kasahara
笠原貞野

This project is a glimpse into my journey of what it’s like to be me. Simply put, I’m a transgender singer who is about to start gender affirming hormone therapy (exogenous testosterone) for the first time in my life, a therapy that will change my voice forever. When, you ask? Soon. Very soon (but not soon enough). Why, you ask? Well, that’s a great question, and one I hope to answer through this presentation tonight. 

Most of my life I’ve been socialized, conditioned and trained to believe that precision and excellence are the only goals worth going after. As a perceived girl/woman soprano, I have been driven towards this unattainable horizon of musical and vocal perfection. Now that I’m 40, I’ve decided to publicly share my vocal transition through self-documentation and public performance through Project T. ‘T’ is for Teiya, for transgender, for transition, for testosterone, for living my truth. I don’t want to isolate myself or contribute to the false notion that people who transition must shut themselves away while undergoing a long and arduous metamorphosis. Will this caterpillar become a moth, or a butterfly, or something else? I say: does it even matter what the end result is?

Transition – in all its forms, along all its winding, rocky, and flat paths, with all of its hiccups, hurdles and mountains – must be celebrated, endured, and normalized. I want to share the good, the bad, and all the ugly, glorious, and mundane happenings in between. I want to be in community with you. And so I hope that by sharing a bit of myself along this transition, I can bring us all closer. 

Thank you for being here, for witnessing a part of this journey, and for being a part of Project T.

– Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野

Home Video

May 2 & 3, 2025
confluence concerts

Project T: Home Video was presented by Confluence Concerts on May 2 & 3, 2025 at Heliconian Hall in Toronto. Accompanied by David Eliakis, piano.

Coming this October, Project T: Home Video will be relEased online for 2 weeks. stay tuned for more information

A Mixtape

June 11, 2024
ChamberQueer

The launch of Project T was presented in ChamberQUEER’s Constellation Festival on June 11, 2024 at Mitu580 in Brooklyn, New York. Accompanied by David Eliakis, piano.

Gallery photos credit: Sean Solomon.