Biography

Dr. Afarin Mansouri
Composer | Curator | Opera Artist

Dr. Afarin Mansouri is an internationally acclaimed composer, curator, and opera artist celebrated for blending her Iranian heritage with Western musical traditions. Her work has garnered numerous accolades in Canada and beyond, including the Global Music Award Silver Medal, Canada 150 Medal, Kathleen McMorrow Music Award, and a nomination for the Louise Applebaum Composition Award. She has been featured in The Globe & Mail, BBC World, Opera Canada, and other prominent magazines.

Afarin has collaborated extensively with leading arts organizations across North America, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Ballet of Canada, Tapestry Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Loose Tea Music Theatre, Seattle Opera, and Toronto Summer Music Festival. As the Artistic Director of Cultureland Opera Collective, she has led many artists in innovative productions, including The Echoes of Bi-Sotoon (2024).

Her orchestral prelude, Mithra, the Goddess of Love and Justice, was commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for their centennial celebration and has since become a symbol of the global Women, Life, Freedom movement, amplifying the voices of women across the Middle East. Additionally, her cantata Humans Arise!, performed by the Prague Metropolitan Orchestra, was broadcast on CBC Radio and Radio Farda in support of Iranian women’s rights and featured by CBC’s Big City as one of the best shows of 2022.

Since 2016, Afarin’s compositional focus has been on creating culturally resonant operas and vocal works that bridge Eastern and Western traditions. As the founder of Cultureland Opera Collective, she seeks to foster cultural awareness and equity by presenting socially impactful operatic productions and educational initiatives centred on Middle Eastern communities.

In 2023, Afarin was commissioned by Opera Renaissance and Early Music Vancouver to compose for Queen of Carthage, reinterpreting the character of Dido through the lens of Rumi’s poetry. Her opera The Refugees presents a timely reflection on refugee rights and international humanitarianism, while her spiritual Farsi opera, Zuleykha, produced by Loose Tea Music Theatre, fuses Eastern mysticism with traditional operatic form. Her other notable works include AITCH ARR, a digital opera co-produced with Queen’s University, and Little Heart, an audio opera praised by Opera Canada as “a sweet adventure into cross-cultural storytelling.” Saffronic, part of the 2018 stage production The Journey: Notes of Hope, and Forbidden, a Tapestry Opera commission featured on BBC World, are among her most powerful works.

As the first Iranian woman to deliver lectures on opera in Farsi at the Canadian Opera Company, Afarin is dedicated to making opera accessible to diverse communities. In 2022, her song cycle Asheganeh-ha commissioned by Canadian Arts Song Project, was premiered at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts as part of Asian Heritage Month celebrations with the Canadian Opera Company.

Dr. Mansouri is also a passionate educator, having developed and taught courses at Wilfrid Laurier University, Queen’s University, and York University. Her PhD dissertation explores the intellectual impact of opera, and her published guide for educators provides practical steps for introducing opera to young or amateur performers. Her research covers topics like curation, the role of emotion in creativity, and the intersections of music and identity.

As a mezzo-soprano, Afarin has performed at the Watershed Festival, Toronto Culture Days, and Tirgan Festival, and her debut album Dancing With Love, a collection of 12 Eastern-inspired love songs, was released by Centrediscs in 2023.

Afarin advocates for social equity in the arts, has served on the Canadian Opera Company’s DEI committee, as a council member of the Canadian League of Composers, and as co-founder and past artistic director of the Iranian-Canadian Composers of Toronto (ICOT).

Currently, Afarin is completing a brass trio commissioned by UBC Library, teaching Curation to master’s students at Wilfrid Laurier University, and furthering her skills as an opera leader through a residency with Tapestry Opera Company.

Last Update: November 2024