Andrew Rethazi was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, and had a very musical and artistic childhood. His schooling was primarily through the Claude Watson School for the Arts program, where he was able to gain an appreciation for many different arts endeavours. He took private lessons in piano, violin, viola, trombone, and voice at various times in his youth, culminating in the achievement of his A.R.C.T. in piano performance at the age of 16. This was followed closely by high-level achievements in voice and viola.
As a child and youth, Andrew sang in a number of choirs, most notably the Toronto Children’s Chorus under the direction of Jean Ashworth Bartle. During his time with the TCC, he toured to the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as an extensive tour to Australia and New Zealand in 1999. Both of these tours were to participate in world choral festivals, which furthered his appreciation for arts of different cultures. As an adult, Andrew has sung with the Ontario Youth Choir, the Church of St. John’s in Elora, and at St. George’s Anglican Church in London.
Andrew received his Honours Bachelor of Music in voice performance with Honours from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2009, under the teaching of Kimberly Barber. His Master of Music followed in 2011 from the University of Western Ontario under the teaching of Todd Wieczorek. Continuing at the University of Western Ontario, he received his Doctor of Musical Arts in voice in 2018, with a monograph entitled “Teaching Prospective Verdi Baritones: A Repertoire-Based Approach.”
During his time at the University of Western Ontario, Andrew has been active in the local theatre community, both as a director and as a musical director. He has worked especially closely with Original Kids Theatre Company and MTP London, realizing musical and stage visions for over 40 titles.
Andrew has also appeared on a variety of stages in both operatic and musical theatre productions. He has appeared in London, Toronto, Waterloo, Edmonton, and in Lucca, Italy, where he portrayed the title role in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi for AEDO Milan. A full history of his roles can be found on the Production History page.
Andrew maintains a private voice studio out of his home in London, Ontario, Canada, and has been a full member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing since 2014.