LARA JOKHADAR
Soprano
Lebanese-Canadian soprano Lara Jokhadar impresses with her velvety lyrical voice and touching interpretation.
Lara has appeared in numerous operatic roles on stage, such as "Cecchina" in Piccini's La Cecchina or La Buona Figliola, at the Auditorium Ennio Morricone in Rome under the direction of Gabriele Bonolis, "Countess Almaviva" in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, "Fiordiligi" also in Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte, "Lola" in Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and "Abla" in Maroun Al-Rahi's Arabic opera "Antar & Abla" at the Royal Opera House in Muscat, Oman in May 2019, under the direction of Nayer Nagui with whom she performed Grieg's Peer Gynt Suites at the Bibliotheca Alexandria, Egypt in October 2021. In December 2021, her sacred repertoire is enriched by Palmeri's Misa Tango conducted by Yasmina Sabbah. She has sung under the direction of Austrian conductor Manfred Mussauer as well as Lubnan Baalbaki with the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra in Beirut, André Al Maalouly with the Orpheus Orchestra at the Damascus Opera in Syria where she became a recurring guest artist and in Pergolesi's Stabat Mater with Les Cordes Résonantes under the direction of Joe Daou. Still with Les Cordes Résonnantes, she performed at the Beiteddine Festival in July 2022.
She sang the role of "Fatima" in the premiere of Francesco e il Sultano by Father Khalil Rahme in November 2021 and toured with this work in Italy in May 2022. She also created in the opera "The Dream" by Wajdi Abou Diab, the role of Telephasa in May 2022, as well as in the album "Daawatou mawt ila aashaa" by the same composer, in a series of concerts in Belfort and Paris.
Lara is the co-composer, alongside Elie Chahoud, of the Arabic oratorio “From Supper to Resurrection” premiered in Beirut with the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra on April 8, 2022 and sang the role of Mary Magdalene, conducted by Garo Avessian. Her first album, “Fajr”, was released in June 2023 in France. It encompasses a bouquet of songs in various styles, each piece dedicated to a different period of her musical journey. In 2011, she sang the Hurrian hymn H6, the oldest known melody, found in Ugarit, as deciphered by archaeo-musicologist Richard Dumbrill, and in 2020 she reprised her variations in the “Hurrian Meditations” for soprano and strings by Welsh composer Alex. J Mills. She therefore enrolled as an archaeology student at the Lebanese University and worked on a second album dedicated solely to the reinvention and arrangement of archaic songs.
She regularly travels to Europe to perfect her career alongside prominent figures in numerous master classes; notably with Madame Montserrat Caballé in Spain, Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz in Italy and Simone Alaimo in Italy. In 2017, she reached the semi-final of the Vox Artis competition for opera singers in Sibiu, Romania. Lara graduated in chemistry from the Lebanese University, in classical singing from the Lebanese National Conservatory of Music in 2014 and in advanced opera studies from the Tor Vergata University of Rome in 2018.
Lara is a very fervent singing teacher and vocal coach in her own music school La Fabbrica in Lebanon and Canada. She coached students in the YES Academy Broadway program in August 2023 in Beirut and continues to participate in events for American Voices / YES Academy internationally.
