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Appointments
Daniel Taylor. Photo: Aleksandar Antonijevic
After disappointing concert cancellations at the end of last season, Toronto Consort has announced the news that Canadian countertenor Daniel Taylor has been named its new General and Artistic Director. The company will also renew its association with University of Toronto’s Historical Performance Department of which Taylor is the area head. Legendary Early Music soprano Dame Emma Kirkby has also been named the Consort’s first-ever Honorary Patron.
Edmonton Opera has announced news of the appointment of Robin Whiffen as its new Executive Director. Originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Whiffen most recently served as the General Director of Against the Grain Theatre (AtG) in Toronto and also served as General Manager of Newfoundland’s Opera on the Avalon.
Conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson
Canadian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, who has helped lead the fight for Ukraine’s freedom on the cultural front ever since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, has been named Music Director of Ukraine’s leading chamber orchestra, the Kyiv Camerata. The Kyiv Camerata was established in 1977 by Valery Matyukhin, its sole previous conductor who died in 2023. It was created with the support of Ukraine’s Union of Composers to champion and commission works by leading contemporary composers.
Competitions
Angela Chan & Jacques Forestier, co-winners of the Joseph Joachim Violin Competition
Canadian violinist Jacques Forestier has won first prize in the 12th Joseph Joachim Violin Competition in Hanover, Germany, sharing the honour with co-winner, Angela Chan of Hong Kong/China. Forestier, who hails from Edmonton, Alta., and currently studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, shares the 30,000 euros first prize with Chan, having already received a prize of 10,000 euros for reaching the finals.
Tenor Le Bu
The Operalia Competition announced their 2024 winners from Mumbai, India, on Sept. 21. First prize went to soprano Kathleen O’Mara (USA) and bass-baritone Le Bu (China). Second prize, to mezzo-soprano Elmina Hasan (Azerbaijan) and American tenor Angel Romero. Third prize was shared between two American mezzo-sopranos, Sun-Ly Pierce and Meridian Prall, as well as two Russians, soprano Polina Shabunina and baritone Vladislav Chizhov. The Birgit Nilsson Prize was awarded to O’Mara and Bu; the Pepita Embil Prize of Zarzuela to Hasan; the Don Plácido Domingo Ferrer Prize of Zarzuela to Romero; the Rolex Prize of the Audience to Hasan and UK baritone Jack Lee, and the CulturArte Prize to New Zealand soprano Eliza Boom.
News
Conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser.
On Sept. 27, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra announced it has received a gift of $15 million from the Barrett Family Foundation, marking the largest pledge in the orchestra’s history and the most significant commitment ever made to support programming at a Canadian performing arts organization. The gift will support the TSO’s community engagement and education programs. In recognition of this landmark support, the TSO’s artistic community leadership role will be named the Barrett Principal Education Conductor & Community Ambassador. That position is currently held by conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser.
On Sept. 17, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) announced that news that two carillon bells in G and C especially cast for them would officially join the orchestra’s instrumental forces. The bells were played for the first time within the walls of Montreal’s Maison symphonique during OSM’s Sept. 18 and 19 performances of Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, and the world première of an OSM commission, La Chapelle by composer Michael Oesterle. The bells will also travel with the OSM for the orchestra’s European tour next November, featuring performances of the Berlioz work.
Sir John Eliot Gardner
Following up on our September news item about Sir John Eliot Gardner, the British conductor announced in early September that the new Constellation Choir and Constellation Orchestra, under the umbrella Springhead Constellation, will be led by him. Gardner had pulled out of the BBC Proms last year after punching and slapping a soloist.
Since then he has apologized for his actions and sought therapy. In a statement to The Guardian, he said: “More than anything else, I am so excited and grateful to be working with such exceptional musicians once again, not forgetting the important lessons I have learnt and needed to learn from the past year.” He will lead the new group in a series of concerts at five venues in Germany, France, Austria and Luxembourg this December, before planning to tour throughout 2025 and into 2026. The tour is apparently Gardiner’s response to direct personal invitations from the venues to assemble musicians and singers and “bring his unique style and quality of performance to their audiences,” a press release said.
Young Artists
Opera companies across Canada have announced news of who will join their young artist training programs for the 2024-25 season. Vancouver Opera’s Yulanda M. Faris Young Artists Program welcomes returning singers Danlie Rae Acebuque, baritone; Simran Claire, mezzo-soprano; Heidi Duncan, soprano; and new members, tenor Lyndon Ladeur, stage director Tayte Mitchell and pianist Derek Stanyer.
Soprano Christina-Thanisch-Smith. Photo: Brenden-Friesen
Calgary Opera’s McPhee Artist Development Program counts baritone Colin Mackey, bass-baritone Nicholas Murphy, tenor Ryan Nauta, bass-baritone Luke Noftall, soprano Kelsey Ronn, tenor Arieh Max Sacke, soprano Christina Thanisch-Smith and mezzo-soprano Alessia Vitali as its 2024-25 cohort.
Edmonton Opera’s Emerging Artist Residency Program consists of baritone Connor Hoppenbrouwers, mezzo-soprano Rachael McAuley, stage manager Ryan MacAuley and pianist/conductor Spencer Kryzanowski.
This past summer, Manitoba Opera held their fifth annual Digital Emerging Artists Program welcoming artists from across Canada: Lauren Estey (Toronto), mezzo-soprano Taryn Plater (Vancouver), tenor Jeremy Scinocca (Toronto), and bass-baritone James Coole-Stevenson (Toronto). The Independent Learner was Innu soprano Gabrielle Côté-Picard (Montreal).
The newest members of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio are soprano Emily Rocha and bass Duncan Stenhouse. They join six returning Ensemble Studio members: soprano Karoline Podolak, mezzo-soprano Queen Hezumuryango, tenor Wesley Harrison, baritone Korin Thomas-Smith, and pianist/coaches Brian Cho and Mattia Senesi. Soprano Gabrielle Turgeon, who was originally announced as a new member, is now joining Los Angeles Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program.
Opéra de Montréal has a full slate for its 2024-25 Atelier lyrique: baritone Jamal al Titi, pianist/coach Jerome de los Santos, soprano Bridget Esler, pianist Martine Jomphe, soprano Chelsea Kolić, mezzo-sopranos Justine Ledoux and Camila Montefusco, tenor Angelo Moretti, soprano Sophie Naubert, baritone Mikelis Rogers, countertenor Ian Sabourin and mezzo-soprano Ilanna Starr.
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