Faculty
VOICE
Wendy Nielsen
Whether in concert, opera or recital, Canadian soprano Wendy Nielsen enchants audiences with her sumptuous voice and engaging presence. She is a gifted soprano who has sung roles at the Metropolitan Opera, performed at Carnegie Hall, appeared with opera companies across North America, given recitals throughout Europe and graced the stage with a number of Asian symphonies. Wendy's vocal accomplishments are manifold and her consummate professionalism extends far beyond her singing.
Recently she has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, and the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro. She has performed as the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro with L’Opera de Montreal, as Alice Ford in Falstaff in a long awaited return to the Canadian Opera Company, in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Warsaw Philharmonic led by James Conlon and the Edmonton Symphony led by Richard Buckley, Mahler Symphony No. 2 with the Chinese Philharmonic Orchestra, and Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne with the Edmonton Symphony. Recitals and festival appearances include the Baie des Chaleurs Chamber Festival, Mt. Allison University, Opera New Brunswick, and Le Festival de Chant Anna Malenfant.
Ms. Nielsen has a long history with the Metropolitan Opera, where she debuted as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and has sung Micaela in Carmen, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro. Her Countess has been heard in Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Toronto, Calgary, Tulsa, Ottawa, and with the Minnesota Orchestra led by Jeffrey Tate; she has sung both Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni in Boston, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Edmonton, Tulsa; and Fiordiligi with the Florida Grand Opera and in New Jersey.
Ms. Nielsen debuted with the New York Philharmonic in Penderzcki’s Seven Gates of Jerusalem conducted by Kurt Masur and returned for Dov Seltzer's Lament to Yitzhak at the Lincoln Center Festival. Other orchestral highlights include her Carnegie Hall debut in a concert version of Schubert's rarely-heard opera Fierrabras with the Orchestra of St. Luke's; Ravel’s Scheherazade in Edmonton, Charleston, Wheeling; Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Charles Dutoit; Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, Britten’s Les illimunations, and Ravel’s Scherezade with the Milwaukee Symphony; Strauss' Four Last Songs at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa; Penderecki's Credo in Madrid with the composer conducting and numerous performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the orchestras of Toronto, Vancouver, Minnesota, Ottawa, Nova Scotia and at the Beethoven Festival in Krakow.
Between operatic engagements and concert appearances, Ms. Nielsen keeps herself active through teaching. In 1994 she helped to establish an operatic workshop in St.Andrews-By-The-Sea ( New Brunswick ). She has given masterclasses at many universities across Canada and has generously shared her wealth of knowledge with the next generation of young singers. She taught at the Opera Nuova voice program in Edmonton ( Alberta ) during 2002, 2004 and 2005. She has also been asked to adjudicate at music festivals and has participated as time has allowed.
Ms. Nielsen began the 2006/07 season singing the Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with David Stahl and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in their opening gala. Upcoming dates include performances of Donna Elvira in Edmonton Opera’s Don Giovanni and a spring recital debut in Tokyo.
Darryl Edwards - Artistic Director
Tenor Darryl Edwards has appeared to critical acclaim in oratorio, recital, and opera in England, Germany, France, Italy, Corsica, the United States, and across Canada. His performances included appearances with Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Hans Graf and the Calgary Philharmonic, John Washburn and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Noel Edison and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and Christian Kabitz and the Heidelberg Bach-Chor. His recent and upcoming engagements include Kodály's Psalmus Hungaricus with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the Verdi Requiem at Dalhousie University: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Orff's Carmina Burana with Orchestra London Canada, and the Mozart Requiem with the Toronto Philharmonia and Mendelssohn Singers.
Critics praise him as a "rich-voiced, cultured tenor who mastered the high notes effortlessly" (Coburg Tageblatt, Germany), and an "effective communicator who expressed the text with sensitivity and fervour" (Hamilton Spectator). His recordings and broadcasts include performances on American Public Radio (NPR) the Canadian Music Centre (Centrediscs), and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC Radio 2).
Dr. Edwards is Head of Voice Studies at the University of Toronto. He holds a DMA from the University of Michigan, and B.Mus., B.Ed., and M.Mus..degrees from the University of Western Ontario. He is the Artistic Director of the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy, and the Concert Opera Group. He has served as the Ontario District Governor of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and his articles have appeared in the Canadian Music Educators' Journal, and the Journal of Singing. His popularity as a master class clinician and lecturer has led him to the Vancouver International Song Institute (VISI), the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and the Royal College of Music, London,
Darryl Edwards' voice students regularly appear in leading roles with major companies and orchestras across Canada, the United States and Europe (Royal Opera Covent Garden, English National Opera, New York City Opera, Philadelphia Opera, San Francisco Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper – Munich, Zurich Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre, and the Canadian Opera Company).
Patrick Raftery
Patrick Raftery's professional debut was in 1979 when he sang Schaunard in La Boheme, sharing the stage with Luciano Pavarotti. Educated at The Boston Conservatory and The Juilliard School of Music Mr. Raftery was sponsored by The Richard Tucker Music Foundation and taken on by C.A.M.I artists when his career catapulted him to all of the major opera houses of the world in less than a decade. Until his debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera with Mirella Freni in Manon Lescaut, Mr. Raftery was one of America's most prominent Baritones.
"Dominating the evening was J.Patrick Raftery. A big soaring, easily produced voice! What a star he seems destined to be!"
The New York Times
Mr. Raftery successfully made the difficult transition to tenor with The Mostly Mozart Festival at New York's Avery Fisher Hall in performances of Mozart's Lucio Silla in 1992. In quick succession, Mr. Raftery debuted in the roles of Don Jose, Siegmund, Samson, Eric and Florestan. The Bavarian State Opera (Munich), The Hamburg State Opera, The Paris Opera, The Opera Comique (Paris), The Chicago Lyric Opera and The Canadian Opera are but a few of the theaters that have invited Mr. Raftery to their stages.
"J. Patrick Raftery is a discovery as a very intelligent Wagnerian."
Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung
Mr. Raftery began teaching privately in New York and Washington D.C. in 1985 and then later at home in Toronto. The Catholic University of America, The Opera of Graz, The University of Hawaii and The University of Southern California at San Diego have all invited Mr. Raftery to give master classes in performance, operatic repertoire and career counseling.
"...elegant and stylish. His voice is big and round, beautifully produced, blessed with high A's he tosses off as if they were nothing at all."
The Washington Post
Mr. Raftery's active concert and recital career has been just as rich and varied as his operatic life. With perfomances under the direction of Kurt Mazur, Helmut Rilling, Seiji Osawa, Sir Colin Davis, Mistlav Rostropovich or Mario Bernardi in works of Mendelssohn, Donizetti, Mussorgsky, J.C. Bach and Mozart. with The Cleveland Symphony, The New York Philharmonic, The Gewandhaus Orchester (Leipzig), The Boston Symphony Orchestra and The National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C."J. Patrick Raftery has turned out to be an ideal interpreter for the role of Tristan. His voice is dark - timbered and perfectly directed, flows fully in the middle and radiates into a brilliant top. Furthermore, he is an excellent and very convincing actor. Brilliant in Wagnerian style and articulation of the German language."
Das Opernglas.
OPERA STUDIO
Kevin Mallon
Conductor Kevin Mallon’s impressive background that includes conducting studies with John Eliot Gardiner, composition with Peter Maxwell Davies. With training at Chetham’s School of Music, the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and at Dartington College of Arts, Mallon learned his craft as a violinist with such orchestras as the Hallé and the BBC Philharmonic, and later as concertmaster with Le Concert Spirituel and Les Arts Florissants in Paris. With these groups he has recorded extensively and toured the world. He has performed concerts all over Europe, including Vienna, London, Berlin and Paris, with appearances in Russia, the Baltic States, China, Japan, New Zealand, the United States and Canada.
Before moving to Canada to take up positions with the University of Toronto and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Kevin Mallon was active both in his native Ireland and throughout Europe. He was conductor of the Irish Baroque Orchestra as well as Musical Director of the Harty Ensemble in Belfast. He also conducted numerous orchestras and opera companies in Ireland, including the Ulster Orchestra, Castleward Opera and the National Chamber Choir.
Kevin Mallon formed and became the Music Director of the Aradia Ensemble in 1996. This vocal and instrumental group has achieved extraordinary successes. They have made numerous recordings for Naxos, all of which have received international praise. The ensemble was featured in 2000 at the New Zealand International Chamber Music Festival, and in 2003 at the Musica nel Chiostro festival in Tuscany.
Although Kevin Mallon specializes in music of the Baroque period, he is in demand to conduct a wide repertoire. As part of his recording contract with Naxos, he is Music Director of the Toronto Chamber Orchestra, a group made up of some of Toronto’s best orchestral musicians, with whom he has already made fifteen recordings.
Having conducted Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress and Lucas et Cecile by the Canadian Joseph Quesnel with the contemporary opera company Opera Anonymous, in recent years Mr. Mallon has formed an association with Toronto’s Opera in Concert, conducting Handel’s Semele, Rinaldo and Tamerlano, Vivaldi’s Griselda, Rameau’s Castor et Pollux and Mozart’s Zaide with the company. He has also developed a specialty in Viennese Operetta, having conducted many programs for the Toronto Operetta Theatre.
Engagements as a guest conductor have taken Mallon to Finland, Sweden, Poland and the United States. He has recently taken up the position of Music Director of Opera 2005 in Cork, Ireland, conducting a series of operas as part of Cork’s tenure as European Capital of Culture. This opera company has already achieved remarkable success and has twice been nominated for Best Opera Production in the prestigious Irish Times Theatre Awards. Also interested in Irish music, he is a member of the Toronto-based international group Dulaman. Kevin Mallon has made over forty recordings for Naxos in Baroque and Classical repertoire.
Tom Diamond
Following an early career as an actor and theatre director, Tom Diamond began his operatic work as a member of the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio. Career highlights include developing and directing world premieres of Timothy Sullivan's Florence The Lady With The Lamp for the Elora Festival (Chalmers Award) and Chan Ka Nin's Iron Road (Dora Mavor Moore Award) for Tapestry New Opera Works where he is in his third season as Resident Director/Dramaturge.
He has staged 5 productions for Pacific Opera Victoria and 9 operas for the Canadian Opera Company including the Dora winning JULIUS CAESAR and most recently a successful resurrection of the obscure DON GIOVANNI by Guiseppe Gazzaniga (the inspiration for Mozart's masterpiece). His production of SQUONK was an off-Broadway hit and transferred to
Broadway where it won the American Theatre Wing's Hewes Award. Mr. Diamond's first
short film, THE PERFECT MATCH, premiered to unanimous critical acclaim as part of Tapestry's OPERA TO GO at Harbourfront's World Stage Festival. It has been seen at film festivals across North American and was nominated for Best Experimental Film at the Miami Short Film Festival.
Mr. Diamond is one of the most renown and sought after teachers on the continent. He is the Acting Coach for the COC Ensemble Studio. He has directed and coached at many universities, Conservatories and Young Artist Programmes including; Merola, the Eastman School of Music, the New England Conservatory, Indiana University, the Royal Conservatory of Music's Glen Gould Studio, and annually in summer programmes for Queen of Puddings and in Saint Andrews By The Sea, New Brunswick with Wendy Nielsen.
Mr. Diamond is perhaps most often recognized for his participation in both seasons of the Gemini Award-winning television series BATHROOM DIVAS.
Kathryn Tremills, Repetiteur and Coach
Formerly a member of the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio as Intern Opera Coach, Kathryn Tremills returned to the COC in the fall 2008 for their production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Other productions include Mozart's Così fan tutte and Le nozze di Figaro, William Walton's The Bear, James Rolfe's Swoon and a school tour of Mozart's The Magic Flute for which she was the music director. While a member of the faculty of La Musica Lirica in Urbania, Italy, she was the répétiteur for Puccini's La Bohème, Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica.
Kathryn is very active as a freelance accompanist, coach, chamber musician, soloist and teacher. She teaches at the University of Toronto and coaches numerous voice students there as well as many young professionals. She also accompanies the Toronto Children’s Chorus and is a member of Trio d’Argento which is now in its second season.
Kathryn has appeared at the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, has performed alongside the Canadian Brass, and has been broadcast by CBC Radio Canada and Classical 96.3FM. An international finalist for the Grace Welsh Prize for Piano, she has given performances with orchestras across North America. Her discography includes the self-titled toneART ensemble CD, a disc with husband Giles Tomkins, and her debut solo recording Dedication. This will be Kathryn’s third summer on the COSI faculty.
topS
Aradia Ensemble
According to Robert Graves, Aradia was the daughter of Apollo’s twin sisters, who was sent by the gods to teach humankind to order the music of the natural world into song. The Aradia Ensemble is based on Toronto, Canada, and specializes in presenting an eclectic blend of orchestral, operatic and chamber music played on original instruments. While focusing on the repertoire of seventeenth-century French and English music, Aradia also performs works by the Italian and German masters of the baroque, as well as contemporary pieces commissioned by the group.
Aradia has two music videos and one film soundtrack. It has also collaborated with Isadora Duncan and Baroque dancers, co-produced an opera, and worked with Balinese Gamelin. Aradia has appeared as the featured ensemble in residence at the New Zealand Chamber Music Festival, and has also performed at the Musica nel Chiostro in Italy.
Aradia regularly performs in Toronto, often at the Gladstone Hotel on Queen Street West. These concerts are special because we play chamber music as it was meant to be played: in an intimate, informal setting, and on period instruments. These concerts are often LCBO licensed, so you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the music with a glass of wine.
Aradia also regularly performs larger scale performances at the beautiful Blessed Sacrament Church on Yonge Street at Lawrence Avenue. Recordings of our music are available on the Naxos Records label. We have performed at many festivals in Canada and the US and have toured internationally. www.aradia.ca
COACHING & COLLABORATIVE PIANO
Rachel Andrist
Canadian pianist Rachel Andrist studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Ann Epperson and Warren Jones. In 1997, she moved to Europe and joined the music staff of the Theatre Royale de la Monnaie in Bruxelles, Belgium. Since then, she has been a regular guest at the Salzburg Festival (both summer and Easter), the Bayerishes Staatsoper in Munich, and has also been on the musical staff at the Glyndebourne Festival, De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam, English National Opera and Scottish Opera. She has worked extensively with the conductors Sir Simon Rattle, Antonio Pappano. Ivor Bolton, Rene Jacobs, Valery Gergiev and Kazushi Ono. In Septpember of 2008, she became the head of Musical Projects at the Royal Danish Theatre Opera Academy in Copenhagen. Upcoming projects include the Opera Theater of Chicago and this summer she will be the principal coach for the Young Singers Project for the Salzburg Festival.
Carol Isaac
One of North America’s most sought-after vocal coaches, Carol Isaac maintains an active career on the recital stage and in some of the world’s leading opera houses.
A coach and repetiteur for San Francisco Opera since 1999, Ms. Isaac has assisted Musical Director Donald Runnicles as well as Jiři Kout, Sir Charles Mackerras, Marco Armiliato, Jun Märkl and Patrick Summers. In June 2003, Ms. Isaac joined the staff of Santa Fe Opera as a repetiteur, language coach and rehearsal prompter. Additional operatic affiliations include Teatro Municipal (Santiago, Chile), Narodní Divadlo (Prague, Czech Republic), Canadian Opera Company (Toronto, Canada), Washington Opera, Arizona Opera, and Pittsburgh Opera. Ms. Isaac also served as principal repetiteur, head coach, Chorus Master, and Music Director of Ensemble programs at Vancouver Opera from 1995–2000
A specialist in Czech operatic repertoire, Ms. Isaac recently assisted Sir Charles Mackerras in England for his course on Janáček operatic roles. Her translations of six Czech operas are to be published shortly in association with Nico Castel and Leyerle Publishing. Since 2004, Ms. Isaac has organized a series of solo and chamber concerts in several North American cities for the celebration of Janáček’s birth. Most recently, she appeared at the prestigious Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, and will continue this year to present these concerts in California and Texas.
On the recital stage, Ms. Isaac has toured many US cities with soprano Twyla Robinson as part of the Marilyn Horne Foundation recital series. The duo made their New York recital debut at Merlin Hall in April 2003 and traveled to London’s Wigmore Hall for their European recital debut in May 2005. Ms. Isaac has also appeared in recital with tenors Jay Hunter Morris and Richard Margison. Upcoming engagements include her debut at Pittsburgh Opera for Billy Budd as well as Jenůfa and Die Ägyptische Helena for the Metropolitan Opera.
Michael McMahon
Michael McMahon is beyond question one of Canada 's most sought-after accompanists. He studied at McGill University with Charles Reiner. With the aid of the Canada Council for the Arts, and completed his studies in Vienna at the Franz Schubert Institute and the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst, and in Salzburg at the International Summer Academy held at the Mozarteum. During this time, he studied with such legendary artists as Erik Werba, Hans Hotter, Elly Ameling, Jörg Demus and Kim Borg.
Michael McMahon maintains an active performing schedule. He has performed throughout Canada, Europe and the USA with singers such as Catherine Robbin, Karina Gauvin, Lyne Fortin, Dominique Labelle, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Wendy Nielsen, Annamaria Popescu, Maureen Forrester, Richard Margison, Nathan Berg and Kevin McMillan, earning him the reputation of being a "luxury partner." He has been a guest artist with such organizations as Les Violons du Roy, L'Opéra de Montréal, Les Grands Ballet Canadiens, the Ladies Morning Musical Club, Société Pro Musica, CBC McGill, the Women's Musical Club (Toronto), the Wexford Festival, the André Turp Society and Debut Atlantic. At McGill, where he is currently an associate professor, Michael McMahon teaches in both the Voice and Piano areas. He has led the very popular Song Interpretation class with baritone Jan Simons since 1984. He also teaches English and German diction for singers and is a vocal repertoire coach.
In addition to his duties as Professor at the Faculty of Music, Michael McMahon has had a long association with Atelier lyrique de L'Opéra de Montréal and the Banff Centre for the Arts, where he has worked regularly as a vocal coach. Many of the singers and pianists that he has coached are working in major opera houses around the world. He is often asked to be an adjudicator for competitions and has also given master classes for singers and pianists across the country. He has made numerous broadcast recordings for the English and French networks of the CBC, as well as for the BBC, RBTF, Radio Suisse Romande and Radio France. With four Juno nominations to his credit, his recordings for the Marquis, CBC Records and Analekta labels have met with critical acclaim.
Kinza Tyrrell
Victoria native Kinza Tyrrell has a Doctorate in piano and vocal coaching. Her musical education has been extensive, including study at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Graz, the International Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg, the Tanglewood Music Festival and the Merola Opera Program with world-renowned teachers Warren Jones, Martin Katz, Martin Isepp, Rudolph Jansen, Hans Graf, Gyorgy Sebok and Jon Kimura Parker. In June 2003, Kinza competed in the Opera Coaching division of the International Belvedere Opera Competition in Vienna, winning the Bösendorfer Prize. For the past three years, she has been on the music faculty at the Canadian Opera Company and has worked as Conductor, Assistant Conductor and Senior Repetiteur at Opera Nuova in Edmonton and the Opera As Theatre Program at the Banff Centre. Currently, Kinza is the Principle Repetiteur and Music Director of VOIS at Vancouver Opera. Dr. Tyrrell also freelances as a solo performer, and is in great demand as a vocal coach and recitalist, having had the pleasure of working with great Canadian voices such as Isabel Bayrakdarian, John Fanning, Benjamin Butterfield, Laura Whalen, Marc Hervieux, and Daniel Taylor. This will be Kinza’s second time at COSI.
ITALIAN LANGUAGE CLASSES
Tania Puglielli
Tania Puglielli is the founder and director of the International Language School in Sulmona, Italy. For over twenty years, the school has trained students and professionals to the highest internationally accredited standards, through its instruction in such languages as Italian, English, German and Spanish. In addition to training executives, teachers, and musicians, the International Language School provides Italian courses to foreigners throughout the year.
Tania is a graduate of the University of Toronto, Canada, and during her studies she was the vice-president for the Italian Club at St. Michael's College. In Italy, she has been a long-time innovator of "languages in schools" programs, as well as cultural initiatives in the Abruzzo Region. She was the 1997 vice-president for the Abruzzo's International Convention for Italians abroad, and has served as a translator and interpreter, most notably for the Korean Embassy in Rome.
PEAK PERFORMANCE
COSI is a model place to better understand and improve best practices for ideal performances. Our goal is for performers to richly experience and compellingly share their performances. The Centre for Performance Science of the Royal College of Music (London), and its Head, Dr. Aaron Williamon, are a part of COSI 2008, to help enrich our performance preparation and outcomes.
Jennifer Swan
Jennifer Swan is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance (ARAD), the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance (AISTD), and the Scottish Teachers' Dance Association (ASTDA). She is the founder of Swan Studio Dance, the Children's Dance Project, and The London Pilates Centre in London, Canada. She is also a Stott's Pilates Instructor, certified through the Cleveland Clinic Sports Medical Institute.
Swan founded the London Pilates Centre in 1998; it features Pilates instruction from instructors trained at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and Stott’s Pilates. The philosophy of the Centre is a skill-mastery progression model wherein students receive training based on their pace and ability.
Jennifer Swan has trained physiotherapists at the Fowler Kennedy Sports Injuries Clinic at the University of Western Ontario. She is also an international clinician and guest lecturer to medical professionals regarding Pilates theory and practice instruction, injury prevention, and body alignment.
A central pillar of Swan's philosophy is exposing students to dance through the medium of professional artists sharing their skills, success, joy and energy.
Aaron Williamon (Peak Performance Psychology)
Aaron Williamon is head of the Centre for Performance Science (CPS) at the Royal College of Music, London. His research focuses on music cognition, skilled performance, and applied psychological and health-related initiatives that inform music learning and teaching. His book, Musical Excellence, is published by Oxford University Press and draws together the findings of initiatives from across the arts and sciences, with the aim of offering musicians new perspectives and practical guidance for enhancing their performance. In addition, Aaron is interested in how audiences perceive and evaluate performances and, in 1998, was awarded the Hickman Prize by the Society for Education, Music, and Psychology Research (SEMPRE) for his work on this topic. He has performed as a trumpeter in chamber and symphony orchestras, brass bands, and brass quintets in both Europe and North America.
GUEST MASTER CLASSES
Carlo Montanaro
Italian conductor Carlo Montanaro began his musical career as a violinist with the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 1991. He graduated from the Cherubini conservatory of Florence, Italy, and was then discovered by Zubin Mehta. He has performed under many esteemed conductors, including Muti, Giulini, Prêtre, Ozawa, and Maazel before turning to conducting himself. He studied with Maestro Erwin Alcé in Vienna, and then for three years with Maestro Leopold Hager at the Vienna Hochschule für Musik.
Since 2001, Montanaro has conducted opera and concerts in major venues including the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Fondazione Arena in Verona, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Teatro Comunale in Florence, Fondazione Arturo Toscanini in Parma and Teatro Verdi in Trieste, a collaboration which led to a Japanese tour with the orchestra. Performances included Lucia di Lammermoor, Nabucco, Aida, Tosca, La Sonnambula, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Madama Butterfly and La Bohème. He directed two works in the 2004-2005 season at the Teatro Comunale in Florence, as well as various symphonic concerts with the Fondazione Arena Verona and with the Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana, with the Teatro Cilea of Reggio Calabria, and the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. He conducted Il Trovatore at the State Opera of Stuttgart, as well as Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the Fondazione Arturo Toscanini. Other recent engagements of high prestige include a great public and critical success conducting Un Ballo in Maschera with the Israeli Opera of Tel Aviv (new production), his American Debut in Colorado with Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Dialogo delle Carmelitane in Bilbao to great critical acclaim, and Madama Butterfly at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. His recent engagement conducting Simone Boccanegra at Megaron in Athen (new production) was wildly successful. He also made his debut at La Scala with La Traviata, and he opened the Macerata Summer Festival with Carmen under the direction of Dante Ferretti. Recently he conducted Il Corsaro at the Festival Verdi in Parma and made his debut at Hercules Halle in Munich in a concert with the Weimer Staatskapelle and Erwin Schrott. Recently he conducted a concert with Maria Ghuleghina and he returned to Opera Colorado in Denver to conduct Così fan tutte. He also conducted Aida at the Greek National Theatre in Athens to great acclaim. Future engagements include: Don Quichotte in Seattle, a new production of Aida in Hamburg, La Traviata at Staatsoper in Munich, Maria Stuarda in Teatro San Carlo of Naples, Mefistofele at the Frankfurt Opera, Lucia di Lammermoor in Bilbao.
Sophie Louise Roland
“. . .Sophie Louise Roland's Carmen was both powerful and delightfully seductive. . . . In the end, Carmen proves to be a perfect mirror of its namesake, a spirited, intoxicating and seductive performance.” - Glenn Kaufmann, The Herald Times
Hailed for her “excellence, purity of voice and emotional intensity,” Sophie Louise Roland recently sang the roles of Carmen with Ente Conerti in Italy, Dido and the Sorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Æneas with American Opera Theater (Baltimore, MD), Madama Butterfly’s Suzuki for Pellegrini Opera (Ottawa), Madonna Capuleti and Tebaldo in the International Opera Theater’s world premiere of Romeo e Giulietta in Citta della Pieve (Italy), Carmen with both American Opera Theater and Opera Lirica Italiana, Nicklausse in Les Contes d’Hoffmann with Opera Brasov, Suzuki with Opera Lirica Italiana, as well as the title role in Carmen with both Janiec Opera Company and Indiana University Opera Theater. Other highlights include La Prieure in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, Dame Quickly in Falstaff, La mère in Les Contes d’Hoffmann and Luna in the North American premiere of Jeppe by Sven David Sandström. Future engagements will see Ms. Roland again in Carmen, performing in Washington DC, Baltimore, and in Italy, as Maddelena in Verdi’s Rigoletto, as Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, as Storge in Handel’s Jeptha, and in oratorios and recitals in Philadelphia, Baltimore, London, Hamilton, Québec, Montreal, Toronto, Elora, and in Italy. Ms. Roland’s lush voice, dazzling coloratura, engaging stage presence, and deeply expressive musicality have captivated audiences throughout North America and abroad.
In addition to her operatic credits, Ms. Roland recently was featured singing in Jean-Claude Labrecque’s film, Infiniment Québecand on the artist Jorane’s compilation CD, Jorane X. She also appeared in Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky under the baton of Maestro Erick Kunzel. She was also a professional artist in the Song Fest Festival in Malibu, where she worked with international pianist and coach Martin Katz. Ms. Roland has appeared in concert with ensembles such as the Guelph Chamber Choir, the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, The Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Hamilton, London Fanshawe Symphonic Orchestra, the Windsor Symphony and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. Mrs. Roland was chosen to participate for the celebrations in honor of Marilyn Horne’s 70th birthday at Carnegie Hall.
Ms. Roland received her early training in piano, voice, and drama in Quebec. She holds an Honours BMus from Wilfrid Laurier University, an MA in Musicology and MMus in Vocal Performance from the University of Western Ontario, and recently completed a DM in Voice Performance under the tutelage of Ms. Constanza Cuccaro at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. In addition to maintaining an active directing career, Ms. Roland currently holds the rank of Assistant Professor of Music in the Don Wright Faculty of Music at the University of Western Ontario. Dr. Roland’s students have won National and International competitions such as Metropolitan Opera Auditions, NATS, and Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation. She is also the General and Artistic director of the Canadian Operatic Arts Academy.
All programs, faculty, dates, fees, and offers of financial assistance are subject to change.