Ari Afsar (she/her) is a proud mixed race Bangladeshi-American who identifies as a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. A graduate of Ethnomusicology from UCLA, Afsar recently released her album distributed by Sony Masterworks. She is the composer of Broadway-bound Jeannette, as named by Playbill. Her musical work has been commissioned by and featured at the La Jolla Playhouse, Warren Miller Performing Arts Center, McCarter Theatre, University of Missoula, and Texas State University. Afsar has opened for Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris, Raphael Warnock, Gloria Steinhem, Jane Fonda, Misty Copeland, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Kwan, Ani DiFranco, and Bryan Stevenson. Her credits include starring in the top 10 Netflix original movie Wedding Season, co-composing a song with Pasek & Paul for Shawn Mendez in Sony’s Lyle Lyle Crocodile, originating Eliza in Chicago’s Hamilton, starring in the world premiere of Bhangin’ It at La Jolla Playhouse, winning Miss California 2010, placing top 10 at Miss America 2011, winning the Lyricist Award at The O’Neill NMTC 2018, and placing top 36 on “American Idol.” She is the co-founder of Until We Do It, which provided 1 million masks to communities disproportionately affected by Covid-19 in 2021.