TMA149 Members

Bahar Ossareh is an Iranian-Canadian classical guitarist committed to bringing the beauty of guitar music to the attention of her audiences. She is admired for her warm sound, soulful performances, accomplished stage presence, and especially for her innovative programs. Canadian guitarist and composer William Beauvais praised her as: “A player of tremendous expressive range, who enchants listeners.” Ossareh often performs pieces from around the world including, for example, Canada, the US, Australia, Turkey, Spain, Greece, as well as Latin America. Particularly, she is rapidly emerging as an ambassador of Persian guitar music.

In 2016 Bahar moved to Canada and, to date, has performed as both a soloist and chamber musician with established organizations and orchestras. Among these are: the Guitar Society of Toronto, Classical Guitar Society of Calgary, Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra, Austin Classical Guitar, Mohawk College, Redeemer University, Brock University, and ICOT. As a performer and lecturer, Ossareh has performed and adjudicated in many international festivals such as the Miami International GuitART Festival, UofT New Music Festival, the Hamilton Guitar Festival, and Kiwanis Festival.

Little Heart is one of her recent recording projects, where Bahar has arranged and performed the guitar parts. It is a children’s opera (originally for piano and soprano) based on a Persian story, and the CD was released in 2020 by the Canadian Music Centre/Centrediscs. The project was funded by the Toronto Council for the Arts.

Ossareh is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts Candidate at the University of Toronto where she studies with Jeffrey McFadden and Jorge Caballero. She has received several awards and scholarships such as the Eaton Graduate Fellowship and Eli Kassner Graduate Fellowship. Bahar received her Master of Music Degree in Classical Guitar Performance from the University of Art, Tehran. She is an active artist and instructor of the tonebase team which is the world’s largest community of classical guitarists.