Hana Bushara: Bermuda’s Rising Star in Music

Hana Bushara is a Bermudian singer-songwriter soaking in island life while carrying the potent experiences of living and studying overseas. The 25-year-old has been enamoured by the art of songwriting since she was fifteen. Her mother is from Bermuda and her father is from Sudan. Growing up in a multicultural household was a breeding ground for curiosity about why and how people are moulded into being who they are. Beginning as a school project in her final year of study in Bermuda, students in her grade were asked to dedicate six months to a long-term endeavour exemplifying interest in a chosen area. For Hana, music felt like a hand to hold, often noting that she found difficulty expressing herself conversationally. She chose to dedicate her time to learning the basics of guitar and crafting a small collection of original songs, with the underlying intention of making herself more known to herself and others. This project would act as a genesis for the following years of her life of musical wonder. The songwriter believes music to be one of the most powerful tools for connection. 

After leaving Bermuda, she was awarded the United World College scholarship, where she was allowed to study at UWC Adriatic in Duino, Italy for two years. There, she was exposed to people from around the world, all with the common goal of using education as a force for change. This experience informed her passion and pull towards building understanding and having patience with those with opposing opinions and beliefs. Music acted as a way for her and others to communicate with one another. She was particularly touched by a school tradition where students would hike to the top of a hill and sing songs from different countries. They were songs about love, liberation, revolution, heartbreak. Experiencing music and its connection to the contexts of those she studied with, immersed her into the potency of music’s power.

After Duino, Hana travelled to the U.S. to pursue a Bachelor’s degree at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. Her indecisiveness was a driving factor in her decision to travel to the United States for university. Unsure of how she could make the most of a gap year, she decided to attend a liberal arts university where she would be able to take elective courses before deciding on a major. Admittedly, she had also been drawn to the university because it had also admitted one of her best friends from her schooling in Italy. Immediately, Hana was drawn to the arts, joining the university chamber choir and acapella group. A professor noticed Hana’s fascination with political theory and sociology after taking a course during her first semester. She suggested the possibility of pursuing a degree in “Global Studies” a melding of geography, sociology, economics and political science. It was the perfect academic home base for Hana, as it reflected the intersections between disciplines that Hana had already been observing in her daily life.

Music seemed to be the driving interest in her academic pursuits. Most of her papers were music-related. In sociology courses, she would speak about migration and its impact on the evolution of musical genres. In a “Global Jazz” course, she wrote about how the United States used jazz as a diplomatic tool for expansion. Her final thesis was a culmination of a year-long fascination with the streaming platform “Spotify”, where she wrote about how features of streaming music served as a prime example of how capitalism incentivises identity expression. Even still, her academic plunge into the world of music was met with practical application. Serving as a four-year member of the chamber choir (and as President in her final year), a member of the women’s acapella group, vocalist in the university funk band, and the solo vocalist for the gospel service in her final year at the university.

She notes her time at St. Lawrence as “a taste of the real”. Although there was a great degree of sheltering and hand-holding, there she was exposed to parts of others and herself she had not yet confronted. She experienced the beginnings and ends of romantic relationships, the loss of a friend during her final year, and the immensity of feelings which come with growing older and feeling largely unequipped to move forward. Her music truly is a sonic representation of the relationship she has had with herself and others over the years. Themes of unrequited love are often met with the desire to still understand the other side, themes which she maintains outside of the song. For Hana, music is important because it allows for space while also inviting closeness. Be it between the artist and the listener, the listener and their inner self, there is a metaphorical room which is built when a song comes on, and the decision is made to immerse yourself in it.

Hana’s desire to pull on the musical strings of her heart was actualised with a move to London in 2021, where she would also go on to pursue an MSc at the London School of Economics and Political Science in Strategic Communication. She was moved by learning about how factors like the emergence of burgeoning technologies, shifting political landscapes, and migratory shifts gave rise to evolving forms of communication. She was particularly moved by an introductory class, where communication was described as both a “bridge and a chasm”. This rang true for her as she’d observed and recalled instances of communication serving as a unifying tool, as well as one which separated and isolated. She started to question the extent to which her expression through music was bringing her closer to others, or pushing her further away. The answer to this question was not revealed in the form of a light bulb or a fallen apple. Rather, it manifested as a sense of isolation and deep sadness. After several attempts to remain in London, she returned to her home of Bermuda, where her future seemed more uncertain than ever.

A year since her departure from the UK, Hana has planted two feet on home soil, feeling more connected to her home country and music than ever before. The decision to leave the UK carried the feeling of lost dreams, failed potential, and wasted time. Instead, she has gained a great deal of perspective, now approaching life, love and music with newfound gratitude and curiosity; things she has always carried but had not channelled in ways which served her best. She knows that music will remain in her forever and hopes to continue to write and sing.

She has played shows in London, Copenhagen, New York, and Bermuda. She was awarded the 2023 “Best of Bermuda” award for “Vocalist” and performs live every week on the island. She has written songs for her undergraduate university, has performed on the Bermuda Music Festival Stage (2019, 2020, 2022), and most recently performed for an event hosted in London by The Telegraph and the Bermuda Tourism Authority earlier this year.

Hana loves singing/songwriting because she believes she believes it to reflect every aspect of life, crafted into a sonic experience. She feels very lucky to be able to contribute to the immense library of songs and is grateful for those who have listened and supported her over the years. She hopes to record her music and work towards creating albums as she experiences more life. She is deeply committed to strengthening and cultivating efforts to allow young Bermudians to pursue their artistic passions as she continues to do so herself.  She notes artists like Jordan Rakei, Leonard Cohen, Hiatus Kaiyote, and Lauren Hill as inspirations.