BIOGRAPHY

Daria Kharchenko is a Ukrainian mezzo-soprano whose musical journey began in the seaside city of Berdyansk, today under Russian occupation. Despite her young age, Daria has witnessed life in many colors — joy and loss, silence and song — and these are the colors she brings to the stage.

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As a child she secretly enrolled herself in the local music school, which surprised her parents that evening when they received a call to come sign papers and pay tuition. That bold step led to her first teacher, Svitlana Broslavska, and opened a door that never closed. She continued at the K. F. Dankevich Odesa College of Arts and Culture, learning stagecraft and spending long hours singing alto in the choir, which planted the idea that singing soprano might not be her true home. At the A. V. Nezhdanova Odesa National Academy of Music, studies were abruptly broken: the pandemic stalled training and when classes finally resumed, the full-scale war began. On the eve of the invasion she returned from a Kyiv masterclass with Ukrainian baritone Yuriy Samoilov. She went to sleep with a notebook plans and woke to pack an emergency suitcase and leave her empty apartment.

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In 2022, Daria relocated to Canada, where a new chapter, and a new voice, began. After a university concert on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, she overheard Ukrainian in the cafeteria: pianist Olena Bratishko. Olena welcomed her into the choir at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church and later introduced her to Professor Chad Louwerse. Through singing in the church choir, she not only regained her voice but also slowly found English language. Through working with Dr. Louwerse confirmed what she had long suspected — she is a mezzo-soprano.

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Soon Daria’s voice found recognition, earning her several awards and scholarships, including Third Prize at the Maritsa Brookes Concerto Competition, First Prize at NATS Ontario, and the Scholarship of the President of Ukraine. In 2025, she made her role debut as Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus) at the Berlin Opera Academy and covered Le Prince Charmant (Cendrillon). At Western University she performed Second Boy in (Die Zauberflöte) and Mercedes and Carmen (Carmen) in Opera Gala. In 2026, she will appear as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd.

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Her recital work explores themes of displacement, resilience, and belonging. Her most recent program, Wanderer, presented at von Kuster Hall, featured music by Duparc, Silvestrov, Wolf, and Dvořák — a reflection on the search for home and the passage of time. Her first Canadian recital, Colours of the Night, created in collaboration with pianist Clark Bryan, who at the time served as Executive Director of Aeolian Hall, explored the emotional landscape of human experience through contrasting songs of love and loss.

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Daria's current projects reflect both her craft and beliefs. She is now preparing Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death with orchestra. These songs not only look at themes of death, but also the fragility of human life and the truths it reveals. One line sung by Death resonates with her: “Life set you against each other — I reconciled you.” For her, music is how memory, pain, resilience, and hope can be carried into a shared space.