Choral and Conducting Areas present: Ari Agha & Laura Hynes
Ari Agha & Laura Hynes | Collaborating in the Key of T
Discussing choral art and pedagogy, innovative trends in ensemble singing, and the current state of classical music as a part of ReVoice.
Please note: These workshops are available to staff and students at the Schulich School of Music. Info on how to attend will be sent by email from publicity.music to the Schulich community weekly.
Ari Agha, PhD
Ari Agha (genderqueer, AFAB, they/them pronouns) has studied voice with Laura Hynes since January of 2016. Agha and Hynes began collaborating on Key of T in the summer of 2016, prior to Agha starting testosterone therapy in September of 2016.
Agha has sung in choirs since they were 10 years old. They received a B.A. from the University of Miami where they minored in music with a voice focus, singing for four years under the direction of Dr. Jo-Michael Schiebe with the University Chorale. Agha has a Ph.D. in Sociology and over ten years of experience conducting public policy research on topics including the use of solitary confinement in correctional settings, justice system responses to sexual assault, and preventative social programming for marginalized populations. They sing with Tim Shantz and the Spiritus Chamber Choir and the Double Treble Ensemble in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and Essence of Joy Alumni Singers (Penn State). An advocate of feminism, anti-racism, and trans rights, Agha blogs about gender, singing, and current events at www.genderqueerme.com
Laura Hynes, DMA
A Fulbright scholar in Paris, American coloratura soprano Laura Hynes (she/her pronouns) spent six years in France and Germany, performing repertoire ranging from baroque opera with Les Arts Florissants to “classical cabaret” on French television and radio. She has performed opera roles, solo recitals, and concerts throughout Europe and North America, in venues including New York’s Alice Tully Hall, the Barbican in London, the Châtelet and the Cité de la Musique in Paris, as well as major venues in Seville, Brussels, Madrid, Lisbon, Frankfurt, Marseille, and Montpellier.
In 2015, Hynes joined the performing arts faculty at the University of Calgary. Her research there focuses on innovation in art song recital through social justice issues (Raise Your Voice), transgender voice transition, and collaborative performance creation. She holds degrees from the University of Minnesota (DMA) where she was the Carolyn Bailey & Dominick Argento Fellow, the Paris Conservatory (Cycle de perfectionnement), the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (M.M.), and Miami University (B.M.).