Canadian tenor Andrew Haji is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after voices on both the operatic and concert stages. Winner of the Grand Prix at the 50th International Vocal Competition in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and the Montreal International Music Competition’s Oratorio Prize, Haji recently performed Bach’s Matthäus-Passion with Pinnock and the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Messiah for the Toronto Symphony – Debus conducting.

An exciting season in 2020/2021 is in the plans and includes Alfredo in La traviata for Calgary Opera, Elijah for Symphony Nova Scotia, Rodolfo in La bohème for Edmonton Opera and a recital for the Jeffery Concert Series of London, Ontario. These projects will be subject to health advisories caused by the global pandemic.

Haji’s 2019/20 season began with Alfredo in La traviata for Vancouver Opera, followed by Messiah for the Edmonton Symphony, Pollione in Norma for Calgary Opera, Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 for the Victoria Symphony. Appearances during the 2018/2019 season included Rodolfo in La bohème and Cassio in Otello for the Canadian Opera Company (COC), Bach’s Mass in B minor for the Amadeus Choir and Alfredo in Die Fledermaus for Saskatoon Opera.

In 2017/2018, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern winner was heard as Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore in Toronto for the COC and for Vancouver Opera, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 for the Toronto Symphony, Messiah for the Grand Philharmonic Choir of Kitchener-Waterloo and the opening night gala at the Elora Festival. Haji is an alumnus of the COC Ensemble Studio and has also been heard at the Four Seasons Centre as Alfredo in La traviata and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte. During his time as a member of the Ensemble Studio, his leading roles included Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Ferrando in Così fan tutte.

The Salzburg Festival featured Haji in its production of Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia, his festival debut. For the Wexford Festival he starred as Hélios in Félicien David’s Herculanum and for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème.

Selected recent and upcoming concert engagements include performances of Haydn’s The Creation, Verdi’s Requiem, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, and Mozart’s Requiem, Great Mass in C minor, and Coronation Mass.

Andrew Haji holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music where he performed in productions of Les mamelles de Tirésias, Don Giovanni, Candide, Il mondo della luna and Rob Ford: The Opera, among others. He was invited to participate in young artist programmes at the Salzburg Festival Young Singers Project, the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy, the Music Academy of the West and Accademia Europea dell’Opera where he was influenced by some of the world’s finest musicians. A native-born Ontarian, he has received awards from the Marilyn Horne Song Competition in Santa Barbara and the COC’s annual Ensemble Studio Competition.

“Andrew Haji was the production’s Pollione, whose clear lyric tenor easily rose to the heights in those soaring passages in which his music abounds. While there are a number of operatic tenors on the Canadian scene, few have the lyric beauty and carrying power that Haji has. Technically secure, he had no difficulty with the extremely difficult music he has to sing, and he was an excellent vocal match for the two women.”

Kenneth DeLong, Calgary Herald (Norma, Calgary Opera, 2020)

“The singer who inhabited his role most naturally was Haji. He played Nemorino earnestly, not for laughs, and the laughs came easily. He delivered one of the most famous tenor arias of all time, Una furtiva lagrima, smoothly and without fuss.”

Lydia Perovic, The Globe and Mail (L’elisir d’amore, Canadian Opera Company, 2017)

“The moment signified the earliest moment in this opera that I have ever burst into tears before. […] Haji has a tone that is perfectly Italianate, very musical and yet seemingly effortless.”

Leslie Barcza, barczablog (La traviata, Canadian Opera Company, 2015)

“Tenor Andrew Haji […] brings his beautiful, bright, sweet, and aristocratic lyric tenor to Alfredo. […] He’s also a very fine actor, moving well on stage and offering a most ardent and endearing characterization. He’s a singer who’s going places.”

Joseph So, Musical Toronto (La traviata, Canadian Opera Company, 2015)

“Haji has a glorious tenor, bright, clarion, sweet, rich, always used with musicality and discerning taste. To sum it up in a few words, his singing on this occasion was marvelous.”

Joseph So, La Scena Musicale (Dichterliebe, 2015)

“His voice sounded flexible and easy throughout, and most importantly, he sang with an honest sound. […] He spoke each word as though it were happening to him at that moment. […] Whatever Haji was thinking about during that gorgeous final piano postlude, it was stunning to watch.”

Jenna Simeonov, Schmopera (Dichterliebe, 2015)

“Act 1’s Andrew Haji has an expressive voice as smooth as silk, replete with Italianate sob. It is a beautiful light sound blessed with an even legato flow.”

Paula Citron (Così fan tutte, Canadian Opera Company, 2014)