Julie Nesrallah is a Canadian mezzo-soprano and radio host.
Her past operatic roles include Isabella in L'italiana in Algeri , the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos , Suzuki in Madama Butterfly , Maddalena in Rigoletto , Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro , Cenerentola in La Cenerentola , and Carmen in Carmen , among others. She sang "God Save the Queen" for Will and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, for Canada Day festivities on Parliament Hill in 2012, and "An Evening for Peace" for Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan in Montreal.
Nesrallah is the host of Tempo on CBC Music, Canada's national classical music program, and is the executive producer and star of Carmen on Tap, a company that performs Georges Bizet's opera Carmen as dinner theatre.
She was a recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts Emerging Artist Award & Mid-Career Grant, a grand prize winner of the Brian Law Opera Award, grand prize winner of the Arab Ambassador Awards, grand prize winner of the Cercle des Cents Associes Award, and winner of the Lebanese Canadian Chamber of Commerce Award.
Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, is an English soprano and early music specialist. She has sung on over 100 recordings.
In Canada, classical music includes a range of musical styles rooted in the traditions of Western or European classical music that European settlers brought to the country from the 17th century and onwards. As well, it includes musical styles brought by other ethnic communities from the 19th century and onwards, such as Indian classical music and Chinese classical music. Since Canada's emergence as a nation in 1867, the country has produced its own composers, musicians and ensembles. As well, it has developed a music infrastructure that includes training institutions, conservatories, performance halls, and a public radio broadcaster, CBC, which programs a moderate amount of Classical music. There is a high level of public interest in classical music and education.
Isabel Bayrakdarian is a Lebanese-born Canadian operatic soprano of Armenian descent who now resides and works in the United States.
Alain Trudel is a Canadian conductor, trombonist and composer.
Liu Fang(Chinese: t劉芳,s刘芳,pLiú Fāng;b. 1974) is a Chinese–Canadian musician who is one of the most prominent pipa players in the world. Described in the media as the "empress of pipa" (L'actualité), "divine mediator" (World), "the greatest ambassadress of the art of the pipa", Liu Fang is known as "possessing virtuoso technique, grace and a unique empathy toward the music she plays – whether it is a traditional and folk tune or a modern Western composition". "She has an extraordinary focused, poised presence in her manner and her playing. In a lesser player this is just a trained formality; the body of material and techniques for her instruments is extremely highly developed, passed down through centuries. But Liu Fang’s total devotion to her playing has moved her beyond perfect execution to the creativity and flexibility that marks a true musician."(in the fRoots Magazine, 06.2006).
Barbara Fris is a Canadian soprano and actress who performs as an opera singer, concert artist, and recitalist. She specializes in opera and classical symphonic works for voice, having performed across Canada, in Europe and the United States where she also has sung a wide range of works that include operettas, musical theatre, light classics, lieder, French mélodie, and art songs.
Noël Ferdinand Lionel Daunais, was a French Canadian baritone and composer.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, CC is a Canadian (Québécois) conductor and pianist. He is currently music director of the Orchestre Métropolitain (Montréal), the Metropolitan Opera, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He was also principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra from 2008 to 2018.
Jennifer Larmore is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer, particularly noted for her performances in coloratura and bel canto roles which she has performed in the world's major opera houses. She has been a professor at the Music College of Seoul National University since March 2021.
Marie-Nicole Lemieux, C.M., C.Q. is a Canadian coloratura contralto. In 2000, she became the first Canadian to win first prize at the Queen Elizabeth International Music Competition in Belgium. Lemieux has continued to perform classical music, appearing with various orchestras and opera companies. Lemieux possesses an unusually flexible contralto voice lacking the heaviness that is often associated with her particular voice type. Lemieux frequently performs Baroque opera including operas of Handel and Vivaldi. Her voice is admired for its richness, warmth and resonance and for its expressiveness and use of many different tone colors. Lemieux is also praised by critics for her stage presence and communicative power.
Anna Kasyan is a Georgian-born Armenian opera singer (soprano) living in France. Kasyan is one of the young artists who is viewed with high expectations in her field.
Angel Joy Blue, is an American opera soprano and classical crossover artist. She won the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for the Metropolitan Opera production of Porgy and Bess in the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. Her voice has been recognized for its shining and agile upper register, "smoky" middle register, beautiful timbre, and ability to switch from a classical to a contemporary sound. She has performed internationally and won numerous awards including a Grammy Award, Operalia and Miss Hollywood. According to family lore, her father Sylvester predicted her to be “the next Leontyne Price” when she was born.
Mark Steven Doss is a Grammy Award-winning African-American bass-baritone, specializing in opera, concert and recital. He has performed major roles with many international opera companies, including Milan's La Scala, Vienna State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Brussels' La Monnaie, Canadian Opera Company, and Oper Frankfurt. He divides his time between Toronto, Ontario and Erie, Pennsylvania.
Peter Anthony Togni is a freelance Canadian composer and broadcaster based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. "Togni's music is deeply felt, simply put, well-crafted and irradiated by a personal sense of the divine."
Benjamin Walter Bowman is an American-Canadian violinist. The Metropolitan Opera and incoming Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin appointed Bowman as concertmaster as of the 2018-19 season, after a successful one-year term in 2017-18; he shares his role with David Chan. Bowman was Grammy-nominated in 2016 for his recording with the ARC Ensemble 'Chamber Works of Jerzy Fitelberg' on the Chandos label. He has performed to critical acclaim throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He is a member or frequent guest artist for leading chamber music ensembles internationally, including the twice Grammy-nominated ARC Ensemble, Art of Time Ensemble, and Leondari Ensemble. Bowman was featured on the 2013 Juno-winning album Levant and the 2011 Juno-nominated disc Armenian Chamber Music with the Amici Chamber Ensemble. Until 2019, he was the concertmaster of the American Ballet Theatre orchestra. He is an ensemble member of Orchestra of St. Luke's.
Wallis Giunta is an Irish-Canadian mezzo-soprano opera singer and actress performing at leading theatres and opera companies around the world.
Natalia Matsak is a Ukrainian ballet dancer, prima ballerina in the National Opera House of Ukraine, and an Honored Artist of Ukraine.
Ian Parker is a Canadian classical pianist.
Elsa Dreisig is a French-Danish operatic soprano. Based at the Berlin State Opera, she made a European career in both opera and concert. Her opera roles include, besides the standard lyric soprano repertoire such as Mozart's Fiordiligi and Bizet's Micaëla, Baroque opera such as Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, and the world premiere of Beat Furrer's Violetter Schnee.
Margarita Vitalievna Gritskova is a Russian mezzo-soprano in opera and lied singing. A member of the Vienna State Opera since 2012, she is focused on roles by Rossini such as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia and La Cenerentola, but has also performed in Baroque opera and contemporary works such as Tri sestri by Péter Eötvös.