Sandra Horst is a Canadian pianist, vocal coach, and choral conductor. She is the chorus master at the Canadian Opera Company. She was profiled in the July 2009 issue of Opera News . [1] She graduated with honors from Wilfrid Laurier University with a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance. She later earned a Masters of Music in Accompaniment from New England Conservatory and earned a diploma in accompaniment from the professional studies program at the Juilliard School. She is a tenured music professor at the University of Toronto. She has previously served on the staffs of the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Boston Lyric Opera, the Chautauqua Institute, Juilliard Opera Center, Opera Hamilton, Opera Saskatchewan, [2] and the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
The Bartered Bride is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The work is generally regarded as a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It was composed during the period 1863 to 1866, and first performed at the Provisional Theatre, Prague, on 30 May 1866 in a two-act format with spoken dialogue. Set in a country village and with realistic characters, it tells the story of how, after a late surprise revelation, true love prevails over the combined efforts of ambitious parents and a scheming marriage broker.
Anna Sokolow was an American dancer and choreographer. Sokolow's work is known for its social justice focus and theatricality. Throughout her career, Sokolow supported of the development of modern dance around the world, including in Mexico and Israel.
The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, which was purpose-built for opera and ballet and is shared with the National Ballet of Canada. For forty years until April 2006, the COC had performed at the O'Keefe Centre.
Stacey Tappan is an American coloratura soprano.
Stephanie Blythe is an American mezzo-soprano who has had an active international career in operas and concerts since the early 1990s. She is particularly associated with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, with whom she has performed annually since her debut with the company in 1995. In 2014 she starred as Gertrude Stein in the world premiere of 27, an opera composed by Ricky Ian Gordon with libretto by Royce Vavrek, and commissioned for her by the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) is an American summer opera festival held in St. Louis, Missouri. Typically four operas, all sung in English, are presented each season, which runs from late May to late June. Performances are accompanied by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, which is divided into two ensembles, each covering two of the operas, for the season. The company's performances are presented in the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of Webster University.
Christina Petrowska Quilico is a Canadian pianist. She is a professor emerita, senior scholar at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2020 "For her celebrated career as a classical and contemporary pianist and for championing Canadian music." In 2021, she was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 2022, she was appointed to the Order of Ontario for having "opened the ears of music lovers internationally through numerous classical and contemporary performances.... As a Professor of Musicology and Piano at York University, she has received esteemed research awards. As a benefactor, she established The Christina and Louis Quilico Award at the Ontario Arts Foundation and the Canadian Opera Company." She was presented with the Ontario Arts Council's Oskar Morawetz Award for Excellence in Music Performance, "recognizing talent and commitment to Canadian music", in October 2023.
Gloria Davy was a Swiss soprano of American birth who had an active international career in operas and concerts from the 1950s through the 1980s. A spinto soprano, she was widely acclaimed for her portrayal of the title role in Verdi's Aida, a role she performed in many of the world's top opera houses. She was notably the first black artist to perform the role of Aida at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1958. While she performed a broad repertoire, she was particularly admired for her interpretations of 20th-century music, including the works of Richard Strauss, Benjamin Britten and Paul Hindemith.
James Westman is a Canadian baritone known for his interpretation of the Verdi, Puccini and bel canto operatic repertoire, and particularly his signature role of Germont in La traviata, which he has sung in over 150 performances, with opera companies such as San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Graz Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Opéra de Montréal, Los Angeles Opera, Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, Canadian Opera Company, Boston Lyric Opera, Cologne Opera, Vancouver Opera, English National Opera, San Diego Opera, Dallas Opera, Utah Opera, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis. On January 29, 2011 Westman created the lead role of Sandy Keith In the world premiere of Bramwell Tovey's The Inventor. In 2017 he played Sir John A. MacDonald in Harry Somers's Louis Riel for the Canadian Opera Company's tribute to Canada's 150th celebrations. As a recitalist, he has performed for the Marilyn Horne Foundation, Aldeburgh Connection, Aldeburgh Festival, Musikverein, Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Morgan Library & Museum, Koerner Hall, Carnegie Hall, Saito Kinen Festival in Japan, Stratford Summer Music, British Broadcasting Corporation, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Westman first came to attention at the age of twelve when he was the first boy soprano to perform and record Mahler 4th Symphony with Benjamin Zander and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra in 1984. Westman is regularly featured as the Anthem singer for the Toronto Maple Leafs and numerous other NHL franchises. Four of Westman's recordings have been nominated for a Juno Award. Two recordings nominated for a Grammy Award.
Jonathan Estabrooks is a Grammy Award nominated Canadian record producer, filmmaker, trained Operatic baritone, and graduate of the Juilliard School.
Martha Lipton was an American operatic mezzo-soprano and music educator who is best known for her career performing at the Metropolitan Opera from 1944-1961. A native of New York City, she began her training as a vocalist with her mother who had a brief career as a concert soprano under the name Estelle Laiken. She later studied both privately and at the School of Musicianship for Singers, Inc and the Juilliard School. She made her professional concert debut while still a student in 1933 at Carnegie Hall, performing in a concert of light opera excerpts with the New York Light Opera Guild. In 1936 she began working as a church vocalist at both Riverside Church and Temple Emanu-El of New York.
Jennifer Johnson Cano is an American operatic mezzo-soprano. Before her college education, she attended St. Pius X High School, graduating in the Class of 2002. While in high school, she was a member of the choir, singing at Mass and state competitions. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Webster University and a Master of Music degree from Rice University where she was a pupil of Kathleen Kaun. In 2008, she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and in 2009, she won the Young Concert Artists competition and was the recipient of a Sullivan Foundation grant. She was a member of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.
Hanan Alattar is an American operatic soprano who has had an active international career in concerts and in operas since the early 2000s. She has performed with many leading opera companies and orchestras in the United States and Europe, collaborating with such notable conductors as Plácido Domingo, James Conlon and Miguel Harth-Bedoya.
Daniel Ferro was an American bass-baritone and voice teacher. He was known primarily as a teacher whose students have included many prominent opera singers, but he also had a career as a singer himself both on the concert stage and in opera and musical theatre.
Jamie Barton is an American mezzo-soprano. She won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition in June 2013. She is also the winner of the 2015 Richard Tucker Award.
John Thomas Holiday Jr. is an American operatic countertenor. His repertoire focuses on the Baroque and contemporary composers, including staged opera and opera in concert, works for voice and orchestra, and experimental mixed-media. He has participated in several world premieres. He has performed with several opera companies in the United States, toured with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and sung in Shanghai and several European cities. He also sings gospel, pop, and jazz; he was a contestant on season 19 of NBC's The Voice, a vocal competition television series.
Wallis Giunta is a Canadian mezzo-soprano opera singer performing at leading theatres and opera companies around the world.
Black conductors are musicians of African, Caribbean, African-American ancestry and other members of the African diaspora who are musical ensemble leaders who direct classical music performances, such as an orchestral or choral concerts, or jazz ensemble big band concerts by way of visible gestures with the hands, arms, face and head. Conductors of African descent are rare, as the vast majority are male and Caucasian.
Santee Smith Tekaronhiáhkhwa is a Canadian Mohawk multidisciplinary artist, dancer, designer, producer, and choreographer. She has used her voice and research to create dance works representing Indigenous identities. She is an advocate for Indigenous performances and is one of Canada's most dominating dance artists. Santee Smith has amassed multiple awards throughout her career and in 2019, she was appointed Chancellor of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Donald Palumbo is an American choral conductor and vocal coach. He is the chorus master of the Metropolitan Opera based in New York City and a member of the Vocal Arts faculty at the Juilliard School.