If you have ever wondered what the beauty of Agustìn Barrios, the campiness of Broadway, and the insanity of Hector Berlioz combined together would sound like, you have not come to the right place. While perhaps all these elements inspire the music of composer, Kendra Harder, what emerges is a sound that is uniquely her own.

Kendra Harder is a queer composer, arranger and classical guitarist with a penchant for amateur feminist musicology. One of her biggest passions is creating story through song – particularly through opera. She has had operas developed through the inaugural Mécénat Musica Prix 3 Femmes (2018), and the Fresh Squeezed Opera Digital Vocal Lab (2022). Her comic opera Book of Faces (libretto by Michelle K. Telford) has seen multiple performances, including Highlands Opera Studio's 2019 performance featuring Kendra and a fellow M3F winner's operas in a concert titled "Women in Opera: Then & Now."

While perhaps Kendra’s head is usually in the operatic sand, she also loves popping it out regularly to compose for chamber music. Chamber music allows her to focus on purely musical composition (as opposed to also working with the text-setting and psychology of opera) and offers her the opportunity to get fresh perspectives on her own creative process. Her latest wind quintet, All the Different Parts (2021), began as an exploration in classical forms and her usual quirky meanderings, but was quickly derailed by a life event needing an avenue for expression. All the Different Parts was beautifully premiered by the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra's principal wind players, Mistral 5, in May 2021.

During 2020-2021 Kendra had the life-changing opportunity to work with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra on creating and teaching a pair of online courses about female composers called Musical Herstory. These courses looked at the history surrounding why and how women have been excluded from music making and music textbooks, and their bravery to still compose and perform despite society telling them not to. This research has sparked her interest in feminist musicology, and she will be exploring this passion further in 2023 thanks to SK Arts (see Feministory).

Photo by Joseph Taylor

Kendra holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Saskatchewan, where she studied guitar with Walter Hofmeister; she also holds a double diploma from Saskatoon Business College. Her music has been performed across Canada, in a few of the States, and has even ventured across the pond to Oostende, Belgium. She is incredibly thankful to have had projects funded by SK Arts and Canada Council for the Arts. Kendra serves on the board for the Strata Festival of New Music, and as of July 2022 is a council member on the Canadian League of Composers serving on the Advocacy and Equity committees.

On a cool, quiet September evening, Kendra spotted her across the library – a book titled “Brave not Perfect.” As a result of that chance encounter, Kendra has been working primarily as a freelance composer out of her home in Saskatoon, SK on Treaty 6 territory.

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Kendra Harder is a queer composer, arranger and classical guitarist with a penchant for amateur feminist musicology. Her passion for storytelling can be seen in her chamber music and operas. 
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Kendra holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Saskatchewan, where she studied guitar with Walter Hofmeister. Her music has been performed across Canada, and has even ventured across the pond to Oostende, Belgium; she is incredibly thankful to have had projects funded by SK Arts and Canada Council for the Arts. She is living and working from Saskatoon, SK on Treaty 6.