Andrew Haji

Andrew Haji is one of the most sought-after lyric tenors whose effortlessly transcendent voice has been described as “bright yet warm, mellifluous yet ringing, used with grace and all the requisite legato lines,” and “few have the lyric beauty and carrying power that Haji has.”  The renowned Canadian lyric tenor is celebrated on concert and operatic stages with his musical rapture and silky clarion vocal prowess.

In 2024-25 season, the Canadian tenor makes his debuts with the Chicago Symphony in Haydn’s Mass in Time of War with conductor Manfred Honeck, the Cleveland Orchestra in Bach’s St. John Passion (Evangelist) and NDR Radiophilharmonie in Hanover, Germany for Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with conductor Bernard Labadie.   He returns to Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke's in Bach's St. John Passion (Evangelist), Les Violons du Roy and Houston Symphony in Handel’s Messiah, and Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society in Haydn’s The Seasons and Beethoven’s Mass in C-Major. Other notable performances this season include Mozart’s Requiem with the Kansas City Symphony, the title role in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito at Pacific Opera Victoria, and Dompierre’s Requiem with the Festival Classica.

Recent orchestral engagement highlights throughout the United States and Canada include Beethoven’s Ninth with Milwaukee Symphony and National Arts Center Orchestra, Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion with the Seattle Symphony and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Bach Cantatas with Montreal Symphony and Handel and Haydn Society, Haydn’s The Creation with Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Verdi’s Requiem at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Bruckner’s Te Deumwith the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and Orff’s Carmina Burana at the Elora Festival.  In Europe, Haji has performed with the English Concert and at the Salzburg Festival.  Mr. Haji has performed with conductors including Bernard Labadie, Jonathan Cohen, John Butt, Rafael Payare, and Alexander Shelley.

Notable opera successes include Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata, Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Ferrando in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème, and Cassio in Verdi’s Otello at Canadian Opera Company, Macduff in Verdi’s Macbeth and Pollione in Bellini’s Norma at Calgary Opera, Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème with Montreal's Orchestre Philharmonique et Choeur des Mélomanesand Edmonton Opera, Jonathan in Handel’s Saul at Edinburgh International Festival, Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore at National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts in Taiwan, Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at National Arts Center in Ottawa, Alfredo in Verdi’s La traviata with the Vancouver Opera, and Alfredo in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus with Saskatoon Opera.

During the 2020-21 season amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, Andrew starred in various digital and streaming productions including Holst’s Sāvitri for Against the Grain Theatre, Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Mozart’s Requiem both for the Canadian Opera Company, and finally returning to the stage as Count Almaviva in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opéra de Québec.

Haji is an alumnus of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio. He has received awards from the Marilyn Horne Song Competition, the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble and was awarded the Grand Prix at the 50th International Vocal Competition in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, and the Oratorio Prize at the Montreal International Music Competition. Andrew received a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music where he performed in productions of Poulenc’s Les mammeles de Tirésias, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Bernstein’s Candide, and Haydn’s Il mondo della luna, among others. He was invited to participate in young artist programs 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.

*Updated January 2025

September 13, 2024: Andrew Haji Performs in New Album ‘Dompierre: Requiem’ with Orchestre Filmharmonique and conductor Francis Choiniere.

- Spotify

February 28, 2024: Canadian tenor Andrew Haji to make his CSO debut in season 2024/2025.

- Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association

CALGARY OPERA RISES TO THE CHALLENGE OF NORMA
“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)

ALL-CANADIAN COC LA TRAVIATE AN EVENING OF EXCEPTIONAL VOCALISM
“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)

LIEDER FOR LUNCH: THE COC ENSEMBLE STUDIO IN RECITAL
“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)

Orchestral Repertoire

Bach, J. S.   
Christmas Oratorio (Arias and Evangelist)
Magnificat
Mass in B-minor
Oster Oratorium
St. John Passion (Arias and Evangelist)
St. Matthew Passion (Arias)

Beethoven
Choral Fantasy
Mass in C-Major
Missa Solemnis
Symphony No. 9

Bruckner
Te Deum

Dompierre
Requiem

Handel
Messiah
Saul

Haydn
The Creation
The Seasons
Mass in Time of War

Mendelssohn
Elijah

Mozart
Coronation Mass
Great Mass in C-Minor
Requiem

Orff
Carmina Burana

Puccini
Messa di Gloria

Rossini
Stabat Mater
Petite messe solennelle

Tippett
A Child of Our Time

Vaughan Williams
Serenade to Music

Verdi
Requiem

Opera Repertoire

Bellini
Norma (Pollione)

Bernstein
Candide (Vanderdendur/Ragotski)

Britten
Peter Grimes (Horace Adams)

David
Herculanum (Hélios)

Donizetti
L’Elisir d’Amore (Nemorino)
Lucrezia Borgia (Rustighello)

Haydn
Il mondo della luna (Cecco)

Holst
Savitri (Satyavan)

Massenet
Don Quichotte (Rodriguez)

Mozart
La clemenza di Tito (Tito)
Così fan Tutte (Ferrando)
Die Zauberflöte (Tamino)
Don Giovanni (Don Ottavio)

Poulenc
Les mamelles de Tirésias (Lacouf/Reporter)

Puccini
La Bohème (Rodolfo)
Gianni Schicchi (Rinuccio)

Rossini
Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Count Almaviva)

Somers
Louis Riel (Gabriel Dumont)

Strauss (Johann)
Die Fledermaus (Alfred)

Sullivan
The Mikado (Nanki-Poo)
The Pirates of Penzance (Frederic)

Verdi
Falstaff (Bardolfo)
Macbeth (Macduff)
Otello (Cassio)
La traviata (Alfredo Germont)


*Updated January 2025