Sankara Harouna

A Chicago native, the Ryan Opera Center baritone will appear at Lyric this season in Salome and Madama Butterfly. He debuted with the company in 2023/24, stepping in to sing Benny Paret and Benny Jr. in Champion and has also appeared as Marullo/Rigoletto. The summer of 2025 featured Harouna’s debut with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s This House as well as with the Grant Park Music Festival. He joined Portland Opera as a Resident Artist in the 2023/24 Season, where he was seen in Le nozze di Figaro and The Snowy Day. A former apprentice artist at Des Moines Metro Opera, he performed there as Moralès/Carmen and Homecoming Soldier/Redler’s The Falling and the Rising. Other previous engagements include Greensboro Opera, Atlanta Opera, Dayton Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Cincinnati Opera. In concert, Harouna performed Mozart’s Missa Brevis with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. The baritone has participated in the artist-development programs of Atlanta Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Dayton Opera. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Music in Vocal Performance at Kentucky State University.

Sankara Harouna is sponsored by Lead Sponsors Michael Steinberg and Salme Harju Steinberg and cosponsors Mary Ellen Hennessy and Virginia Tobiason.

^{Last updated: September 3, 2025}