Isabel Bayrakdarian: Ancestral Songs, Prayers, and Lullabies

Name: Isabel Bayrakdarian: Ancestral Songs, Prayers, and Lullabies
Start: 2025-11-22T20:00:00-05:00
Location: 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, Canada, Ontario M5S 1W2

Schedule

Sat, 22 Nov, 2025 at 08:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

273 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, Canada, Ontario M5S 1W2 | Toronto, ON

The Armenian Canadian soprano gives new life to beloved children’s songs, lullabies, and prayers that have been passed down generation after generation from her homeland, accompanied by live drawing by Kevork Mourad – a collaboration in which art and music harmonize with one another.
Isabel Bayrakdarian is renowned across opera houses and concert halls the world over for her strikingly multihued voice, presence, and style. She has been applauded for opera performances in Chicago, Dresden, London, Milan, New York, Paris, Salzburg, San Francisco, and Toronto, and is celebrated as well for her work in remoter operas of the repertory, such as Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini and Bolcom's A View from the Bridge, in which she made her Metropolitan Opera debut. She has sung on the Grammy Award-winning soundtrack of the blockbuster film The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers, and her voice can also be heard in the multiple award-winning Canadian film Ararat.
Kevork Mourad employs his technique of live drawing and animation in concert with musicians – collaborators include Yo-Yo Ma, Kim Kashkashian, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Brooklyn Rider, The Knights, Perspectives Ensemble, Paola Prestini, and Kinan Azmeh, and he has performed in many institutions, including The Aga Khan Museum (Toronto), The Art Institute of Chicago, The American Museum of Natural History, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Bronx Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, ElbPhilharmonie (Germany), Rhode Island School of Design, Nara Museum (Japan), Lincoln Center Atrium, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Walt Disney Concert Hall.