Kofi Hayford is a young, prize-winning Ghanaian-American bass, described as possessing an ‘impressive’ (Brooklyn Discovery) ‘sonorous’, (Meet Me at the Opera) and ‘stentorian bass voice’ (National Herald) also produces a distinct sound – easily identified for its unique timbre. With almost 40 different operatic roles under his belt, he is swiftly building his reputation as an accomplished artist by bringing an ‘exciting’ and ‘stunning’ sound to the stage. Kofi has performed with The Metropolitan Opera Guild, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, New Amsterdam Opera, Connecticut Lyric Opera, NJ Verismo Opera, Berlin Opera Academy, Loft Opera, Central Florida Lyric Opera, Bel Cantanti Opera and Buffalo Opera Unlimited.

Kofi created the role of Pedro in the US premiere of THE ANDEAN HOPE, with The United Nations Symphony Orchestra. His major opera roles have included 5^th Jew and Capodoccian SALOME with the Bard College Conservatory of Music at the Fisher Centre, Mephistopheles FAUST, Timur TURANDOT and Bartolo in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO,  Ramphis and Il Re AIDA with Gateway Classical Music Society and Connecticut Lyric Opera, La Roche CAPRICCIO with Apotheosis Opera, Raimondo in LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR and Commendatore in DON GIOVANNI with Vocal Productions NYC, Sarastro THE MAGIC FLUTE with Buffalo Opera, Rodolfo LA SONNAMBULA with West Side Opera Society, Sparafucile and Monterone RIGOLETTO with New York Opera Theater and Amore Opera, Baldassare LA FAVORITA West Side Opera Society and Gaveston LA DAME BLANCHE with New Amsterdam Opera.

He recently toured Canada in a series of solo concerts and made his European debut through the Berlin Opera Academy in Kandersteg, Switzerland playing the role of Simone GIANNI SCHICCHI. Kofi made his Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall performing Verdi and Mozart arias and he also sang the inaugural performance of Panagiotis Karousos’ OLYMPIC OPERA at Lincoln Center, singing the role of the titan Prometheus – later receiving an award from UNESCO for this performance. Kofi is the 2018 1st Place Winner of the Tchaikovsky Music Competition (Albany, NY), a 2017 NJ State Opera Guild Competition Finalist and a Songfest Young Artist. He received his Bachelor’s in Vocal Performance from SUNY Buffalo and is a founder of the DictionBuddy mobile app.