Opera 2023 Participants and Faculty

Lesley (she/her) is excited to be spending time in the mountains again this summer! Working primarily in opera, she has been on the stage management team at the Canadian Opera Company for over 25 years, and has been the stage manager for opera productions at the Glenn Gould School for the past 10 years.  Favourite credits include: Don Pasquale, Fidelio, Tosca, Pomegranate, Die Walkure, Salome, Traviata (COC); Flight, Rinaldo, The Magic Flute, Die Fledermaus, Svadba, Cendrillon (CGS).

Some of her other favourite credits include: Figaro’s Wedding, Kopernikus, A Little Too Cozy (Against the Grain Theatre); Orphée (AGT/Opera Columbus/Banff Centre); Gould’s Wall, Shanawdithit (Tapestry Opera); The Queen In Me (Amplified Opera/Nightwood Theatre).

She has also enjoyed stage managing for the Canadian Children’s Opera Company, Soundstreams, Tafelmusik, the University of Toronto Opera School, and the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Soprano Christina Bell hails from Goderich, Ontario.  Christina is frequently featured in Concert, Opera, and Oratorio across North America.  Recent performances include Paquette in Candide with North York Concert Orchestra in June 2023 as well as a recital tour across Southwestern Ontario in August of 2023.  A graduate from University of Toronto with a Diploma in Operatic Performance Christina sang the roles of Mrs. Baggett in Footsteps in Campbell House, Lady with a Cake Box in Dominick Argentos’ Postcard from Morocco, Lady Billows in Brittens’ Albert Herring, Donatella in Encouters, as well as being a part of Last Days. a new production with Tim Albery and David Fallis.  Over the recent years Christina has attended the Mainstage/Ensemble Programs at Opera on the Avalon (2015, 2014), The Centre for Opera Studies in Italy (2013, 2015), Halifax Summer Opera Festival (2014), St.Andrews Summer Opera Workshop (2016).  Other recent operatic performances include Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito, Liliana in Miracle Flight 571 with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Portia in Le marchand de Venise, Cousin Hebe from Gilbert & Sullivans’ HMS Pinafore, Mrs.Grose in The Turn of the Screw, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Helena in Brittens’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  
 
In 2015 Christina had the privilege of representing Canada with the Toronto Korean-Canadian Choir as a soloist for Vivaldis’ Gloria and sang Arirang as the soprano soloist during the performance of the Korean Folk Songs with Symphonia Toronto.  Christina has been a member of the Canadian Opera Company Chorus since 2015 and when she is not on a stage, she can be found exploring her passion for arts administration and management.

Elizabeth Bowman was appointed as Editor-In-Chief of Opera Canada magazine in May 2022. Before moving to the editorial side, she founded and ran Bowman Media, a boutique communications firm with a special focus on the arts for over a decade with clients that included the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, conductor James Gaffigan, soprano Joyce El-Khoury, mezzo soprano Wallis Giunta, and more. The firm focused on public relations, design, branding, marketing, and social media strategy. She was the Executive Assistant to the General Director (Alexander Neef) and Board Administrator of the Canadian Opera Company from 2008-2010. She holds a post-graduate diploma in Arts Administration and Cultural Management and a Bachelor of Music.

Dorian Cox is a cultural leader and arts presenter based in Toronto with a focus on relationship building, civic engagement, and equity-seeking practices. He was recently named as Director of the Ensemble Studio at the Canadian Opera Company after serving as manager for the Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, where he programmed and presented 275 performances (including 17 world premieres) and produced 22 digital performances. Dorian has previously held positions at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Royal Conservatory of Music, Interlochen Centre for the Arts, Boston Conservatory (MMus), and University of Toronto (BMus Hon).

As a musician, he has performed in nearly every major concert hall in Canada, as well as across the United States and in Europe. Dorian has been awarded grants and scholarships from the Williamson Foundation for Music, Avedis Zildjian Company, Boston Conservatory, and University of Toronto. He was invited to serve as a preliminary juror for the 20th edition of the Concours musical international de Montreal and as guest faculty for Opera in the 21st Century at the Banff Centre.

Anna is thrilled to be working on this project. She lives in amiskwacîwâskahikan, known as Edmonton, AB. Her recent Edmonton Opera credits include: Stage Manager for Stabat Mater, Tosca and Cosi Fan Tutte. Her recent ASM credits include: Orphée+, La Boheme, Candide (cancelled), Rigoletto, The Misadventures of Count Ory, Hansel & Gretel, Electra, La Cenerentola, and Turandot at Edmonton Opera and The Fiancée at the Citadel Theatre.  She has worked as a stage manager and ASM in Edmonton since graduating from the Theatre Production Program at MacEwan in 2007. Anna also works as an IATSE Local 210 theatre technician

Danielle lived in Berlin, Germany for three years working on immersive, experimental, and site-specific theatre at the Schaubühne, Deutsches Theatre, and Ballhaus Ost. Upon returning to Montreal, she worked at Le Grand Costumier, deepening her knowledge of period costumes and focused on assisting costume designers long-distance in Toronto and Vancouver. Danielle has been working within the film industry for the last three years as a Costumer, Background Costume Coordinator, and Assistant Designer for films such as “U.S. vs Billie Holiday,” “Pet Sematary 1969,” and “Gwen Shamblin: Starving for Salvation.” Danielle also works as Fibre Artist and seamstress and mounted a costume and photography exhibition in both Montreal and Toronto titled “Unravelling,” depicting mental health struggles represented in various wearable art pieces.

Danielle recently finished her contract as assistant costume designer at the Stratford Festival for “Richard II.” Danielle has a BFA in Art History and Film Studies from Concordia University. Danielle has been looking forward to working in Opera and Dance and is thrilled to be part of this production.

American tenor and voice teacher Jason Ferrante has been praised by Opera News for "singing up a stylish storm" and by the Sarasota Herald Tribune as "one of the best voices I have heard"  In the past two seasons, he has been heard as Beadle Bamford in a new production of Sweeney Todd with Opera Omaha, Don Basilio and Don Curzio in Le Nozze di Figaro in his debut with Virginia Opera and Knoxville Opera, the Fourth Jew in Salome in his debut with Tulsa Opera and a debut with the Palm Beach Symphony as tenor soloist in Mozart's Requiem conducted by Gerard Schwarz. He has performed over 80 roles on the operatic stage and has appeared as a soloist with major orchestras including the Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Juilliard and National Symphony Orchestras. In addition to his two-decade stage career, Ferrante has become one of the most in-demand voice teachers in the opera world, teaching professionals who appear on the stages of the world and teaching singers in training programs at the opera companies of Minnesota, Pensacola, Nashville, Portland, Wolf Trap, Arizona and Brevard. He is a regular judge for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and leads the classical voice discipline for YoungArts.   

Sandra Horst is a conductor and educator based in Toronto. In addition to making her conducting debut with the Canadian Opera Company in Il viaggio a Reims, she is also the Price Family Chorus Master, with repertoire spanning more than 70 operas.

As Director of Musical Studies for Opera at the University of Toronto she has conducted repertoire on the main stage ranging from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, to Gershwin’s Of Thee I Sing. Last fall, with the first live audience in three years, she conducted a triple bill of Hin und Zurück (Hindemith), Monsieur Choufleuri (Offenbach) and Gallantry (Moore) and in spring, Arthur Benjamin’s A Tale of Two Cities. 

Sandra was a guest faculty member of Open Space: Opera in the 21st Century at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity and she is also a frequent Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition judge. Ms Horst served as Chorus Master and audition consultant for Opera Theatre of St Louis, Chorus Master for Edmonton Opera, and has been on the music staff of the Canadian Opera Company, Juilliard Opera Centre, Chautauqua Institute School of Singing, Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Ontario. She currently serves as an industry mentor for Tapestry Opera’s Women in Musical Leadership program. 
Recognized as one of the 100 Alumni of Achievement, in 2019 she received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Wilfrid Laurier University and holds a Masters degree in Accompaniment from New England Conservatory, Boston. An active collaborator, she has been heard in recital with Brandon Cedel, Michael Schade and Marie Berard, Erin Wall, Myles Mykkanen and Elena Tsaligova. Recent conducting performances include Orphée+ with Edmonton Opera and Florence, the Lady with the Lamp with Voicebox: Opera in Concert. 

Joel is known for pushing the boundaries of opera, and has been called “Canadian opera’s enfant not-so-terrible.” In 2010, he founded Against the Grain Theatre in Toronto and served as its Artistic Director until 2023. Joel has adapted and translated over ten operas presented in unexpected venues, and was named an Arts Hero by The Globe and Mail in 2020 for his work directing the critically-acclaimed digital Messiah/Complex. He has also directed over 50 productions for opera companies across North America and Europe including The Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera, and Minnesota Opera.  He is currently Artistic Director for Edmonton Opera.

Two time Juno nominated artist, Miriam Khalil has established herself as one of Canada’s most versatile and expressive performers. She has become increasingly known for her non traditional performances of opera, art song and concert repertoire. 

She has appeared on numerous opera stages across North America and Europe, including a stint at the renowned Glyndebourne Festival Opera (GFO) in the United Kingdom. An alumna of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, she won first place in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Great Lakes Region) and subsequently appeared in the 2007 documentary The Audition. Her performance credits include Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera, Minnesota Opera, Opera Tampa, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Opera Hamilton, Against the Grain Theatre (AtG), Edmonton Opera,, Calgary Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, Opera Lyra Ottawa, and prominent orchestras across Canada and the US, in roles such as Mimì (La bohème), Léila (Les Pêcheurs de Perles), Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande), Governess (The Turn of the Screw), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare), Almirena (Rinaldo), and the title role in Alcina. 

She is a proud founding member and Artistic Advisor of the Dora Mavor Moore Award-winning chamber opera company Against the Grain Theatre (AtG). With vision and dedication, AtG explores different and innovative ways of presenting opera to new and familiar audiences. Miriam is delighted to help shape “one of the most important opera companies in Canada” (Calgary Herald). She also recently joined the Voice Faculty at the University  of Alberta and is very excited to be working with the next generation of singing artists and creators.

Mary Kouyoumdjian (Composer) is a composer with projects ranging from concert works to multimedia collaborations and film scores. As a first generation Armenian-American and having come from a family directly affected by the Lebanese Civil War and Armenian Genocide, she uses a sonic palette that draws on her heritage, interest in music as documentary, and background in experimental composition to progressively blend the old with the new. Kouyoumdjian has received commissions for such organizations as the New York Philharmonic, Kronos Quartet, Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Alarm Will Sound, International Contemporary Ensemble [ICE], Brooklyn Youth Chorus, the American Composers Forum/JFund, Roomful of Teeth, WQXR, REDSHIFT, Experiments in Opera, the Nouveau Classical Project, Music of Remembrance, Friction Quartet, Ensemble Oktoplus, and the Los Angeles New Music Ensemble. Her music has been described as “eloquently scripted" and "emotionally wracking” by The New York Times and as "the most harrowing moments on stage at any New York performance" by New York Music Daily. Kouyoumdjian has taught at the New York Philharmonic's Very Young Composers program, Juilliard's Music Advancement Program, Columbia University, and is currently on faculty at The New School's Mannes Prep program. Kouyoumdjian is proud to be published by Schott's PSNY.

Holly is an operatic vocal coach, collaborative pianist and répétiteur based in Montreal, QC. A graduate of Opera de Montreal’s Atelier Lyrique Young Artist Training Program (2018-2021), she currently works as Artistic and Administrative associate for the program. Most recently, Holly worked as principal repetiteur on Don Giovanni (NAC, Ottawa/Banff Arts Centre), Cosi Fan Tutte (Opéra Kelowna) and Le Nozze di Figaro (Opéra de Montréal).

This year, Holly was also seen on projects such as Bluebeard’s Castle (Against the Grain Theatre), Madama Butterfly (Opera de Montreal), as well as a new music workshops of Cusson/Vavrek’s Indians on Vacation, as well Ricketts/Vavrek’s Cremation of Sam McGee. 

Other production credits include Riders to the Sea/Le Flambeau de la nuit by Vaughn Williams/Tanguay-Labrosse (Opera de Montreal), Bizet’s Les pecheurs de perles (Jeunesse Musicales du Canada) , Cosi Fan Tutte (Edmonton Opera) and Die Zauberflote (Opera de Montreal), and Prestini/Vavrek’s Silent Light (Banff Centre). 

Hailed by the New York Times for his “robust singing” and Opera News for his “exquisite vocal beauty,” Grammy Award winning Canadian baritone Elliot Madore has established himself as an international artist in demand at the leading opera houses and orchestras of the world. The 2022 – 2023 season sees Mr. Madore’s return to the Los Angeles Philharmonic to sing Ramón in a semi-staged production of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West, as well as his much anticipated debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra to sing Messiah under the direction of music director Gustavo Gimeno. Mr. Madore also sings the baritone soloist in Carmina Burana in a special co-presentation by the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Hong Kong Ballet, as well as with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vänskä, the New World Symphony Orchestra conducted by Patrick Dupré Quigley, and the Oregon Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leo Hussain. Mr. Madore also makes his debut with the Kalamazoo Symphony in Brahms’ Requiem. This season Mr. Madore also continues his position as a performing Associate Professor of Voice with the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music faculty.

Highlights of previous seasons at the Metropolitan Opera include performances of Mercutio in a new production of Roméo et Juliette which was broadcast live in HD and as Figaro in The Barber of Seville. Mr. Madore made his European operatic debut at the Glyndebourne Festival singing Ramiro in L’heure espagnole and Le chat and L’horloge comtoise in a new production of L’enfant et les sortilèges, and returned to the company later to sing the title role in Don Giovanni. He has also been seen in a return to Dutch National Opera for the European debut of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West as Ramón and as the title role in Don Giovanni with Opera Philadelphia, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and with the Tanglewood Festival, and as Harlekin in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Bayerische Staatsoper, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and with the Tanglewood Festival. 
 

Recipient of the 2020 Musical America Award for Artist of the Year/Agent of Change and a Kennedy Center 50NEXT Honoree (2022), Beth Morrison is an opera-theatre producer and the President and Creative Producer of Beth Morrison Projects.  Morrison is noted as a “contemporary opera mastermind” (LA Times) and “a powerhouse leading the industry to new heights” (WQXR).  Beth created Beth Morrison Projects (BMP) in 2006 to identify and support the work of emerging and established living composers, and to change the opera industry by cultivating a new generation of talent and telling the stories of our time.  BMP has commissioned, developed, produced and toured over 60 works in 19 countries around the world, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning chamber operas Angel’s Bone (Du Yun/ Royce Vavrek) and p r i s m (Ellen Reid/Roxie Perkins).  Opera News has noted, “More than any other figure in the opera industry, Beth Morrison has helped propel the art form into the twenty-first century." In 2013, Beth co-founded the PROTOTYPE Festival, which has become “essential to the evolution of American opera” (New Yorker).  Morrison is also in demand as a speaker both nationally and internationally and has delivered key note speeches for Classical:Next, Opera America, Opera Europa, Mannes School of Music/ The New School, among others. Morrison holds a Bachelor of Music from Boston University, a Master of Music from Arizona State University, and an MFA from Yale School of Drama.

Mexican-American bass-baritone, Richard Ollarsaba, praised by The Washington Post for his “meltingly smooth bass-baritone” and for “evoking a young Ruggero Raimondi in looks and manner”, represented the USA in the 2019 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, was a member of the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago and a grand finalist in the 2013 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Previous credits include the title role in Don Giovanni with Opera Hong Kong, Opera Grand Rapids, Opera Carolina, and Lyric Opera of Chicago stepping-in to the role on hours’ notice, Escamillo in Carmen with the Glimmerglass Festival, Portland Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Kentucky Opera, Minnesota Opera, North Carolina Opera, and Tulsa Opera, in Le nozze di Figaro in the role of Figaro with New Zealand Opera and Minnesota Opera and in the role of Count Almaviva with Virginia Opera and Knoxville Opera.

In addition to performances on the operatic stage, Mr. Ollarsaba appears regularly in concert and recital. Fall ’22 he premiered the self-curated recital “Neighbors Abroad, Family At Home” highlighting composers from Mexico and the USA. Concert credits include Bernstein’s Songfest with the Ravinia Festival, bass soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with the Master Chorale of South Florida and the Salisbury Symphony, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Macon Symphony Orchestra and Master Chorale of South Florida, and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy in his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood. That concert was a gala celebration of the venerable festival’s 75th birthday and was telecast nationally on PBS.

Alan Pierson has been praised as "a dynamic conductor and musical visionary" by the New York Times, "a young conductor of monstrous skill" by Newsday, "gifted and electrifying" by the Boston Globe, and "one of the most exciting figures in new music today" by Fanfare. He is the Artistic Director and conductor of the acclaimed ensemble Alarm Will Sound, which has been called "the future of classical music" by the New York Times and "a sensational force" with "powerful ideas about how to renovate the concert experience" by the New Yorker.  Mr. Pierson served as the Artistic Director and conductor of the Brooklyn Philharmonic. The New York Times called Pierson’s leadership at the Philharmonic "truly inspiring," and The New Yorker's Alex Ross described it as “remarkably innovative, perhaps even revolutionary.” 

As a guest conductor, Pierson has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, L.A. Opera, Nationaltheater Mannheim, the London Sinfonietta, the Steve Reich Ensemble, the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the New World Symphony, and the Silk Road Project, among other ensembles. He is co-director of the Northwestern University Contemporary Music Ensemble, and has been a visiting faculty conductor at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, the Eastman School of Music, and at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity. 

Pierson regularly collaborates with major composers and performers, including Yo Yo Ma, Steve Reich, Dawn Upshaw, Osvaldo Golijov, John Adams, David T. Little, Augusta Read Thomas, David Lang, Donnacha Dennehy, La Monte Young, Tyshawn Sorey, and choreographers John Heginbotham, Christopher Wheeldon, Akram Khan and Elliot Feld. He has spearheaded critically acclaimed cross-genre collaborations with artists like Yasiin Bey, Erykah Badu, and Medeski Martin and Wood. He also develops unique concert and online experiences that fuse music, theater, and multimedia to tell stories that connect listeners more deeply to great music.

Mr. Pierson received bachelor degrees in physics and music from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a doctorate in conducting from the Eastman School of Music. He has recorded for Nonesuch Records, Cantaloupe Music, Sony Classical, and Sweetspot DVD.  
 

Alla Salakhova is a mezzo-soprano entering her final year of the Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance program at the University of Alberta. She was the University of Alberta student finalist in Edmonton Opera’s inaugural Rumbold Vocal Prize. This season, she performed Le Nozze di Figaro excerpts with The University Symphony Orchestra and the roles of Peterman in Monsieur Choufleuri and Ruth (cover) in The Pirates of Penzance (UofA Opera Theatre). Recent credits also include The Secretary in The Consul and Drusilla in L'incoronazione di Poppea (Opera NUOVA) for which she was praised by Opera Canada for having the “presence of a seasoned performer”. Other selected credits include Mrs. Northwind in the Canadian premiere of The Enchanted Pig, and Spirit 1 in The Magic Flute (Edmonton Opera). Alla is a member of the Edmonton Opera Chorus and was fortunate to perform in Tosca, Home for the Holidays, and Orphée+ this past season. With the support from the Association for Opera in Canada’s Opera Artist Resilience (OAR) Program, she was also able to role-study the titular role of Orphée as well as gain experience in administration through a mentorship with Edmonton Opera. In addition to her passion for performing, she is always looking for opportunities to grow her knowledge of the Opera industry in all sectors. In Alla’s free time, you can find her drinking coffee, going on walks in Edmonton’s River Valley, and spending time with her cat, Sam (a.k.a. Samantha, Sammy, and Salmon). 

Brooklyn-based composer, pianist, and conductor Daniel Schlosberg’s music has been performed by the Dover Quartet, Minnesota Orchestra, Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Nashville and Albany Symphonies, at Carnegie Hall, (le) poisson rouge, Royal Albert Hall, Beijing Modern Music Festival, and David Lynch’s Festival of Disruption, and has also been featured in the New York Times and WNYC’s Soundcheck. Daniel has received the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and two ASCAP Morton Gould Awards. He has composed for and music directed at the Soho Repertory Theater, Public Theater, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Baryshnikov Arts Center, and Playwrights Horizons. Current projects include composition and music direction for Jeremy O. Harris’s A Boy’s Company Presents (premiering Summer ‘23), music direction for Anthony Roth Costanzo and Justin Vivian Bond’s Only an Octave Apart at Wilton’s Music Hall in London (October ‘22) and at the Spoleto Festival (June ‘23), and The Extinctionist, a new opera for Heartbeat Opera (premiering Spring ‘24). Daniel is the Music Director of Heartbeat Opera, for which his radical re-orchestrations of classic operas have been praised by the Wall Street Journal as “ingenious.” In addition to collaborations with Angel Blue, Ariana DeBose, Ben Stiller, Tony Kushner, Anthony McGill, and the Imani Winds, Schlosberg was a pianist on the Grammy-winning soundtrack of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, and a featured soloist in Only an Octave Apart with the New York Philharmonic.

Frances Thielmann, of Vancouver, British Columbia, completed her master’s degree in collaborative piano in 2019 at the University of Toronto where she studied with esteemed pianist, Steven Philcox. She also holds a bachelor’s degree with distinction in piano performance from the University of Victoria, where she was the recipient of multiple scholarships for her high level of performance both on stage and academically.

Throughout her university years, Frances studied a broad range of repertoire from art song to opera at summer intensive programs such as the Franz Schubert Institute, Opera NUOVA, and Toronto Summer Music. Her professional opera experience includes one year as an apprentice coach with the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, and two years with the Canadian Opera Company’s ensemble studio from 2020-2022. One significant highlight from her time at the COC ensemble studio was music directing and playing orchestral piano for the premiere of Ian Cusson’s opera, Fantasma in March 2022. After graduating from the COC ensemble studio in May 2022, Frances was one of five pianists selected internationally to participate in the prestigious Music Academy of the West summer festival in Santa Barbara, California.

In August 2022, Frances moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where she is the head coach and repetiteur for all productions at Edmonton Opera. She is thrilled to be joining the faculty at the Banff Centre for the Arts’ Opera in the 21st century program, where she will be lead pianist on the workshop of Mary Kouyoumdijan and Royce Vavrek’s opera Adoration.

A Dora nominated conductor (Gould's Wall), Chinese-Canadian Jennifer Tung is the artistic director of Toronto City Opera and assistant conductor of the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra.  She leads a uniquely versatile career as music director, collaborative pianist and soprano. In 2020/21, she joins Tapestry Opera as a conducting fellow in the inaugural year of the Women in Musical Leadership program, in partnership with Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Pacific Opera Victoria.
 
Jennifer debuted with the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival conducting The Mikado in 2017 and has returned to conduct Sweeney Todd and Tragedy of Carmen. In 2019, she debuted with Opera York in La Traviata and assisted Tapestry Opera and Opera on the Avalon’s joint production of the Dora Award winning opera Shanawdithit by Dean Burry and Yvette Nolan.  Recently, she conducted the world premiere of "Gould’s Wall" by Brian Current and Liza Balken, a joint production with the Royal Conservatory of Music and Tapestry Opera.  
 
For the 2022/23 season, she has debuted as guest conductor with Opera McGill's production of "Plaything" (Anna Pigorna/Maria Reva - Canadian premiere), Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic and Kamloops Symphony.  In March of 2023, Jennifer conducted the world premieres of Continuum's production of the opera "Show Room" (Rodney Sharman/Etom Egoyan) as well as Tapestry Opera/Obsidian Theatre's co-production of "Of the Sea" (Ian Cusson/Kanika Ambrose).   
 
Jennifer is on faculty at Toronto’s Glenn Gould School, and is a sought-after faculty member for summer programs internationally. She holds degrees in vocal performance and collaborative piano from the Eastman School of Music and have studied conducting with Maestro Denis Mastromonaco.
 

Royce Vavrek (Librettist) is a librettist and lyricist whose opera Angel’s Bone with composer Du Yun was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music. He is known for his diverse collaborations with composers including David T. Little (Dog Days, Am I Born, JFK), Missy Mazzoli (Song from the Uproar, Breaking the Waves, Proving Up), Ricky Ian Gordon (27, The House Without a Christmas Tree), Joshua Schmidt (Midwestern Gothic), Paola Prestini (Yoani, The Hubble Cantata) and Gregory Spears (O Columbia). Recent projects include Film Stills, a series of operatic monologues for mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti, directed by R.B. Schlather and composed by Du Yun, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly and Paola Prestini; Jacqueline with composer Luna Pearl Woolf; Song of America: Beyond Liberty created for Thomas Hampson with director Francesca Zambello; and a new opera with David T. Little through the Met/LCT commissioning program. Royce is co-Artistic Director of The Coterie, an opera-theater.

Imogen is a Toronto-based Lighting Designer who has designed with The Stratford Festival, Canadian Stage, Crows Theatre, Against the Grain, Summerworks, and Toronto Dance Theatre. Imogen has also worked as an assistant lighting designer for Mirvish, Canadian Opera Company, Stratford Festival, Musical, and Canadian Stage. She is also a scenic painter, proud member of ADC 659, and loves to go for a canoe at sunset. 

Founded by like-minded musicians with a passion for the future of chamber music, Silvana was born with the natural ease of a flower blooming in Harlem. The instant chamber music chemistry was undeniable and the telepathic communication required by string quartet playing came effortlessly. The passionate energy of Silvana is palpable to the audience and draws each person in, connecting both performers and listeners in a unique experience.

https://www.silvanaquartet.com/
 

Sara  Hahn - Flute
Aidan Dugan - Oboe
Jocelyn Colquhoun - Clarinet
Stan Climie -  Clarinet 
Michael Hope - Bassoon
Heather Wooton - Horn
Boris Bontchev - Horn
Miranda Canonico - Trumpet
Dave Reid - Bass Trombone
Malcolm Lim - Timpani
Donovan Seidle - Violin - Concertmaster
Edmund Chung - Violin
Adriana Lebedovich - Violin - Mandolin
Lidia Lee - Violin
Janna Sailor - Violin
Keith Hamm - Viola
Arthur Bachmann - Viola 
Julie Heirish - Cello
Danny Poceta - Cello
Patrick Staples - Bass

Jamal Al Titi is a Belarusian-born baritone whose passion for music expands from early works to opera. He now makes his home in Canada, and he is a recent bachelor’s voice performance graduate from the University of Toronto, having studied with Wendy Nielsen. During his final year as an undergraduate, Jamal won the Jim and Charlotte Norcop Prize in Song, the Faculty of Music’s most prestigious vocal prize, and was honoured to receive the 2023 faculty’s top honour award. 

Additionally, Jamal achieved to be a winner of the Toronto Mozart Vocal Competition in 2023 and among the 2022 National Audition finalist of L’Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal. Passionate about opera, Jamal has been featured numerous times with Brott Opera Festival. His roles have included Masetto in Don Giovanni, Schaunard in La Bohème, and Casacada in The Merry Widow. 

Jamal began his studies at the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts with Roland Fix. Jamal plans to continue performing as much as possible and wishes to sing to his heart’s content to captivate his audience while appreciating the magic of the music.
 

This artist is generously supported by The Eileen Higgin Calgary Theatre Singers Endowment and The Harold Douglas Brown Endowment.

Julia Dawson is a Canadian soprano whose dynamic performances have earned her praise from Opera News as "radiant and riveting" and from the New York Times as "spitfire." She has been recognised with the George London Award for a Canadian singer and the Anny-Schlemm-Preis from Oper Frankfurt.
From 2015 to 2019, Dawson honed her craft as a member of Oper Frankfurt's opera studio and solo ensemble, appearing in leading roles. She has also performed with notable orchestras and companies such as the Munich Philharmonic, and the French Radio Symphony, Opera San Jose, Tiroler Festspiele Erl, and Opera Lafayette.
Combining her love of contemporary and classical music, Dawson recently conceived and performed in the musical film "Obscura Nox," which features Mozart's "Exsultate, jubilate" and new commissions from Iranian-Canadian composer Iman Habibi. The film was selected for Opera Philadelphia's O22 Festival and the Canada Shorts Festival.

Dawson has received training at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Rice University, Oberlin Conservatory, the Music Academy of the West, Santa Fe Opera, Aspen Opera Theater Center, and The Glimmerglass Festival. She was nominated for Singer of the Year from the Opus Klassik awards for the album 'Girl in the Snow;' songs by American composer Scott Ordway. She is grateful to have been mentored by artists such as Barbara Hannigan and Marilyn Horne. 

This artist is generously supported by the Ruby Mercer Endowment. 

Harley Elias is an Indian-Iraq Arab-Jewish playwright, librettist, and performer from New York City. He has been the recipient of residencies at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, with Resonance Ensemble, a Fulbright Grant, the Wild Epiphanies New Play Award, two Samuel French OOB Awards, a Young Playwrights Award, and his Play #3 is published by Samuel French. Recent plays include The Handless King (Amphibian Stage, Wild Epiphanies), Thug Play (Resonance Ensemble), The Pardon (Brown University), and 47 Years of Marriage (Samuel French OOB). For the composer Francisco de Guevara he wrote the libretto for the opera 11:35, set to premiere in Mexico City in 2023. The documentary he co-wrote and directed, Reconquest of the Useless, was shown at the Havana, Zurich, Woodstock, and Virginia Film Festivals. As an actor his credits include Les Miserables (Broadway and National Tour), A Thousand Clowns (Broadway), A Christmas Carol (Broadway), Ragtime (National Tour), and work at Goodspeed Opera House, EST, Workhouse, Second Stage, HB Studio, and Soho Rep. He holds a BA and MA in History and Art History from Stanford, and is currently pursuing an MFA in Playwriting at Brown. He is currently under commission from Miami New Drama and Theater J.

This artist is generously supported by the Virginia Middleberg Fund.

Mishael Eusebio is a dynamic performer whose creativity brings unique interpretations into every project. His recent portrayal of Young Harvey in the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’s world premiere of Harvey Milk Reimagined was recently featured in the summer 2022 edition of Opera America Magazine. No stranger to contemporary opera, he workshopped the role of Navigator (A Space of Sky) for Houston Grand Opera, and created the role of George (The Silver Bullet) which debuted at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust. Other credits in contemporary opera include his debut at l’Opéra de Montréal as Passager (Le Flambeau de la nuit), the cover for Alexandre Rosenberg (La beauté du monde), and Rose’s Fiancé (Awakenings). Semi-finalist in the 2021 Concours OSM, finalist at the 2023 Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques and the 2020 American National Opera Association Competition, winner of the 2019 John C. Erskine Prize, and the Encouragement Award at the 2020 Metropolitan Opera District Auditions, Mishael is a graduate of the Juilliard School and the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati.

This artist is generously supported by The Harold Crabtree Foundation Endowment. 

From northeastern Ontario's Lake Temiskaming area, Yanik Gosselin has lived in Kjipuktuk (Halifax) since 2020. He received his BMus from the University of Ottawa and his MMus from McGill University.

In 2022, Yanik participated in Manitoba Opera's Digital Emerging Artist Program. During that program, he created a short musical film, CYCLES, available on YouTube. That same year, he debuted as Ernesto in Don Pasquale at the Under the Spire Music Festival (Kensington, PEI),partook in Scotia Festival of Music's young artist program, and participated in Tapestry Opera's New Opera 101 workshop and performed in Songbook XI. Yanik was the tenor soloist in Mozart's Requiem with the Dalhousie Collegium Cantorum this past March. Yanik is particularly interested in the art song repertoire (particularly Schubert and Britten) and 1970s glam and progressive rock. He is passionate about storytelling in all its forms. As a performer and creator, Yanik thrives in collaborative spaces and seeks innovative ways to tell new stories through music while engaging with audiences. He recently received a professional development grant from Arts Nova Scotia to study the interpretation and performance of 17th and 18th-century German repertoire with Dr. Michael Donovan, focusing on innovation and social engagement.

This artist is generously supported by The Annie Romanchuk Endowment and The Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Endowment. 

Praised by the New York Times for her “pristine high notes” and by the San Francisco Chronicle for her “thrilling display of tonal lushness and agility”, Soprano Natalie Image is delighted to be performing Zerlina (Don Giovanni) with the Banff Centre’s Opera in the 21st Century this summer!

Earlier this year Image was in Honolulu, Hawaii making her debut as Adina in The Elixir of Love with Hawaii Opera Theatre. In 2022 she sang in Vancouver Opera’s first Opera in the Park, made her Montréal debut in Salle Bourgie with Concours Musical International de Montréal, and her Dublin, Ireland debut with the Veronica Dunne International Competition. As an Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera (SFO), Image performed the roles of Frasquita (Carmen), First Wood Nymph (Rusalka), Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro) and the Dew Fairy (Hansel and Gretel). She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2019 singing excerpts from Alma Deutscher’s Cinderella, and has performed with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra singing Galatea (Acis and Galatea) and Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 by Villa-Lobos, with the Victoria Symphony in concert, and, in SFO’s Opera in the Park and The Future is Now concerts featuring the Adler Fellows.

This artist is generously supported by the David Spencer Emerging Vocalists Endowment Fund.

Leanne Kaufman is a Toronto-based soprano. Praised for her “vocal fireworks” (Opera Canada), Leanne has recently made concert debuts of Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem and sung performances of La Contessa (Le nozze di Figaro), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), and Musetta (La bohème). Leanne performs regularly with the Canadian Opera Company, covering roles such as Fourth Maid (Elektra) in 2019, and creating roles in the workshops of COC commissions by Canadian composers, most recently works by Ian Cusson and Ana Sokolovic. She has been a member of the COC Chorus since 2018. Originally from Calgary, Leanne holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Music in Opera from the University of Toronto.

This artist is generously supported by the Ontario Artists Fund. 

Evan Korbut is from Sault Ste. Marie Ontario, and Garden River (Robinson Treaty/Crown Treaty 60), traditional home of the Anishinaabe. My father is Anishinaabe and my mother is Ukranian/Finnish/British.

I began studying at Western University in 2007, completed my Bachelor’s degree in music (voice performance) in 2011, and completed my Master’s degree in music (voice) in 2014.
Recent credits include: the world premiere of The Ecstasy of Rita Joe as Jaimie Paul, Fierabras as Roland, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny as Moses, the world premiere of Shanawdithit as Simms/Spirit Chorus, and the world premiere of Two Odysseys: Pimooteewin/Gállábártnit as Hunter/Chorus, The Flight of the Hummingbird as Owl, and Adriana Lecouvreur as Michonnet.

This artist is generously supported by the Ontario Artists Fund.

Francisco Ladrón de Guevara was born in Xalapa, in the state of Veracruz in Mexico.He began studying violin with professor Mikhail Medvid. At age ten he won the Kocian International violin competition - 1st price, being named the youngest ever EMCY (Laurate). At age 12 he emigrated to the US to study at the Julliard School with Dorothy DeLay. Other violin teachers include Hyo Kang and Hyo Kang.

Since a very early age Franisco was interested in composition and began studying composition with Emil Awad. While in the US he studied with Manuel Sosa, Eric Ewazen and Samuel Adler. Since then Francisco has dedicated himslef to composition and considers himself a composers first and foremost.

Having written in all kinds of genres, film music, opera, chamber and symphonies many of Francisco’s works have been performed and recorded. He currently resides in Meixico City.

This artist is generously supported by the Marshall M. Williams Endowment. 

Quebec mezzo-soprano Justine Ledoux is known for the sincerity of her singing, her velvety tone and her extraordinary charisma on stage. She obtained her master’s degree from the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and has joined Calgary Opera’s 2022-2024 McPhee Artist Development Program as a young artist.

Operatic roles have included Mercédès in Carmen (G. Bizet); Béatrice and Ursule in Béatrice et Bénédict (H. Berlioz); Cendrillon in Cendrillon (J. Massenet), The Stepmother in The Juniper Tree (P. Glass); Dorabella in Così fan tutte (W.A. Mozart). She was recently a laureate for the Prix d’Europe 2023 Competition, taking home the prizes for Best Vocal and Artistic Techniques as well as Best Interpretation of a Work by Canadian Composer André Mathieu. During her 2023-2024 season with Calgary Opera, she will perform, on mainstage, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro (W.A Mozart), as well as Wellgunde in Das Rheingold (R. Wagner). 

This artist is generously supported by the Joyce and David Keith Scholarship for the Arts. 
 

Hailing from Ottawa, bass Matthew Li is currently a resident artist with the Atelier Lyrique at Opéra de Montréal. Favourite operatic highlights include Polyphemus in Acis and Galatea, Il Commissario Imperiale in Madama Butterfly, Le Fauteuil and Un Arbre in L’enfant et les sortilèges, Colline in La Bohème, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Masetto and Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni. During the 2022-2023 season, Li was proud to create the leading bass role of Xon Pon in Alice Ping Yee Ho’s new opera Chinatown with City Opera Vancouver, which was received with critical acclaim. Concert highlights include the bass solos in Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Schütz’s Weihnachtshistorie, Mozart’s Requiem, and Steffani’s Stabat Mater. He recently represented Canada at the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition (2023) and was a finalist at the Center Stage Competition with the Canadian Opera Company.

Li is looking forward to returning to the Atelier Lyrique at Opéra de Montréal for the 2023-2024 season, where he will appear as Antonio in Le Nozze di Figaro and Seneca in L’incoronazione di Poppea.
 

This artist is generously supported by the T.C. Hargrave Scholarship in Voice Endowment.
 

Hailing from Chatham, Ontario, tenor Ryan Nauta has been praised as “one to watch” (Le Devoir). 

Ryan is a recent alumnus of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, where he performed selected scenes from Leonard Bernstein’s Candide and Samuel Barber’s Vanessa. Previous roles include Remus in a workshop of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha (Volcano Theatre), First Armoured Man in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Opera McGill), Albert Herring in Britten’s Albert Herring (Opera McGill), and Lysander in Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream (Halifax Summer Opera). 

Equally comfortable on the concert stage, Ryan has performed as soloist for Handel’s Messiah (Christ Church Cathedral, Montreal), Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings (L’Oasis Musicale), and various Bach Cantatas (Serenata at St. John’s). Ryan was also heard at the Singing Stars Concert on Toronto’s Classical 96.3 FM. Ryan has been honoured to have received scholarships from the Art Song Foundation of Canada and the Kiwanis Foundation of Canada. 

Ryan holds a Master of Music from McGill University, having been awarded a Graduate Excellence Fellowship, as well as a Bachelor of Music from the University of Western Ontario. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Franz-Schubert-Institut, in Baden, Austria. He currently studies privately with Laura Brooks Rice.

This artist is generously supported by the Barbara and John Poole Memorial Endowment and the Virgina Middleberg Fund.

 Canadian Bass-Baritone Luke Noftall is a recent graduate of the University of Toronto with a Master’s of Music in Opera Performance, as well as a Bachelor of Voice Performance with Honors from the same institution. He currently studies with Wendy Nielsen.

While at the University of Toronto’s Opera school, Luke has been seen as: Mr. Choufleuri in Monsieur Choufleuri, Dr. Bartolo in Il barbiere di Sviliglia , Top in Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land, Jacques I in A Tale of Two Cities, and the Chorus of Antiquity in a Canadian premiered student composition of Disobedience. Additional credits include Lancelot in Camelot (Red Panda Productions), and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte (Halifax Summer Opera Festival). As Papageno, Luke was described as a “Star of the Festival. Playful and mercurial, his warm baritone and dynamic interpretation complimented and contrasted effortlessly with his more earnest Tamino” (Opera Canada).

A long admirer of the Banff Centres many exciting works, Luke is extremely excited to be joining The Banff Opera in the 21st Century Program this summer, where he will be playing Masetto in Don Giovanni, as well as Morris in Adoration. Luke is honored to be able to work alongside some of the finest artists and mentors in the Canadian opera.

This artist is generously supported by the Ruby Mercer Endowment. 
 

Pianist Connor O’Kane has established himself as one of Ontario’s most versatile and sought-after emerging artists. A prizewinner at the CMC Stepping Stone, Connor has appeared as a soloist with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony under the baton of Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, and performed in several notable concert series, including Ottawa’s Chamberfest, Lyon’s Tempo Vivace Festival, Western University’s Faculty Concert Series, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society.

Connor’s passion for opera led him to the role of assistant conductor of Western University’s opera program, a position he has held since 2019. During this period, he engaged in the preparation of ten opera productions, including the March 2023 run of Verdi’s Falstaff. As a répétiteur, he has worked with many acclaimed opera conductors including Alain Trudel, Simone Luti, and Tyrone Paterson. Connor holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from Western University. His research, which focuses on the piano transcriptions of Sergei Prokofiev, has earned him several grants and scholarships including the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship and Canada Graduate Scholarship. Connor’s principal studies were with Stéphan Sylvestre, David Jalbert, Heather Taves, Manuel Schweizer, and Joan Walker.

This artist is generously supported by the George Brough Memorial Endowment. 

Mabel Wonnacott is a Toronto based performer, emerging director and arts administrator. She is the Creative Director for Can of Soup Collective, an indie opera company focused on making opera accessible and creating opportunities for young and emerging artists. Mabel was the assistant stage manager for Opera at Western's 2019-2020 season and has worked as an assistant director under Michael Cavanagh, Allison Grant and Anna Theodosakis. She holds an Honours bachelor's degree in vocal performance from the University of Ottawa as well as a Master's degree in performance and literature, and an artist's diploma from the University of Western Ontario. She will be continuing her studies at the University of Toronto where she will complete a diploma in Operatic stage directing.

Juan Anez – Music Omni Tech

Brendan Briceland - Head of Projection Technology

Carolyn Choo – Head of Props

Luke Dahlgren – Music Production Manager

Curtis Doherty – Video Editor

Ben Ewing – Senior Recording Engineer

Lyle Fish - Head of Sound

Sharon Fish – Assistant Head Stage Carpenter

Matt Flawn - Head of Lighting

Brian Garbet – Interim Audio Technician

Chris Hayes – Scenic Shop Facilitator

Carey Lees – Wardrobe Shops Facilitator

Dave Miller – Interim Head Stage Carpenter

Henry Ng - Audio and Music Technician 

Hiro Oki – Assistant Piano Technician

Albert Picknell - Head Piano Technician 

Jacob Reeves – Assistant Head Stage Carpenter

Donna Sharpe – Performing Arts Stage Manager

Darrell Shaw - Assistant Head of Lighting

Rita Taylor – Photographer

Jake Tkaczyk - Program Manager

Elena Vandakurova – Hair and Make-up Facilitator

Anja Vreeker – Program Delivery Specialist