Kenyan-Tanzanian American mezzo-soprano Imani Oluoch is a versatile artist, with eclectic origins. From Battle Creek, Michigan to Conakry, Guinea, and from Dallas, Texas to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Imani can call dozens of places home. She is a 2014 alumni of University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music Youth Summer Program, and a 2016 alumni of Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute. While at Tanglewood, Imani performed as a soloist of the Tanglewood Youth Chorus in André van der Merwe’s Ukutula, and performed scenes from Mozart’s Die Zauberflote. 

Imani holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she studied under Dr. LaToya Lain. While at UNC-Chapel Hill, she performed as The Knowledge of God in Hildegard von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum, Fortuna from Claudio Monteverdi’s L'incoronazione di Poppea, Grandmother and Father in Meredith Monk’s Atlas, and Mother in Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. She was also wardrobe and assistant costume designer for Ordo Virtutum and Hansel and Gretel. 

While at Bard Conservatory of Music, Imani has performed as a soloist in The Kurtag Festival and Broadway Revue. She also has performed scenes from Strauss II's, Der Zigeuenerbaron and von Weber's Euryanthe. In 2026, she will perform as Amelia's Friend in Menotti's Amelia Goes to The Ball and Pinenello in Puccini's Gianni Schicci at Bard.

Outside of music, Imani is also very passionate about digital art, tailoring, leatherwork, creative writing, costume design, and costume construction. This passion led her to join the stitching team in Bard Summerscape’s 2025 production of Smetana’s Dalibor and to become a principal dresser for Bard Music Festival’s chamber opera, Julietta, by Martinu. 

Currently, she is acting as head costume designer and draper for Be My Monster, a short by Starla Bollé about queer acceptance and fighting back against the monsters of everyday and beyond. She is also engaged in independent custom costume and leatherwork commissions work for the general public. Recently, Imani was a finalist of Opera Ebony’s 2025 Benjamin Matthews Vocal Competition in New York City. 

Imani is currently a second year student of the Graduate Vocal Arts Program at the Bard College Conservatory of Music where she studies under Michaela Martens.