While completing her degree in saxophone performance at the University of Guelph Lesley discovered the potential of her singing voice and has never looked back. She then went on to study voice at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama before returning to Canada to become an active Toronto based musician. Some of Lesley’s...
Countertenor Ryan McDonald is a current Young Artist with POV’s Civic Engagement Quartet. A recent Encouragement Award winner from the MET Council Auditions, Ryan has been seen on stage across Canada and Europe in a variety of operatic and concert roles. Ryan was hailed by Opera Canada for his performance in Dido and Aeneas: “Ryan McDonald,...
Hailed by the Globe and Mail as “a brilliant performer,” “with the kind of magnetism that comes from combining realism with exhaustive extremes,” baritone Geoffrey Sirett won the 2018 Dora Award for Outstanding Opera Performance singing the leading role of Akaky in The Overcoat (Canadian Stage co-production with Tapestry Opera and Vancouver Opera). Sirett has...
Hailed as “a bass of rare talent” (San Francisco Chronical) possessing a “mellifluous bass that is at once robust and gentle” (Opera Magazine), American bass Matthew Treviño is captivating audiences through his work in opera, theatre, and the recording arts. A Texas native and winner of the Austin Critic’s Table Award for Best Singer, Treviño...
Canadian tenor Andrew Haji is one of the most sought-after voices on both the operatic and concert stages across North America and Europe. Recent highlights include his debut at the Edinburgh International Festival as Jonathan in Handel’s Saul, Beethoven’s Ninth with the Milwaukee Symphony, and a program of Bach Cantatas with both l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and...
Rose Naggar-Tremblay is a versatile mezzo-soprano, acclaimed for the richness of her voice and the intelligence of her interpretations. Recent credits include Carmen, Carmen, Sofia Opera and ballet, 2021, Dido, Dido and Aeneas, Chœur Vivace, 2019. Duchesse Della Volta, La fille du tambour major, Opéra Bouffe du Québec, 2019. Gabrielle (premiere), La nuit est ma femme, Théâtre de Longueuil/...
Nikkei Canadian settler Teiya Kasahara 笠原 貞野 (they/them) is a queer/trans non-binary opera singer and theatre creator based in Tkarón:to (Toronto). Recently featured in the CBC short-doc OPERA TRANS*FORMED, Teiya is a graduate of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio and the 2022 recipient of the Joseph S. Stauffer Prize in Music (Canada Council for...
Baritone Renowned for his luminous voice “capable of the most powerful explosions as well as the gentlest covered notes” (Toronto Star) baritone Russell Braun rightfully claims his place on the concert, opera and recital stages of the world. His intelligent and thoughtful portrayals of Chou En-lai, Billy Budd, Prince Andrei, Figaro, Papageno, Count Almaviva, Don...
Raneem Barakat (she/her) is a Syrian Mezzo-Soprano based in Toronto. She has just earned her bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance, with Honours, from the University of Toronto – Faculty of Music, under the supervision of Prof. Darryl Edwards. As a soloist, she performed with many orchestras and choirs, in Canada and around the globe, including...