This ensemble was formed to bring operas and opera excerpts to a wider public, in concert format, and to help emerging and established professional singers develop new repertoire in performance.

Some of the performance proceeds are used to further the training of such singers at the Centre for Opera in Sulmona, Italy (C.O.S.I.). This is a Canadian-based program in which advanced singers learn the Italian language and experience Italian culture, perform in a full production of an Italian opera with orchestra, and immerse themselves in the rigorous work required for excellence in operatic performance.