I haven't sent one of these out in a while, and I'm finally back at it! I’ve had a string of performances that reminded me exactly why I love doing this work: high-octane Baroque drama, big-orchestra glow, and the electric intimacy of historically-informed performance. This season brought many career highlights in works that have been on my bucket list for quite some time. I feel grateful to get to share these works with audiences across the country. If you are ever nearby one of my stops, please reach out to say hello or grab a beverage of choice with me!

Wishing you all much music, love, and laughter in the coming season.

💜 Maya

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This Week

I’m so excited to return to the American Bach Soloists for upcoming performances this week. I will be performing Pergolesi's Stabat Mater with Mezzo-soprano Sarah Coit, and Bach's Non sa che sia dolore (BWV 209). The program will be rounded out by the fiendishly difficult Locatelli
Violin Concerto in D, and Scarlatti's Salve Regina.

American Bach Soloists

HARMONIC LABYRINTH

Friday February 27 8:00 p.m. - Belvedere

Saturday February 28 7:00 p.m. - Berkeley

Sunday March 1 4:00 p.m. - San Francisco

Monday March 2 7:00 p.m. - Davis

I can't wait to sing this iconic Pergolesi work with my dear friend Sarah (we even bought matching gowns)! Singing Bach always feels like home and high-wire work at the same time; it's a mix of architecture and emotion that keeps revealing new corners every time I return to it. Tickets are still available!

2025-26 Season Recap

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra

FURY & HEARTBREAK

October 2025

This was one for the books. Dream soprano repertoire: three solo cantatas (Marcello, Handel, and Vivaldi), under the fiery direction of the incredible Václav Luks. PBO played with passion and verve, and I was happily along for the ride. For some audience bootleg audio footage of my favorite stormy scena, head over to my Instagram for a little taste!

In the press:

Kherani delivered these troubled solos with fiery dramatic expressivity and tender compassion.

Handel’s Armida abbandonata (1707), composed during the composer’s early stay in Rome, highlighted Handel’s mastery of dramatic vocal writing and showed Kherani at her finest. Her voice, most powerful in the upper register, was fully equal to the startling leaps and vocal pirouettes that Handel requires. Rapid-fire scales and arpeggios came out effortlessly and hit home. There were some audible gasps from the audience.

Nicholas Jones for SF Classical Voice

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

EXSULTATE, JUBILATE & MESSIAH

December 2025

I finally got to sing my very first Mozart Exsultate, jubilate with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under the stylish direction of Patrick Dupré Quigley in the rarely-performed Christmas iteration of the piece (different text and flutes!). It was a one-night-only performance, and I hope to revisit this piece in the future. Tenor James Reese and I rounded out the all-Baroque program with highlights from Handel's Messiah.

Thanks to Jimmy for capturing some rehearsal footage 🎶

Opera Lafayette

QUEEN OF HEARTS

February 2026

Valentine's Day with Opera Lafayette was some of the most fun I've ever had on stage! Tenor James Reese and I were back, this time with a baudy, irreverant, and swoony program expertly curated by the inimitable Nic McGegan (who also delighted the audience in his reading of smutty 17th c poetry). In a nod to historical performance practice, audiences were encouraged to drink, jeer, and be merry. I even got to try out my high musical theatre mix belt in the dirtiest song I've ever sung. Let's just say we had to cut the second verse for being a bit too explicit. Here's a little taste of the nightclub vibe at New York City's Georgia Room in a snippet of me singing Purcell's If music be the food of love🌹

In the press:

Soprano Maya Kherani opened the vocal part of the program with Henry Purcell’s “If Music be the food of Love.” She has a beautiful presence and voice with excellent diction even in melismatic passages. She also got the first laugh of the evening with Pelham Humfrey’s “Oh that I had a fine man” and throughout the evening in several numbers showed her skill with comedy. Vocally, her showstopper for the evening was Giovanni Paisiello’s “Nel cor più non mi sento,” which every student who has ever gone through a university or conservatory vocal music education has heard, but never like this. In the first place, I was beyond pleased to hear this with a Baroque ensemble instead of a piano. Beyond that, and most importantly, here Kherani gave a masterclass in performing this piece, and indeed every university and conservatory should play a recording of her performance to show both Baroque ornamentation and acting choices. She gave us not one but two returns, two sets of ornaments on display, and it was not too much. What can one say except: This is how it’s done.

In top soprano fashion, Kherani had changed into a gold dress that made her seem as if she had become light itself. And yet, her beauty did not overshadow her humor. Her rendition of Thomas D’Urfey’s “Oh Mother, Roger with his Kisses” in a character voice was genuinely hilarious...

Maggie Ramsey for Opera Today

Kherani made an alluring Opera Lafayette debut, her light soprano filling but not overpowering the room. Her delicately articulated runs ornamented several pieces, including Purcell’s “If Music Be the Food of Love,” and she flirted charmingly with the audience in Pelham Humfrey’s “Oh that I had a fine man.” She brought a wide-eyed innocence to “Somebody"...

In the evening’s most serious duet, the ravishing “Pur ti miro” from Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, their voices intertwined in an exquisite metaphor for the union of love.

Charles T. Downey for Washington Classical Review