RAEEKA SHEHABI-YAGHMAI an Iranian-born mezzo-soprano began university studies in the United States in 1993 as an architecture student.  Eventually, however, the continuing allure of music, poetry and the performing arts drew her to formal vocal music studies and, later, to California State University, Northridge (CSUN) where she was awarded a Bachelor of Music degree, magna cum laude.  In 2002 Ms. Shehabi-Yaghmai received a Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she continued to pursue her Post Graduate Artist Diploma both under the guidance of Jane Randolph.  Other academic distinctions include several voice scholarships, National Dean’s List and Beulah Allen and John Vaznaian voice scholarships.  She was a finalist in the San Francisco Opera Center’s Merola auditions and was consequently engaged to perform with the San Francisco Opera Center.  In 1999 she was distinguished as Outstanding Iranian Student and Outstanding Bachelor’s Degree Graduate at CSUN.  Operatic credits have included the title role and Ottavia in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea.  She has also taken the stage in Semele (Ino), Scarlatti’s Il trionfo dell’onore (Rosina), Amahl and the Night Visitors (the Mother), Trouble in Tahiti (Dinah), Albert Herring (Nancy), Hansel and Gretel (Hansel and Sandman), Le Nozze di Figaro (Cherubino), Cosi fan tutte (Dorabella) and the title roles in Carmen and Gilbert & Sullivan’s Iolanthe.  Oratorio credits include Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Haydn’s Mass for Prince Nicholai and Bach’s Magnificat.  As winner of the 1999 CSUN concerto competition, Ms. Shehabi-Yaghmai was selected to perform Mahler’s Songs of the Wayfarer.