Hannah Harrow
Soprano Hannah Harrow, a native of Rochester, NY, has been praised for her “brightness, enthusiasm and directness” (Graham Johnson), as well as her “vocal strength” and “radiant expression” (The Lake Placid News). She received her BM (’15) and MM (’18) in Vocal Performance from the Eastman School of Music in the studio of Robert Swensen, and is currently working on her DMA in the studio of Kathryn Cowdrick. Hannah grew up taking voice and piano lessons at the Eastman Community Music School, studying with Jane-Gunther McCoy and Alla Kuznetsov.
Hannah enjoys teaching her large and enthusiastic studio of voice students at the Eastman Community Music School. She has coached Musical Theater repertoire and scenes at the University of Rochester alongside Kim Kowalke, president of the Kurt Weill Foundation and a founder of the prestigious Lotte Lenya Vocal Competition. Her students have performed in University of Rochester’s elite acapella groups, sung lead roles in their high school musicals and local theater companies, attended summer festivals and placed in local competitions. Her students have been accepted at colleges such as Eastman School of Music, NYU, SUNY Fredonia, Berklee College of Music, and Ithaca.
Hannah loves to teach a wide variety of musical styles, drawing on her extensive classical vocal and pedagogy training. As an electric bassist and keyboardist, she possesses a wide variety of contemporary music experience and enjoys finding creative ways to incorporate all of her students’ musical interests into their vocal studies. She has a special interest in teaching the tenor and bass voice given her many years of study with renowned tenor and pedagogue Robert Swensen.
Some of Hannah’s notable performances credits include lead roles on the opera stage (, concert performances of sacred works, musical theater and jazz; recital work; and studio recordings with live orchestra. One of her favorite performance memories is singing Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni on the stage of the Estates Theater in Prague, Czechia. Hannah has coached with notable artists such as Renee Fleming, Mira Zakai, Gene Sheer, and Jake Heggie. She has a special love for art song and collaborative recital work. In 2017, she won second prize in the Jessie Kneisel Lieder Competition, adjudicated by renowned collaborative pianist and scholar Graham Johnson. She was a finalist in the Jessie Kneisel Lieder Competition in 2019 and in 2021.
Hannah’s passion for singing and teaching has also lead her to prisons — including the infamous Rikers Island Correctional Facility in New York City, where she designed and directed a week-long music workshop for juvenile male inmates.