Haitham Haidar • Tenor
“an unmannered directness which goes straight to the heart”
—BBC Music Magazine
Haitham Haidar is a Lebanese-Palestinian Canadian tenor highly sought out for his “memorably warm tone… a gripping communicator and charismatic musician.” (Gramophone), and his “arresting warmth and lyricism” (Music Web International). He is a proud graduate of Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music, McGill’s Schulich School of Music, and the University of British Columbia and currently resides in Montreal, Quebec.
Haitham’s JUNO® nominated debut solo album Zaytoun is now available on all streaming platforms, praised as BBC Music’s Vocal Choice of the Month (October 2025) and as “exquisitely beautiful and inherently melancholic” by Gramophone. Zaytoun explores the beautiful intersectionality of Baroque and Arabic music, interlaced with poetry and musical improvisations. Haitham also appears on multiple Grammy® nominated albums, namely as a soloist on Conspirare’s House of Belonging.
Haitham has recently been seen as a soloist at the Morgenland Music Festival in Osnabrück, as the Evangelist in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Seattle Bach Festival, as Matthew in Considering Matthew Shepard at ACDA Northwestern, and with groups like Conspirare and Seraphic Fire. He has also been seen as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Newfoundland Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Arion Baroque Orchestra, and Spire Vocal Ensemble. Coming up, he will be performing as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion with the Choir of A&P in Montreal and later with the Cantata Collective under the baton of Nicholas McGegan, and as the Shepherd in Early Music Vancouver’s Orfeo.
Haitham is a proud of Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble, a group that unites music excellence and diversity while offering highly educational and practical experiences to students from middle school to graduate school. KVE launched the first inaugural Kaleidoscope Vocal Academy in 2025 and the group looks forward to this growing educational program.
Haitham’s approach to performance has always been humanity first. Being an Arab immigrant in North America comes with its unique set of oppressive challenges and it is because of that and what he sees around him in the field, that he aims to touch people’s hearts with music and compassion and make change in the world the best way he knows how.
Updated March 31, 2026. No edits can be made without permission from Haitham Haidar.
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Rosebrook Media
David Weuste
Executive Director
+1 682-233-4978×1
+44 1226 596703
david@rosebrook.media
Sean Dacy
Artist Services & Digital Development
+1 682-233-4978×2
sean@rosebrook.media
April 2026
Evangelist, St. John Passion, Ensemble Caprice and Choir of St Andrew and St Paul, Montreal
Artist in Residence, Reed College. Masterclass and recital, Portland, Oregon
Tenor soloist, Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival, Cleveland, Ohio
May 2026
Tenor soloist, Seattle Bach Festival, Seattle
June 2026
Evangelist, St. John Passion, Cantata Collective with Nic McGegan, San Francisco
July 2026
Shepherd, Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Early Music Vancouver, Vancouver
August 2026
Tenor soloist, Early Music Vancouver, Vancouver
September 2026
Soloist, Conspirare, Austin
October 2026
Residency UCLA, Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble, Los Angeles
Soloist, TENET Vocal Artists, New York
November 2026
Soloist, Seraphic Fire, Miami
Soloist, SMAM, Montreal
December 2026
Soloist, Conspirare, Austin
Soloist, SMAM, Montreal
Soloist, Messiah, Spire Vocal Ensemble, Kansas City
January 2027
Evangelist and arias, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Seattle Bach Festival
Zaytoun, Jan 20, Montreal
February 2027
Soloist/co-curator, Folger Consort, Washington DC
March 2027
Zaytoun, Early Music Seattle, Seattle
Evangelist, St. Matthew Passion, Seattle Bach Festival, Seattle
- 2026 JUNO Awards Nominee: Classical Album of the Year (Solo Artist)
- BBC Music Magazine 2025 Vocal Choice
Tenor Haitham Haidar’s debut solo album Zaytoun (meaning ‘Olive’ in Arabic) is a captivating collection of beautiful Baroque and Arabic songs, interlaced with poetry and musical improvisations, an exploration of the intersection between Baroque and Arabic music. Whether it be through instrumentation, ornamentation, or vocal production, Zaytoun highlights the natural connections between what we generally view as separate worlds.
Haidar pairs Baroque arias and songs by Monteverdi, Purcell and Bach, with the traditional Arabic songs which were his first introduction to music. He has added arabic instrumentation to some of these Baroque standards, and even translated a Bach aria into Arabic, incorporating Arabic style into the Baroque structure. Alongside the music, are three poetry tracks (from Gibran Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet) read over beautifully performed oud improvisation by Abdul-Wahab Kayyali.
These tracks (prelude, intermezzo, and postlude) help present the music to follow and shape Haidar’s narrative of his own immigrant story in the unique intertwining of Arabic and Baroque music.
“As an Arab immigrant, life continues to be a journey of exploration of home, of belonging and this musical project encompasses all parts of my identity, allowing them to live and shine within one sphere rather than compartmentalized sections of myself.”
Haitham Haidar is a Lebanese-Palestinian Canadian tenor highly sought out for his musicality, “standout presence”, and sensitive storytelling. He is a proud graduate of Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music, McGill’s Schulich School of Music, and the University of British Columbia and currently resides in Montreal, Quebec. Haitham is praised for his ‘musical and linguistic versatility’ and his ‘bright’ and ‘innately lyrical voice’ and enjoys performing oratorio, opera, and chamber music across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Reviews
“ The traditions of Western and Arabic music have profitably encountered each other at several points in history…none has explored the mixture in as much depth as Haitham Haidar. its ambition and passion are to be welcomed. It is an album unlike any other…”
—James Manheim, AllMusic
“Haitham Haidar’s Zaytoun is one of the most striking solo debuts I’ve experienced for some time.” —Dominic Hartley, MusicWeb International
“Haitham Haidar is a Lebanese-Palestinian-Canadian tenor with a memorably warm tone…a gripping communicator and charismatic musician. This touching and sensitive debut album presents a beautifully conceived programme. The resulting sound world is beautiful. This performance will stay with me for a long time…” —Edward Breen, Gramophone
“Listening to these 14 tracks, I feel he’s onto something important. His voice has an unmannered directness which goes straight to the heart, whether it’s in Monteverdi’s ‘Nigra sum’ or in the sweet simplicity of a paean to Jesus commonly sung in Arab churches on Good Friday. And with four top-flight instrumentalists led by Abdul-Wahab Kayyali, two very different musical worlds become a serene, seamless single one. – (5 Stars and Vocal Choice for October 2025) ” —Michael Church, BBC Music Magazine
“ [Zaytoun] will certainly subvert some listeners’ expectations.… its standing within the timeless global tradition of the “artist in search of self” brings forth universal themes that any listener can latch on to.” —Ashley Mulcahy, Early Music America