Sandra Horst

Director of Music Studies

University of Toronto Opera

BMus (WLU), MMus (NEC), COC Ensemble Studio. UofT conducting credits: L’elisir d’amore, La voix Humaine, Les Mamelles de Tiresias, Hansel and Gretel, L’Enfant et les sortilèges, L’Heure espangnol, Taptoo!, HMS Pinafore, Don Pasquale, Paul Bunyan. Chorus Master at COC since 1998; Audition Consultant for Opera Theatre of St Louis; frequent judge for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Recognized by Wilfrid Laurier University as “100 Alumni of Achievement”. Formerly chorus master of Opera Theatre of St Louis and Edmonton Opera and vocal coach/repetiteur at Juilliard Opera Center, Chautauqua Institute School of Singing, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Saskatchewan, Opera Ontario, Banff Centre for the Arts. Heard as the host of CBC Radio’s “This is My Music” and in recital on CBC and WGBH Radio in New England.

Michael Albano

Resident Stage Director

University of Toronto Opera

With U of T Opera Michael Albano has directed over 40 productions and has developed a graduate course in operatic composition. Michael Albano has directed at: New York City Opera, Yale School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, COC. Selected Directorial credits include: Il barbiere di Siviglia, Le Comte Ory, Le nozze di Figaro, L’elisir d’amore, La belle Hélène, La Traviata, The Gondoliers, Die Fledermaus, La Bohème, Gianni Schicchi, Swoon, Così fan tutte, L’Enfant prodigue, Paul Bunyan.

Selected original libretti include: The Machine Stops; Footsteps in Campbell House; Rob Ford, the Opera; The Last Duel; The Very Last Green Thing; A Dickens of a Christmas; Laura’s Cow, the Legend of Laura Secord; Alice in Wonderland. Currently working on Fall River, the legend of Lizzie Borden.

Russell Braun

Resident Operatic Performance Specialist  

University of Toronto Opera

Russell Braun holds his BMus, Opera Dip (UofT) Selected repertoire: Chou En-lai (Nixon in China), Prince Andrei (War and Peace), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Ford (Falstaff), The Traveller (Death in Venice), Elijah, Peter Eötvös’s Senza Sangue, Carmina Burana, title role in Billy Budd, Pelléas et Mélisande, Don Giovanni, Louis Riel, Eugene Onegin, Il barbiere di Siviglia

Performed with: Metropolitan Opera, l’Opéra de Paris, State Opera in Vienna, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, LA Opera, La Scala, COC, Salzburg and Glyndebourne festivals, TSO, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, BBC Symphony, OSM

Selected discography: Das Lied von der Erde, Mozart Arie e duetti, Apollo e Daphne, Winterreise, Le Vaisseau Fantôme, Romeo et Juliette, Dido and Aeneas, Nixon in China

Wendy Nielsen

Head of Voice Studies

University of Toronto Opera

Head of Voice Studies at UofT,  lead vocal consultant for the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio Program, Artistic Director of St Andrews Summer Opera Workshop. Sang with Metropolitan Opera and every opera company in Canada.  Operatic roles: Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Micaela in Carmen, Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito and the title role in Tosca, Ariadne, Vanessa. Conductors: James Levine, Kurt Masur, James Conlon, Mario Bernardi, Charles Dutoit, Richard Bradshaw, Ivan Fischer. Former Chair Debut Atlantic. Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal and the Order of New Brunswick. BMus (Lethbridge), MMus (UBC).

Steven Philcox

Head of Collaborative Piano

University of Toronto Opera

BMus (UBC), MMus (Manhattan School of Music), Music Academy of the West. Head of UofT Collaborative Piano Program;  co-director of Canadian Art Song Project. For twelve years répétiteur, assistant conductor and orchestral continuo player with the Canadian Opera Company. Has given masterclasses and/or been a faculty member at Opera on the Avalon, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Vancouver International Song Institute, The Banff Center, Chautauqua Summer Institute, Center for Operatic Studies in Italy, Highlands Opera Studio.

Daniel Taylor

Head of Early Music

University of Toronto Opera

Director: UofT Schola Cantorum Choir and Orchestra, Theatre of Early Music, Quebec International Festival of Sacred Music

Selected Repertoire: Rinaldo, Rodelinda, Theodora, Orfeo ed Euridice, Israel in Egypt, Carmina Burana, Christmas Oratorio, Saul, Bach St. John Passion

Selected Engagers: Metropolitan Opera, Glyndebourne, Welsh National Opera, COC, Academy of Ancient Music, Cleveland Orchestra, TSO, Philadelphia Orchestra Bachakademie Stuttgart, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, BBC Proms
Selected Discography: Bach Cantatas; Renaissance duets; Rinaldo; Theodora; Rodelinda; Cantatas “Before Bach”; Vivaldi Gloria; four recordings of Handel’s Messiah, Bach B minor Mass

Peter Barnes

Voice Teacher

University of Toronto Opera

Peter Barnes is a versatile baritone with a reputation for outstanding performances in opera, oratorio, concert and musical theatre. He graduated from the University of Toronto Opera Division in 1985 and since then has appeared with opera companies and orchestras from coast to coast. His achievements include honours in the “Du Maurier Search for the Stars”, the National Bach Aria Competition, the CG Young Performers’ Competition.

Darryl Edwards

Voice Teacher

University of Toronto Opera

BMus, BEd, MMus (UWO), DMA (Michigan). His students regularly appear in leading roles with major opera companies and orchestras worldwide. As a performer: MSO (Charles Dutoit), Calgary Philharmonic (Hans Graf), Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (Noel Edison),  Heidelberg Bach-Chor (Christian Kabitz), National Arts Centre Orchestra (Franz-Paul Decker). In 2016-2017: voice adjudicator for Canadian National Music Festival Finals in Edmonton; Artistic Director, Centre for Opera Studies in Italy and Centre for Opera Studies & Appreciation. Guest instructor: Charles University, Prague; University of Auckland;  Royal College of Music; Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; Central Conservatory, Beijing;  Xi’an Conservatory.

Lorna Macdonald

Voice Teacher

University of Toronto Opera

BME (Dalhousie), MMus (New England Cons). Leads Vocal Pedagogy in a progressive, three-level program combining music, science and teaching. OCUFA Award for “teaching excellence and outstanding contributions to university teaching”

Performances and master classes across North America, Bermuda, Taiwan, China, France, Ireland, UK, Germany, and Austria. Lorna has performed with Metropolitan Opera, Chicago, New York, Houston, Los Angeles, Washington, Fort Worth and Dallas Opera companies. Creator and librettist of The Bells of Baddeck – the Alexander Graham and Mabel Bell Story, music by Dean Burry. Other original programs include multi-media work “Lois Marshall in Russia”, and “Marrying Mozart”, adapted from the book by Stephanie Cowell.

Elizabeth McDonald

Voice Teacher

University of Toronto Opera

BMus (UofT), MMus (Eastman).  Further training: Banff Centre, Britten-Pears School, Orford Arts Centre, Santa Fe Opera and COC Ensemble. Roles include Elettra (Idomeneo), The Woman (Erwartung), Miss Jessel (The Turn of the Screw), Jenufa (Jenufa). Has appeared with the National Ballet Orchestra, Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, Kingston Symphony. Regular recitalist with Virginia Polytechnic University, Eastman School of Music, Off Centre Music Salon and the Universities of Toronto, Lethbridge, Queen’s, Carlton. Adjudicator for major voice festivals across Canada and regularly works as a vocal consultant for the Ontario Youth Choir, the Toronto Children’s Chorus and the University of Toronto’s annual Choral Symposium.

Wendy Nielsen

Voice Teacher

University of Toronto Opera

Head of Voice Studies at UofT,  lead vocal consultant for the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio Program, Artistic Director of St Andrews Summer Opera Workshop. Sang with Metropolitan Opera and every opera company in Canada. Operatic roles: Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Micaela in Carmen, Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito and the title role in Tosca, Ariadne, Vanessa. Conductors: James Levine, Kurt Masur, James Conlon, Mario Bernardi, Charles Dutoit, Richard Bradshaw, Ivan Fischer. Former Chair Debut Atlantic. Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal and the Order of New Brunswick. BMus (Lethbridge), MMus (UBC).

Nathalie Paulin

Voice Teacher

University of Toronto Opera

Native of New Brunswick. B.Mus, M.Mus (U de Montréal), post-grad with Dalton Baldwin and Lorraine Nubar, COC Ensemble Studio. Has sung with every Canadian opera company. Conductors: Sir Roger Norrington, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Andrew Parrott, Michael Christie, Robert Spano, David Agler, Bernard Labadie, Graeme Jenkins, Andrew Litton, Antony Walker, Jacques Lacombe, Yoav Talmi. Roles: Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande), Norina (Don Pasquale), Marzelline (Fidelio), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Antonia (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Micaëla (Carmen),  title role in Rodelinda, Semele and Massenet’s Manon. International engagers: Wexford Festival, Mercury Baroque of Houston, Chicago Opera Theater, Arizona Opera, Cincinnati Opera

Daniel Taylor

Voice Teacher

University of Toronto Opera

Director: UofT Schola Cantorum Choir and Orchestra, Theatre of Early Music, Quebec International Festival of Sacred Music

Selected Repertoire: Rinaldo, Rodelinda, Theodora, Orfeo ed Euridice, Israel in Egypt, Carmina Burana, Christmas Oratorio, Saul, Bach St. John Passion

Selected Engagers: Metropolitan Opera, Glyndebourne, Welsh National Opera, COC, Academy of Ancient Music, Cleveland Orchestra, TSO, Philadelphia Orchestra Bachakademie Stuttgart, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, BBC Proms
Selected Discography: Bach Cantatas; Renaissance duets; Rinaldo; Theodora; Rodelinda; Cantatas “Before Bach”; Vivaldi Gloria; four recordings of Handel’s Messiah, Bach B minor Mass

Laura Tucker

Voice Teacher

University of Toronto Opera

BA (Seattle Pacific U), MMus (Manhattan School of Music), Juilliard Opera Center.
She has performed at New York City Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Seattle Opera, Opera Philadelphia, COC, Wexford Festival, Huddersfield New Music Festival, Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Chicago Ravinia Festival, New York Mostly Mozart Festival, Lincoln Center.

Roles include Charlotte (Werther), Sesto (La clemenza di Tito), Dorabella (Cosi fan tutte), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier), Erika (Vanessa), Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Helmwige (Die Walküre), Marco Polo in the North American premiere of Marco Polo by Tan Dun.

Frederique Vezina

Voice Teacher

University of Toronto Opera

Montreal native, alumna of COC Ensemble Studio and Festival International d’Art Lyrique d’Aix-en- Provence. Conductors: Richard Bradshaw, James Conlon, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Hans Fricke, Bernard Labadie, Jacques Lacombe, Kent Nagano, Peter Oundjian, Yoav Talmi, Bramwell Tovey. Roles: Mimi (La Bohème), Lisa (Queen of Spades), Ellen Orford (Peter Grimes), Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Miranda (The Tempest), title role (The Merry Widow, Lillian Alling),  Micaëla (Carmen), Wellgunde (Das Rheingold). Companies: Washington National Opera, COC, Festival Lanaudière, New Jersey Festival, Opera Companies of Vancouver, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, Victoria and Quebec.

Monica Whicher

Voice Teacher

University of Toronto Opera

Has performed with every major Canadian orchestra and opera company. Conductors include Helmuth Rilling, Peter Oundjian, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Franz-Paul Decker, Mario Bernardi, Pinchas Zukerman, Richard Bradshaw, Timothy Vernon, Yanick Nezet-Seguin, Steuart Bedford. Master classes: Victoria Conservatory; U of Alberta; U of Manitoba, Guelph Spring Festival.
Recordings: Lullabies and Carols for Christmas; Erotikos Logos, Song Cycles (Hatzis); Singing Somers Theatre, the Music of Harry Somers; Castor et Pollux with Aradia Ensemble; Persée with Opera Atelier.
Roles: Thaïs (Thaïs), Countess (Le nozze di Figaro), Pamina and Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Anna Maurant (Street Scene), Dido (Dido and Aeneas), Governess (Turn of the Screw), Female Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia). BMus (UWO), Opera Diploma (UofT), COC Ensemble, Britten-Pears School of Music.

Rachel Andrist

Vocal Coach

University of Toronto Opera

Studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Ann Epperson and Warren Jones. Currently also at COC and Glenn Gould School.  Previously: Theatre Royale de la Monnaie, Salzburg Festival, Salzburg Easter Festival, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Glyndebourne Festival, De Nederlandse Opera, ENO, Scottish Opera. Conductors: Sir Simon Rattle, Antonio Pappano, Ivor Bolton, Rene Jacobs, Valery Gergiev, Philippe Jordan, Kazushi Ono.

Sue Black

Vocal Coach

University of Toronto Opera

Both pianist and mezzo-soprano. As collaborative pianist, has performed numerous recitals with soloists, as well as touring with a variety of choirs from across Canada. As singer, has performed in several opera productions in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Member of  COC Chorus since 2001. As a vocal coach, member of the COC Ensemble Studio. Currently also on faculty at York University. BMus (UVic), Opera Diploma (UofT), MMus in collaborative piano (UofT)

Kate Carver

Vocal Coach

University of Toronto Opera

Has coached with UofT Opera since 1999. Also music staff at COC, Chautauqua Institute, Britten Pears School, Broomhill Opera in Kent, British Youth Opera, Banff Centre, University of Montreal, Toronto Summer Music Academy, Maritime Concert Opera, and Stratford Summer Music. Training included COC Ensemble Studio, National Opera Opera Studio in London, England and Guildhall School of Music. Studied Art Song with Martin Isepp and Graham Johnson. BMus, MMus (McGill).

Andrea Grant

Vocal Coach

University of Toronto Opera

BMus (WLU), MMus (UWO), Opera Diploma (UofT), also Head of Music Staff for Wexford Festival Opera; music staff of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Operavision Academy, and Highlands Opera Studio.
Engaged by COC, Tapestry New Opera Works, Queen of Puddings Music Theatre, Soundstreams Canada, Calgary Opera, Opera Atelier, Mirvish Productions, Banff Centre’s “Opera as Theatre” and has freelanced across Canada.

Hyejin Kwon

Vocal Coach

University of Toronto Opera

Home Town: Seoul, South Korea

Training: Interlochen Arts Academy, at Peabody Institute of Music of the Johns Hopkins University, UofT Opera, COC Ensemble Studio

Selected Engagers: Lyric Opera Baltimore, Repertory Theater of Washington, Aspen Music Festival, Canadian Opera Company

Selected Repertoire:  La Traviata, The Marriage of Figaro, Maometto Secondo, Ariodante, Götterdämmerung, Abduction from the Seraglio, Tosca

Current: launching new company with a stage director Anna Theodosakis

Jason Nedecky

Diction Coach

University of Toronto Opera

Winnipeg native. BMus (U Manitoba), MMus and Opera dip (UofT). Further study: Baden bei Wien, Aldeburgh, L’Académie Musicale de Villecroze in Provence, France, Banff Centre. As a baritone, engaged by NAC Orchestra, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Chamber Choir,  Aldeburgh Connection, International Bach Festival Toronto, the Bach-Elgar Choir of Hamilton, COC, Saskatoon Opera, Opera Atelier, Aradia Ensemble. Language Coach at the Canadian Opera Company, the Luminato Festival, Radio-Canada, RCM. Teaches Lyric Diction at UofT,  French Diction and Repertoire at Glenn Gould School. Author: French Diction for Singers: A Handbook of Pronunciation for French Opera and Mélodie.

Lawrence Brownlee

Stratton Visitor

October 2020

The Faculty of Music is thrilled to welcome acclaimed tenor Lawrence Brownlee, John R. Stratton Visitor in Music for the 2020-21 academic year. Lawrence Brownlee is a leading figure in opera, both as a singer on the world’s top stages, and as a voice for activism and diversity in the industry. Captivating audiences and critics around the globe, he has been hailed as “an international star in the bel canto operatic repertory” (The New York Times), “one of the world’s leading bel canto stars” (The Guardian), and “one of the most in-demand opera singers in the world today” (NPR). Brownlee was named 2017 “Male Singer of the Year” by the International Opera Awards, and also serves as Artistic Advisor at Opera Philadelphia, helping the company to expand their repertoire, diversity efforts and community initiatives.

Denyce Graves

Stratton Visitor

December 2020

The Faculty of Music is thrilled to welcome acclaimed mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, a John R. Stratton Visitor in Music for the 2020-21 academic year. Recognized worldwide as one of today’s most exciting vocal stars, Denyce Graves continues to gather unparalleled popular and critical acclaim in performances on four continents. Her career has taken her to the world’s great opera houses and concert halls. The combination of her expressive, rich vocalism, elegant stage presence, and exciting theatrical abilities allows her to pursue a wide breadth of operatic portrayals as well as delight audiences in concert and recital appearances. 

JOYCE DIDONATO

Stratton Visitor

March 2021

The Faculty of Music is thrilled to welcome the renowned mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, a John R. Stratton Visitor in Music for the 2020-21 academic year. Multi-Grammy Award winner and 2018 Olivier Award winner for Outstanding Achievement in Opera, Kansas-born Joyce DiDonato entrances audiences across the globe, and has been proclaimed “perhaps the most potent female singer of her generation” by The New Yorker. With a voice “nothing less than 24-carat gold” according to The Times, Joyce has soared to the top of the industry both as a performer and a fierce advocate for the arts, gaining international prominence in operas by Handel and Mozart, as well as through her wide-ranging, acclaimed discography. She is also widely acclaimed for the bel canto roles of Rossini and Donizetti.

JOYCE EL-KHOURY

Riki Turofsky Master Class in Voice

3:00 – 5:30pm on March 18, 2021

Watch Livestream

The Faculty of Music is thrilled to welcome soprano Joyce El-Khoury for this year’s Riki Turofsky Master Class in Voice. Joyce El-Khoury has an acclaimed reputation for bringing newly discovered/rarely performed works to life, most recently with the world premieres of Donizetti’s L’Ange de Nisida (Royal Opera House (ROH)) and Franz Liszt’s Sardanapalo (Weimar Staatskapelle) – both captured and released internationally. Born in Lebanon and brought up in Canada, Ms. El-Khoury earned her Bachelor of Music at the University of Ottawa. She received her Artist Diploma from the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. She is a First Prize winner in many competitions including: the Loren L. Zachary Competition, the Opera Index Competition, the George London Foundation, and the Mario Lanza Vocal Competition.