Toronto – The Canadian Opera Company’s prestigious Ensemble Studio for artistic career development has invited five of the country’s most talented artists to join next season, marking the 45th anniversary of the COC’s innovative program for singers and pianists. Soprano Emma Pennell, mezzo-soprano Ariana Maubach, tenor Angelo Moretti, baritone Ben Wallace, and bass-baritone Nicholas Murphy will join the company’s highly specialized program for Canadian opera professionals in 2025/2026, alongside two returning Ensemble Studio members entering their second year of the program, soprano Emily Rocha and bass Duncan Stenhouse.
Last fall, following a national audition tour, Maubach, Pennell, and Murphy all placed as finalists at the COC’s 11th annual Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition, with Pennell securing Second Prize and Maubach clinching both First Prize and Audience Choice Award. Moretti has regularly been appearing on stage at Opéra de Montréal since his company debut in 2022, and Wallace was recently featured in productions staged at Highlands Opera Studio, UofT Opera, and Opera Laurier.
“We are thrilled to welcome these five incredibly talented singers into our longstanding professional development program for emerging opera artists,” says Dorian Cox, Director of the Ensemble Studio. “This new cohort will bring a fresh energy to the program with each singer bringing their unique voice and passion for opera. I look forward to seeing how they grow over the course of this new journey and contribute to the future of this art form!”
Ensemble Studio artists receive a blend of intensive coaching and practical experience through a highly tailored multi-year program that includes performing and understudying mainstage roles, while being provided with individualized career mentorship and guidance. In addition to rigorous training from some of the industry’s best vocal, language, movement, and acting coaches, and one-on-one time with acclaimed visiting artists, Ensemble members work directly with the COC’s executive and artistic leadership through every stage of their creative development.
At the close of the 2024/2025 season, four accomplished singers will move on from the Ensemble Studio: soprano Karoline Podolak, who will perform in the COC’s production of Madama Butterfly this winter; mezzo-soprano Queen Hezumuryango, who will be featured in the COC’s upcoming productions of La Reine–garçon and Cavalleria rusticana; tenor Wesley Harrison, who was featured in COC productions of Fidelio, La Bohème, and Nabucco; and baritone Korin Thomas-Smith, who performed in COC productions of La Bohème and Faust and will also join the cast of Wozzeck at the COC this spring.
In addition, both of the program’s current pianist/coaches, Brian Cho and Mattia Senesi, will complete their tenure with the Ensemble Studio, having evenly divided their time working alongside the casts of all the COC’s 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 season operas. The company is currently completing piano auditions this winter and will announce the program’s incoming pianists later this season.
All six graduating Ensemble Studio members will perform in farewell concerts on May 20 and 29, 2025 as part of the Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Presented by TD Bank Group.
National auditions for the 2026/2027 Ensemble Studio will be announced in the spring, with the next COC Ensemble Studio Competition scheduled for October 23, 2025.
For more information on the Ensemble Studio and its artists, please visit coc.ca/Ensemble
Shown left-right: Artists of the current 2024/2025 Ensemble Studio, Brian Cho, Duncan Stenhouse, Emily Rocha, Korin Thomas-Smith, Queen Hezumuryango, Wesley Harrison, Karoline Podolak, and Mattia Senesi. Photo: Gaetz Photography
ABOUT THE NEWEST ENSEMBLE SINGERS
Ariana Maubach
Ariana Maubach is a second year Resident Artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia, PA. This season she will portray Marthe in Faust and Dorabella in Così fan tutte. Previous roles include Smeton in Anna Bolena, Bianca in The Rape of Lucretia, Berta in The Barber of Seville (AVA), and Linette in The Love for Three Oranges (Des Moines Metro Opera). This past fall, she won both First Prize and Audience Choice Award at the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio Competition. Maubach is an alumna of the Music Academy of the West, College Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati, The Glenn Gould School, and Eastman School of Music.
Nicholas Murphy
Praised for his “excellent baritone” (Le Devoir) and “outstanding acting” (Opera Canada), Acadian bass-baritone Nicholas Murphy is a rising name in Canada. Currently in residence with Calgary Opera’s McPhee Artist Development Program, Murphy looks forward to making his mainstage debut with the company as Maestro Spinelloccio and Pinellino in Gianni Schicchi. Recent roles include Don Bartolo in The Barber of Seville with Brott Opera and Highlands Opera Studio, and Pandolfe in Cendrillon and Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola with Opera McGill. This past season he placed as a finalist in the Wirth Vocal Prize, Atelier lyrique’s Talent Gala, and the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio Competition.
Angelo Moretti
Angelo Moretti debuted professionally in 2022 as Ruiz in Verdi’s Il Trovatore at Opéra de Montréal, where other recent roles include Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville, Don Curzio in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, and Gastone in Verdi’s La Traviata. He also portrayed Count Almaviva in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville at UofT Opera along with Martin in Copland’s The Tender Land. This season, Moretti performs as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Orchestre Classique de Montreal and returns to Opéra de Montréal as Parpignol in Puccini’s La Bohème and in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, reprising Teapot and adding the roles of L’Arithmétique and La Rainette.
Emma Pennell
Emma Pennell (they/them) is a Two-Spirit opera singer with Mi’kmaw roots from South River, rural Northern Ontario. Educated in Voice Performance and Indigenous Studies at Western University, Cambrian College, and The Glenn Gould School, Pennell is an Indigenous activist dedicated to carving spaces in opera. They recently debuted at Koerner Hall with Tanya Tagaq for The National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. Pennell’s notable roles include Alice Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff and Kitty in Ian Cusson’s Indians on Vacation at the Banff Centre. In October 2024, they placed as a finalist and secured Second Prize in the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio Competition.
Ben Wallace
“Versatile and vocally powerful” baritone Ben Wallace currently studies at the University of Toronto. He completed his Bachelor of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University, where he received the Laurier Alumni Gold Medal and won the Laurier Concerto Competition. Recent performance highlights include Figaro in The Barber of Seville (Highlands Opera Studio), Pandolfe in Cendrillon (UofT Opera), John Brooke in Little Women (Opera Laurier), Baron Douphol/Doctor Grenvil in La Traviata (Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony), and a workshop performance of Ian Cusson and Royce Vavrek’s Indians on Vacation at the Banff Centre. Wallace, also a conductor, formed his own chamber choir and orchestra in 2022 and has since premiered three choral works by Canadian composer Justin Lapierre.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
24 | 25 Season Sponsor: BMO Financial Group
THE COC ACADEMY UNDERWRITTEN BY
ARRELL FAMILY FOUNDATION
THE CATHERINE AND MAXWELL MEIGHEN FOUNDATION
MAJOR SUPPORT FROM
MARJORIE LINDEN IN MEMORY OF ROY LINDEN
THE MacNEILL FAMILY FOUNDATION
PATRICK AND BARBARA KEENAN FOUNDATION
BRIAN WILKS
WENDY J. THOMPSON
Azrieli Foundation
RBC Emerging Artists
Stingray
WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FROM
ARIAS: Canadian Opera Student Development Fund
Marcia Lewis Brown
Neil & Blanche Carragher
Catherine Fauquier
Dr. Eudice Goldberg
Joy Levine
Patricia & Frank Mills
Government of Canada
Thank you to the entire COC community, including our COC Board of Directors, our Corporate Sponsors and Foundation Supporters, generous public funders, union partners, and — most critically — our audience. Your inspiring support ensures that opera flourishes, uniting global audiences and paving the way for a vibrant future.
ABOUT THE ENSEMBLE STUDIO
Ensemble Studio members receive a unique blend of advanced training and practical career experience. The highly tailored, multi-year program involves understudying and performing mainstage roles, rigorous vocal coaching, as well as detailed language, movement, and acting studies. Participants attend intimate artist intensives and lessons with renowned opera professionals, and are also provided with holistic training that includes industry-specific business skills as well as financial and career counselling.
ABOUT THE CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY
Based in Toronto, the Canadian Opera Company is the largest producer of opera in Canada and one of the largest in North America. General Director David C. Ferguson joined the company in 2024, forming a leadership team with Music Director Johannes Debus and Deputy General Director Christie Darville. The COC enjoys a loyal audience, including a dedicated base of subscribers, and has an international reputation for artistic excellence and creative innovation.
Its diverse repertoire includes new commissions and productions, local and international collaborations with leading opera companies and festivals, and attracts the world’s foremost Canadian and international artists. The company is an incubator for the future of the art form, nurturing Canada’s new wave of opera performers and creators with customized training and support. The COC’s purpose-built opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, is hailed internationally as one of the finest in the world.
For more information, visit coc.ca.
