HANDA AND BROADHEAD

 

Aruna Antonella Handa

jazz duo

Michael Broadhead

HANDA AND BROADHEAD

Handa and Broadhead are Aruna Antonella Handa (vocals) and Michael Broadhead (upright bass) . They bring their shared love for jazz to the stage, in novel voice and bass settings of Handa's songs and jazz standards. The pair met in Kingston, Ontario, in 2023 to collaborate on a production of Handa's Have You Seen My Sister? for Kingston City Hall. Handa’s song suite on gender-based violence debuted at Nuit Blanche Toronto in 2017. The duo appears on Aruna & the Sirens’ upcoming debut LP, Of Bones and Addicts, which drops in the fall of 2026. Both musicians will perform a sequel to that song cycle, Swimming in the Dark at its official debut in the UK in Durham in summer 2027. 

Handa holds a BA in music and philosophy at McGill University, and has studied composition and performance in workshops/master classes with Yehudi Menuhin, Sheila Jordan, Casey Sokal, Teatro Vivo, Tomson Highway, and Jane Siberry, among others. Her play, Of Bones and Addicts, was second runner-up for the Adam’s Prize (2026). A recording drawn from Have You Seen My Sister? earned a nomination for her band for Single of the Year (2024) at the Canadian Folk Music Awards.

Broadhead began studying upright bass with Doug Rooks at age 13, performing in orchestras, pit bands, and rock bands while still a teenager. He studied jazz at Toronto's Humber College under Neil Swainson and Mike Downes before returning to full-time playing in Toronto and Kingston, where in addition to playing with Handa and Broadhead, he plays jazz with Dave Barton and Chantal Thompson, and sits in with other bands including Princess Towers and Funeral Lakes. Michael is a former president of the Kingston Jazz Society and currently serves as board member, arranging monthly jazz jams there.

 

Upcoming Performances

  • Musiikki, Kingston, Ontario, Details TBA

  • Food Noise, Toronto, Culture of Cities Studio Date and details TBA

  • Durham, UK July-August 2027, Details TBA.

 

Info, Bookings, Media, Collaborations

Please contact hello@handaandbroadhead.ca