teaching

In addition to his performance career, Martin Bakari is a passionate voice teacher and teaching artist. A voice student of Dr. Robert C. White, Jr., Marlena Malas, and James Demler, Mr. Bakari has inherited a fount of vocal, musical, linguistic, and interpretive knowledge from these and the many other prominent artists with whom he has had the pleasure of working, including Nico Castel, Dawn Upshaw, Grace Bumbry, George Shirley, Phyllis Curtin, Stephanie Blythe, Simon Estes, Maria Spacagna, Diana Soviero, Denyce Graves, Thomas Grubb, Kathryn LaBouff, Margo Garrett, Brian Zeger, Ken Noda, Emmanuel Villaume, Christoph von Dohnányi, Tazewell Thompson, Mark Morris, and Wynton Marsalis. It is his great joy and privilege to pass along this knowledge to those who study with him.

Mr. Bakari is a member of the voice faculty at NYC’s Mannes School of Music at The New School College of Performing Arts. He has been invited to give masterclasses for classical voice and musical theater students at Boston University, Carnegie Mellon University, Harvard University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of Portland, Georgia State University, Western Washington University, and University of Dayton where he served on the voice faculty during the 2020-21 school year. Mr. Bakari has also joined the faculty of the Collaborative Piano Institute at Louisiana State University, where he has taught private lessons and given masterclasses on bel canto style, German Lieder, and the Great American Songbook for singers and pianists. In addition to their achievements in classical voice and musical theater, singers from his studio have won international awards and made important debuts in jazz.

As a competition adjudicator, Mr. Bakari has served on panels for Opera Guild for Atlanta, Opera Guild of Dayton, and the Boston and Ohio Chapters of NATS.

As a teaching artist, Mr. Bakari has brought opera to NYC public schools with the Metropolitan Opera, sung recitals and taught masterclasses in Iowa communities with the Simon Estes Foundation, led acting workshops for children with Yellow Springs Kids Playhouse, and led music workshops for young adults with special needs for NYC’s CO/LAB Theatre Group.

As a master's degree student at Juilliard, Mr. Bakari was a recipient of the Morse Teaching Artist Fellowship. He was also chosen by the school faculty and staff to participate in the Juilliard Leadership Program, which develops and refines skills in potential leaders in the arts. 

While earning a bachelor's degree from Boston University in music education, Mr. Bakari worked as a student teacher in various city schools, including the esteemed Boston Latin School, where he led and coached concert bands, choirs, and jazz ensembles while also teaching music theory and ear training. Additionally, Mr. Bakari spent three summers on the faculty of Friends Music Camp, where he was once a camper, teaching voice and music theory, conducting vocal ensembles, and directing musical theater productions.