Ari Afsar (she/her) is a Bangladeshi-American singer, songwriter, and storyteller. Most known for originating Eliza in Hamilton Chicago, her Hamildrop feature "First Burn" has accumulated over 74 million streams. She starred in Netflix's original top 10 movie Wedding Season and led the company of Bhangra Nation (formerly known as Bhangin' It) in its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse. As Miss California 2010, a Miss America top 10 finalist, an American Idol top 36 finalist, and a soon-to-be graduate of the NYU Wagner MPA program, Afsar is an ever-evolving artist with the mission statement that art changes culture, and culture changes policy.
ARI
AFSAR
ABOUT ME
MUSICAL JOURNEY
Her concept album, We Won't Sleep, was released by Sony Masterworks in 2020. Alongside Pasek & Paul, Afsar composed for the Sony movie Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, where her song "Carried Away"—with over 5 million streams—was sung by Shawn Mendes. The TYA production made its world premiere at Pasadena Playhouse in February 2025.
Her work has been featured at the La Jolla Playhouse (WOW Festival’s Allegory), McCarter Theatre (commissioning I & You: The Musical, book by Lauren Gunderson), Berkeley Rep (Groundfloor developing of That Girl, book by Rehana Lew Mirza), and NMTC at the O’Neill. There, she won the 2019 Georgia Bogardus Holof Lyricist Award for Jeannette (book by Lauren Gunderson & Jordan Ealey).
CREATING CHANGE
Afsar has opened for Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris, Gloria Steinem, and Hillary Clinton, and recently made her sold-out Joe’s Pub Solo Show (directed by Dria Brown) debut, featuring music across her discography blending her two passions of Art & Policy. In 2024, she served as an Artivism Fellow for the Tony Award-winning Broadway Advocacy Coalition, co-creating a song cycle centering Abolition. She is currently a Dramatist Guild Foundation fellow while finishing her MPA at NYU.