Soprano Haleh Abghari was found dead on August 7, 2024 as a victim of a stabbing in Stetson Hills.

She was 54-years-old.

The stabbing was reported by the Colorado Springs Police Department and officers originally responded just after 7 a.m. on Aug. 7 to an unknown call for service in the 6400 block of Caddy Point, northeast of Tutt Boulevard and North Carefree Circle. When officers and medical personnel arrived, Abghari was already dead from at least one stab wound.

The CSPD said no suspect had been arrested in connection to the case.

Abghari was an instructor at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs and the university sent out a message to students and staff on Monday, August 12. According to UCCS, “Abghari was part of the music program at UCCS for nearly 10 years, teaching voice, music ensembles, ethnomusicology, and collaborations with theater.” The university added that he was instrumental in providing support to Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) students following the death of music student Sam Knopp in an on-campus shooting in February.

Abghari was a native of Iran and performed as a singer, actor, and voice-over artist in the U.S., Canada and Europe. She joined the UCCS faculty in the fall of 2015.

Her performance career included work with the New York New Music Ensemble, James Madison University in Virginia, San Francisco MoMA, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

She was awarded a Fulbright Scholar Grant to work on the vocal music of György Kurtág in Budapest and also won the David S. Saxon Award for Excellence in the Performance of Early Music, The Zaidee T. Thomas Award in Vocal Performance, Presidential undergraduate Fellowship (UC Davis) and a Peabody Conservatory Career Development Grant.