Arizona Opera Cast Members & Creatives

Indian-American soprano Maya Kherani has been lauded for her vibrant voice and exciting characterizations in repertoire from the Baroque to the modern. Upcoming projects include a debut at the Festival d'Aix-en- Provence as DRUSILLA/FORTUNA for L’incoronazione di Poppea with Mo. Alarcon, Messiah with Mo. Pearlman Boston Baroque, SUSANNA Le Nozze di Figaro Opera San Jose, as well as PAMINA Die Zauberflöte and GILDA Rigoletto Opera Modesto.

This past season's engagements included POLLY PEACHUM The Threepenny Opera West Edge Opera, ROSINA Cinnabar Theater, Laura Kaminsky’s Today It Rains Opera Parallèle, the title role of PARTENOPE Opera NEO, MUSETTA La Bohème West Bay Opera and her European debut with the Fondazione Giorgio Cini – Seminari di Musica Antica singing the modern-world première of French Baroque works from Caribbean. She then returned this past February to sing in a follow-up program, directed by Mr. Memelsdorff and Vivica Genaux.

Recent seasons featured Kherani’s mainstage company debut as DESPINA in Così fan tutte Opera San Jose, where she also sang LISETTE in La Rondine, ALTISIDORE in Boismortier’s Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse at Central City Opera, her debut in the role of MEERA in the world première of Jack Perla’s River of Light Houston Grand Opera (HGOco), BRITOMARTE in Martín y Soler’s L’arbore di Diana (The Chastity Tree) West Edge Opera, JILL in the world première of Jack and Jill and the Happening Hill Salt Marsh Opera, the title role of SEMELE Pocket Opera, and FRASQUITA Carmen West Bay Opera. Other premières include Neil Rolnick’s Anosmia, released by Innova Records in 2013, and Dante de Silva’s “graphic opera” Gesualdo with Opera Parallèle. A passionate interpreter of early music, Kherani has been featured with the American Bach Soloists, the San Francisco Bach Choir, the Amherst Early Music Festival, Early Music Vancouver, and the American Handel Society Festival.

Kherani’s numerous awards include semi-finalist in the 2020 Glyndebourne Cup, the 2015 McGlone Award from Central City Opera, 1st Place and Audience Favorite at the James Toland Vocal Competition, 2nd Place at the Peter Elvins Vocal Competition the Kalvelage Award at West Bay Opera’s Holt Competition, two Encouragement Awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and the top overall Barlow Award at the San Francisco Bay Area NATS competition, where she also won 1st Place in both the Professional Art Song and Aria categories.

Kherani graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University with a B.S.E. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and certificates (minors) in Music Performance, Materials Science, and Robotics and Intelligent Systems. At Princeton, she received the Isidore and Helen Sacks Award for excellence in Music Performance and was a dancer and choreographer for Naacho South Asian Dance Company and a member and soloist in the Princeton University Glee Club. She holds a Master of Music degree with honors from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Professional Certificate from the Boston University Opera Institute.