Born to a Palestinian father and Japanese mother, soprano Mariam Tamari performs around the globe to build bridges. Having performed for the Emperor and Empress and three Prime Ministers of Japan as well as their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania of Jordan, she has been selected to sing at epochal events such as the historical debut of the Palestine National Orchestra, and as guest of honour at the 25th Anniversary Gala of the Cairo Opera House, simulcast in several countries. Mariam has been the subject of an NHK World documentary film entitled “My Song, My Palestine”, broadcast in 140 countries by Japanese National TV, as well as the Al-Jazeera documentary “Diaspora Symphony” in 2017. The same year, she was selected among the World’s Most Influential Arab Women by Arabian Business. Performing with orchestras, operas and in recitals in Europe, the US, the Middle East, East Asia, South America, and Africa, 2020 sees her in the UK as Cio-Cio-San, singing the title role in Madame Butterfly with Opera Up Close, as well as in recitals in the US, Bahrain, Lebanon, Paris, and Tokyo.
An avid performer of the French repertoire, she has recently worked on collaborations and the CD “Paradis Artifi(ciel)s” with Philippe Solal Cohen of the Gotan Project, based on the poetry of Baudelaire. Mariam made her lead operatic debut as Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore at the Nissay Theater in Tokyo, where her skills as an actress were also acclaimed as Jeanne in Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au Bûcher. She has performed as soloist with orchestras in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South America, and the U.S., singing soprano solos in Orff’s Carmina Burana, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, Exsultate Jubilate, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Schubert’s Messe G-Dur, Bach’s Weihnachts-Oratorium, Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, among others. Musical theatre roles include Ivy Smith and Maria in Bernstein’s On the Town and West Side Story, as well as Angelina in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury.
Mariam graduated with honours from Bryn Mawr College, USA, where she studied philosophy and music. Her own song compositions on the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish have received much praise, and she writes a long-running monthly column titled “Mornings in Palestine” in the foremost Japanese literary journal, Subaru. She is based in Paris.