BETTY ALLISON    LUCIA CESARONI    SEAN CLARK    BENJAMIN COVEY    DARRYL EDWARDS    

ANDREA GRANT    STEPHEN HEGEDUS    OLIVIER LAQUERRE    SIGNA LOVE    JEREMY LUDWIG

ADAM LUTHER    MARION NEWMAN    KASIA SADEJ    FRÉDÉRIQUE VÉZINA   

Betty Allison, soprano

Born in Whitehorse, Yukon, Betty Allison is a graduate of the University of Victoria, with a bachelor of music and a bachelor of education. Since 2006, she has been a member of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, and most recently sang the role of Annina in the COC’s production of La Traviata, the Trainbearer of Klytämnestra in Elektra, as well as Mona in the Ensemble Studio production of Swoon. This summer she also appeared as Countess Almaviva for the Centre for Opera in Sulmona, Italy. With the COC during the 2007/08 season Ms Allison will be understudying the roles of Countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Voix dans le Ciel in Don Carlos, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, and Donna Ximena in the Ensemble Studio production of Gazzaniga’s Don Giovanni.

Lucia Cesaroni, soprano

Soprano Lucia Cesaroni holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto, and has begun her studies in the UofT Opera Master's degree program. This past year she participated in masterclasses with Adrianne Pieczonka, Russell Braun and Francis Ginzer, and gave a Young Artist Recital for the Aldeburgh Connection and for the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto. Summer 2005 and 2006 found Lucia in Montreal for the International Vocal Arts Institute under Joan Dornemann and Marlena Malas, and also  in this summer's voice programs at the Chautauqua Institute. At the 2005 Aspen Music Festival’s opera program, she garnered credits in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Villa-Lobos’ Bacchianas Brazilieras no. 5 and scenes from Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, Verdi’s Falstaff and Massenet’s Werther.

In June 2004, Lucia was awarded first place at the Canadian Music Competition’s national final. In summer 2004, she completed an intensive study with opera great Mirella Freni in Modena, Italy. That summer, she sang the lead role of Lauretta in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Suor Genovieve in Suor Angelica with La Musica Lirica Summer Opera Festival in Italy. In the realm of oratorio, Lucia understudied the First Soprano in Mozart’s Mass in C- under Helmuth Rilling,  and was a featured soloist with the MacMillan Singers in Mendelssohn’s Lobegesang, Symphony No.2. In November she will appear as Susanna in Opera York's production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, and in March, 2007, as Lucia in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia  at UofT's MacMillan Theatre.

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Frédérique Vézina, soprano

Soprano Frédérique Vézina has established herself both in Canada and the United States as an artist of note. Debuts with the Toronto Symphony (Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem) and Washington Opera (Wellgunde in Das Rheingold) highlighted Ms. Vezina’s 2005-2006 schedule.  Also among her engagements were Pacific Opera Victoria’s Eugene Onegin (Tatiana), a solo recital for the Mountain View Festival in Alberta, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 for l’Orchestre Metropolitain with Nezet Seguin, and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor  for L’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec with Yoav Talmi. In the U.S. she was heard at Chautauqua Festival as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, and she will appear as a young artist with the Juilliard Opera Center, 2007-2009.

Ms. Vezina begins her 2006-2007 season as Mimi in La Bohème for L’Opéra de Québec. Elvira in  Don Giovanni is on her schedule for Pacific Opera Victoria and Orchestra London and on the concert stage she appears as soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem for the Thunder Bay Symphony.  In a lighter vein she will be heard with Orchestra London in an evening devoted to Viennese operetta classics. 

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Signa Love, mezzo-soprano

Signa Love is a native of Quispamsis, New Brunswick, and a recent graduate in voice performance from Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. A recipient of the Dr. Eileen Travis Memorial Award from Opera New Brunswick and a scholarship from the New Brunswick Arts Board, Signa has appeared as Dinah in Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, the Announcer in Douglas Moore’s Galantry, and has been broadcaston CBC Radio Atlantic, and Atlantic Television (ATV). She has also appeared as soloist with the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra, the Sussex Choral Society, and with the Operafestival di Roma, Italy. Signa is now a Mus. M. (Opera Performance) student at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music.

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Marion Newman, mezzo-soprano

First Nations mezzo-soprano Marion Newman starred in the title role of Carmen with opera 2005 in Cork Ireland, for which the Irish Examiner noted her “superbly sinuous sexuality” and called her a “very exciting new talent”. She has also appeared as Margret in Wozzeck and Juno in the The Tempest with Pacific Opera Victoria and in the Czech Republic and Germany as Don Ramiro in Mozart’s Die Gärtnerin Aus Liebe and Zita and La Zia Principessa in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica in Italy. The Naxos recording of the Aradia Ensemble performing Handel’s Rinaldo features Marion singing the role of Goffredo. This past season her roles have included Third lady in Die Zauberflöte with Vancouver Opera, a Naxos recording of La Griselda with Marion in the title role, a return to Ireland for the role of Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Flora in La Traviata for the Ateneo in Sulmona, Italy and Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, for the C.O.S.I. summer opera program.

On the concert stage, Marion has performed with many ensembles including the Victoria Symphony, Portland Baroque Orchestra, San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, the St. Lawrence Choir, Fanshawe Chorus London and the Elora Festival Singers. Her extensive repertoire includes Handel’s Messiah, the Mozart Requiem, Bach’s St. John Passion, Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater and Copland’s In The Beginning.

Marion has also demonstrated her "luscious mezzo soprano voice and captivating vivacity" on television, having been featured four times as a soloist on CBC’s National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, and opening the 2002 Royal Golden Jubilee Gala at Roy Thompson Hall, where she performed the National Anthem with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir before Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

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Kasia Sadej, mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano Katarzyna (Kasia) Sadej was born in Wroclaw, Poland in 1984 and immigrated with her immediate family to Canada in 1989. Kasia graduated summa cum laude from the University of Ottawa, earning her Bachelor of Music degree this past May. She is now pursuing further studies in opera and vocal performance, through a Master’s degree at the University of Toronto; she is studying voice with Darryl Edwards. Kasia's teachers at Ottawa University were Ingemar Korjus and Joanne Kolomyjec. Kasia had her professional operatic debut in December 2005 as Hansel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel with the Opera Lyra Young Artists’ Program. With the University of Ottawa’s Opera Workshop, she also performed the roles of Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, and the Second Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflote. This past November she performed the national anthem at the 2005 Governor General Awards, accompanied by the NAC orchestra. In March 2006, she won the Vivian Asfar Memorial Award for Vocal Excellence, awarded each year to the most promising member of the Opera Lyra Young Artists Program (she was mentioned in Opera Canada Magazine's spring issue 2006 for winning this award). In February 2005, Kasia won the NATS (National Association of Teacher’s of Singing) competition in her category and received the “Most Promising Singer" Award. In July 2006, Kasia performed in a masterclass given by Christa Ludwig, and studied extensively with Dalton Baldwin and Lorraine Nubar at the Academy of Nice, France.

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Sean Clark, tenor

Tenor Sean Clark holds a M.Mus. degree from Arizona State University, where he studied with David Britton.While working on his undergraduate degree at Ithaca College, Sean performed and understudied roles in Cosi fan tutte, Die Fledermaus, Dialogues of the Carmelites, A Hand of Bridge, The Magic Flute, Three Penny Opera, Parade and L'Incoronazione di Poppea. In the summer of 2003, Sean was a member of the vocal cast at College Light Opera Company and performed roles in The Gondoliers, Trial by Jury, Sweeney Todd and Guys and Dolls. With the Lyric Opera Theatre at ASU, Sean has been seen as the Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, Billy Crocker in Anything Goes, King Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, and the Chevalier in Dialogues of the Carmelites.

Sean is now a student in the University of Toronto Opera Diploma program, where his 2006-2007 performances have included Alfred in Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus, and as a featured artist in the UofT's Amphitheatre Concerts at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

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Adam Luther, tenor

Tenor Adam Luther will appear as a member of the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio, in its 2007-2008 program. This spring he completes his studies at the University of Toronto Opera Division, where his roles will have included Alfred in Die Fledermaus, Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, Spärlich in Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor, and Rodolfo in an "Opera Tea" production ofLa Bohème. Adam received his Bachelor of Music degree from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2005. There he performed Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Judge Danforth in The Crucible. This year, Adam has been a featured soloist with Parry Sound's Sounds of the Festival, the Aldeburgh Connection, Arts & Letters Club of Toronto, and in the Toronto Philharmonia's 2006 Opera Gala. Adam has performed at the Chautauqua Summer Music program, and at the Banff Centre's Opera as Theatre program, Adam appeared as Stefano in John Estacio’s opera Filumena. Other recent and upcoming performances include Tamino with the Guelph Symphony Orchestra in Mozart's The Magic Flute, and as tenor soloist for Chorus Niagara's performances of Handel’s Messiah.

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Benjamin Covey, baritone

For baritone Benjamin Covey, engagements including performances of Handel's Messiah with both the Regina and Hamilton symphony Orchestras, the Mozart Requiem with the Bach-Elgar Choir, Faure’s Requiem with the St. John’s Church Choir of Elora under the direction of Noel Edison, and a nationally televised recital for BRAVO! Television’s The Classical Now, are all highlights of Mr. Covey’s budding career. He has a Bachelor’s degree and Opera Diploma from Wilfrid Laurier University studying under Victor Martens and David Falk, and is currently enrolled in the Masters of Opera program at the University of Toronto under the tutelage of Darryl Edwards. Opera roles have included Bottom in A Mid-Summer Night's Dream (Laurier Opera), John Proctor in The Crucible (Laurier Opera), Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor (University of Toronto Opera Division), and Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro (Toronto Opera Division). Upcoming engagements have Mr. Covey performing Bach Cantatas 70 and 110 at the International Bach Festival in Toronto under the direction of Helmuth Rilling, Dr. Falke in the University of Toronto Opera Division’s production of Die Fledermaus this fall and a joint recital for the Aldeburgh Connection’s young artists series in 2007.

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Jeremy Ludwig, baritone

Jeremy Ludig began his musical studies in his native British Columbia, and recently completed a B.Mus. (Honours Performance) degree at the University of Western Ontario. He has made several opera appearances for the UWO Opera and for Edmonton’s Opera NUOVA, including roles in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Offenbach’s La Perichole, Mozart’s The Impresario,  Carlyle Floyd’s Slow Dusk, and Léhar’s The Merry Widow. He has also been heard as the bass soloist in Mozart’s Coronation Mass with the Handel Society Choir of White Rock, B.C. Jeremy is presently continuing his opera training in the master’s degree program of the University of Toronto Faculty of Music.
 

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Olivier Laquerre, bass-baritone

BAward-winner at the Paris and Verviers international voice competitions, bass-baritone Olivier Laquerre has been in great demand as a soloist since winning the prestigious Joseph-Rouleau Prize (1st Prize) at the Jeunesses Musicales of Canada Voice Competition in 1999. His operatic appearances include productions with the Canadian Opera Company, the Edinburgh Festival, the Boston Early Music Festival, Opera Atelier and Opera de Québec, as well as solo appearances with the Montreal Symphony, Quebec Symphony, Symphony Nova Scotia, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Olivier Laquerre is regularly heard on the English and French networks of the CBC Radio.

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Stephen Hegedus, bass

Bass Stephen Hegedus has been described as a “…charming actor and more to the point a singer of enormous promise. He has a warm voice with a distinctive vibrato that adds interesting colour” (Paula Citron, Classical 96.3 FM). Currently pursuing a Master of Music in Operatic Performance at the University of Toronto, Stephen most recently appeared as Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Saskatoon Opera and Figaro in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with the University of Toronto Opera Division. Other operatic roles with the University of Toronto Opera Division include Sir John Falstaff in Nicolai’s DieLustigen Weiber von Windsor, Colline in La Bohème, and Betto and The Notary in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. Stephen has studied in Italy at La Musica Lirica and at the Banff Centre where he performed the role of Dr. Bartolo in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. His concert and oratorio work include appearances with the Alderburgh Connection, with the Metropolitan United Church Choir and Orchestra in Mozart’s Requiem and Ruth Watson Henderson’s From Darkness to Light and the International Bach Festival under the baton of Helmuth Rilling. Recent engagements include Frank in Die Fledermaus with the University of Toronto Opera Division. In October, he furthered his studies at the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme in Aldeburgh, England. Stephen holds an Honours Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance and Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Toronto. In 2006 was honoured as the inaugural recipient of the Janet Stubbs Fellowship.

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Andrea Grant, piano

Pianist Andrea Grant received her Honours Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance fromWilfrid Laurier University, and went on to complete a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Western Ontario.  At the University of Toronto, Andrea then received a Diploma in Operatic Performance as a repetiteur.  She has participated as a coach/repetiteur in the Banff Centre’s 20^th Century Dramatic Integration and Opera as Theatre programs, and in song classes with Martin Isepp at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh, UK.  Andrea has worked with Tapestry New Opera Works, Soundstreams Canada, Omaha Opera, and the Banff Centre and Calgary Opera in productions and performances of new opera works.   She is currently co-director of music at Runnymede United Church, and a member of the University of Toronto Opera Division music staff.

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Darryl Edwards, artistic director

Darryl Edwards is the Artistic Director of the Concert Opera Group. He is an Associate Professor and the Head of  Voice Studies at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, where he teaches singers in Voice Studies and Opera. He has appeared as tenor soloist throughout Canada, the United States and Europe, and holds a doctorate in musical arts from the University of Michigan. His performances in 2006-2007 include Kodály's Psalmus Hungaricus  in a CBC broadcast performance with the National  Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the Verdi Requiem  in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Mozart Requiem with the Toronto Mendelssohn Singers, and Handel's Messiah with the Elmer Iseler Singers. Dr. Edwards is also Artistic Director of the Centre for Opera in Sulmona, Italy (C.O.S.I.) -- an Italian language and operatic training program for advanced singers.

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