AGNES ZSIGOVICS, soprano - Monday, Dec. 13
Soprano Agnes Zsigovics' voice has been described as "hauntingly beautiful, creamy, velvety, bell-like" (The Morning Call, 2010) and "a dream to experience" (The Record, 2009). A master's graduate of the University of Toronto, Agnes Zsigovics has toured internationally, appearing with leading choirs and orchestras across Canada, the United States, Europe, and South America. Ms. Zsigovics made her debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in Bach's St. John Passion under the direction of Maestro Helmuth Rilling in 2007.

The Sony Classical/BMG CD The Voice of Bach on which Ms. Zsigovics appears in duet with Daniel Taylor was nominated for a Juno award in 2009. She also appears on The Ottawa Bach Choir's most recent CD entitled Jesu meine Freude.

Listen to an excerpt of the duet BWV 23: Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn from track 7 of The Voice of Bach.

 

RACHEL WOOD, mezzo-soprano - Monday, December 13

In addition to her studies at UWO, Rachel has completed summer training programs at Wilfrid Laurier University, The University of Manitoba, The Canadian Operatic Arts Academy, and Songfest at Pepperdine University, and she has sung for renowned artists Shirlee Emmons, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Steven Blier, Thomas Young, Kimberly Barber, Chantal Lambert, Amy Burton, Martin Katz, Rudolf Jansen, and composers John Musto and Tom Cipullo.

Rachel is particularly interested in the study and performance of contemporary music, especially new Canadian works. In 2006, she performed the title role in excerpts from Ramona Luengen’s Naomi’s Road at the University of Manitoba’s Contemporary Opera Lab, and she has premiered and performed numerous works by local composers. In April 2010, Rachel Wood performed in a recital featuring the vocal works of emerging Canadian composer Jeff Smallman.

CHRISTOPHER MAYELL, tenor - Monday, December 13
A native of Kingston Ontario, tenor Christopher Mayell is a graduate of Queen’s University and the University of Western Ontario, where he earned a Performance Diploma with Distinction and a Masters of Music in Vocal Literature and Performance while studying with Torin Chiles. Mr. Mayell’s recent roles include Trevor in Frobisher for The Banff Summer Arts Festival, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, and Snout in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Oratorio performances include Mendelssohn’s Elijah conducted by Timothy Vernon for Orchestra London, Handel’s Messiah in Stratford, Ontario, Bach’s B minor Mass in Kingston, and the Mozart Requiem with the Bach Elgar Choir, Hamilton. Mr. Mayell most recently performed the roles of Sam & Dandy 1 in Calgary Opera's Canadian premiere of The Ballad of Baby Doe (2008).

GEOFF SIRETT, bass - Monday, December 13
Baritone Geoffrey Sirett is currently entering his second year of the MMus in Opera degree at the University of Toronto, studying with Lorna MacDonald. Geoffrey holds a BMus and Artist-Diploma from the University of Western Ontario, where he received the UWO Alumni Gold Medal for the highest GPA. On stage, he has performed leading roles in Bernstein’s Candide, Haydn’s Il Mondo della Luna, Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci, Lehar’s The Merry Widow, Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte, and Britten’s Albert Herring. Geoffrey is a grant recipient of the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation for Young Canadian Opera Singers, a prize winner in the Czech and Slovak International Voice Competition, and a Four-City District winner and regional finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Just recently, Sirett won the 2010 ARIAS Katharine von Maydell Memorial Award, which provides support for a qualifying opera student enrolled at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music to attend a summer opera training programme outside of Canada. Geoffrey will be spending the summer studying at the Aspen Musical Festival where he will be singing the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro.

Hear Sirett sing “Mein Sehnen” from Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt, one of his submissions to this vocal competition.

CLAIRE DE SÉVIGNÉ, soprano - Tuesday, December 14
Born in Montreal, soprano Claire de Sévigné is entering the second year of her master’s degree in opera at the University of Toronto, where she studies with Darryl Edwards. This past November, she sang the role of Flaminia in their production of Haydn’s Il mondo della luna. In February 2010, Claire performed the role Cunegonde in U of T’s production of Candide, by Bernstein.

Claire earned her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from McGill University in 2009. She appeared in many Opera McGill productions including La Rondine, by Puccini; The Rape of Lucretia, by Britten; and Thésée, by Lully. This past summer, Claire participated in the prestigious Canadian Vocal Arts Institute, where she worked with renowned coaches and teachers such as Joan Dornemann, Mignon Dunn, Giovanna Canetti, Robert Cowart, and Lucy Arner. She was also a member of the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center where she performed in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann and in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica.

In the summer of 2010, Claire de Sévigné is packing her bags for a month-long educational and performance experience in Italy. She is a participant in the Centre of Opera Studies in Italy programme, which takes place in Sulmona. There, Claire will perform the role of Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare.

Hear Claire de Sévigné sing “Caro nome” from Verdi’s Rigoletto; she was a finalist in the 2010 ARIAS Katharine von Maydell Memorial Award competition, and this piece was one of her submissions to that competition.

CHRISTINA STELMACOVICH, mezzo-soprano – Tuesday, December 14
Christina Stelmacovich studied voice at the University of Toronto, specializing in vocal performance with Lois Marshall, and she continued her studies in Cassalmaggiore, Italy in a summer programme run by the Oberlin School of Music. She has performed with such renowned conductors as Dr. Elmer Iseler, Lydia Adams, Sir David Willcocks, Kevin Mallon, Christopher Jackson, and Robert Cooper, as well as with various choirs and orchestras across Canada.

She was a finalist in the CBC/Radio-Canada National Competition for Young Performers and a finalist for the prestigious Concours Musical International de Montreal: Voice 2005.

As a result of this competition, Christina made her debut performance with the New World Orchestra in Mexico City under the direction of Johannes Ullrich performing Mozart’s Coronation Mass. Her most recent performances include Bach’s St. John Passion with the Elmer Iseler Singers under the direction of Lydia Adams, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with The Cellar Singers under the direction of Albert Greer, Mozart’s Mass in C with the Algoma Chamber Singers of Sault Ste. Marie, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle with the Burlington Civic Chorale and Duruflé’s Requiem with the Metropolitan Festival Choir under the direction of Dr. Patricia Wright.

In 2010-2011, she will sing Mozart’s Vespers and Litanies with the Amadeus Choir of Canada, a performance of opera excerpts with the Burlington Civic Chorale, and Handel’s Messiah with the Elmer Iseler Singers.

ANDREW HAJI, tenor - Tuesday, December 14
Andrew Haji is a third-year undergraduate student in the voice performance program at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, studying with Darryl Edwards.

Andrew recently appeared as Cecco in Haydn's Il mondo della luna and Vanderdendur/Ragotski in Bernstein's Candide, both with the University of Toronto Opera Division. He also recently performed Handel's Messiah with the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus in Buffalo, New York. In May of 2009, Andrew attended the Canadian Operatic Arts Academy in London, Ontario, where he performed scenes from Albert Herring by Britten, Ariadne auf Naxos by Strauss, Il viaggio a Reims by Rossini, and Falstaff by Verdi. He will be attending the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy this summer, where he will perform the role of Nemorino in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore.

ALEX DOBSON, bass - Tuesday, December 14
Peterborough audiences will be thrilled to hear that Alex Dobson is returning to perform with the Singers again. This British-Canadian baritone has been praised for his musical and dramatic artistry on both opera and concert stages. According to Opera Canada (2007), “Dobson, one of the most impressive Canadian baritones of this generation, is a wonderful actor and has a beautiful, rich and commanding voice.”

Recent performance highlights include his portrayal of Wozzeck conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin with Théâtre du Nouveau Monde and Orchestre Métropolitain du Grande Montréal for which he was lauded for his “gripping embodiment of Wozzeck” (Journal Voir). Other roles of note include Guglielmo (Cosi Fan Tutte), Belcoré (Elisir d'Amore) and Ned Keene (Peter Grimes), all with L’Opera de Montréal. Other recent operatic performances include his American debut with Opera Pacific (Costa Mesa) in their production of Carmen and his London debut at ROH Covent Garden in The Midnight Court by Ana Sokolovic, which premiered at the Linbury Theater in July 2006.

A dedicated concert and recital artist, Alexander has appeared with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Orchestre Métropolitain for Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfayer, the Boris Brott Festival for Mahler 8, Symphony of a Thousand, Toronto’s Aldeburgh Connection, the Vancouver New Music Festival, and with Montréal’s Theater of Early Music. He has sung Schubert’s Winterreise in Montréal, Victoria, England, Paris, and with Yannick Nézet-Séguin at the piano, in Toronto, to great acclaim. Alexander sang Handel’s Messiah with Orchestra London, Elmer Isler Singers, and the Brott Festival. He has been heard frequently on CBC Radio Canada in recital and concert and was seen on television as Marcello in BRAVO’s StreetScenes version of La Bohème. He recently premiered a new song cycle by Derek Holman, written especially for Alexander and the Talisker Players.

Upcoming Oratorio engagements include The Messiah with The McGill Chamber Orchestra, The Grand Philharmonic Choir, and the Bach Elgar Choir, as well as the Peterborough Singers; Messe de Minuit and Mass in A Major with the Ottawa Bach Choir, B Minor Mass with Chorus Niagara, and St. John Passion with the Amadeus Choir, where he will sing both Jesus and the arias.

Alexander graduated from the University of Toronto Opera Division and the Faculty of Music at the University of Western Ontario. He is also an alumni of the Music Theatre Program at the Banff Centre, the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, the Steans Institute for Young Artists at Ravinia, and L’Atelier Lyrique de L’Opera de Montreal. Alexander is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including those from the International Voice Competition of Paris (including the Edward Marshall Association Award for Outstanding Baritone), the Jeunesses Musicales National Competition, the Marilyn Horne Competition (Music Academy of the West), and the Jacqueline Desmarais Competition.

But hearing is believing! Check out Alexander’s moving rendition of Bach’s “Mache Dich” from the St. Matthew Passion.

IAN SADLER – Monday, December 13 & Tuesday, December 14
Ian Sadler is a Canadian concert organist and choral director. Since taking first Prize in the USA's International Organ Playing Competition in Syracuse in 1986, Ian has devoted himself to the concert platform with organ recitals in Britain (Westminster Abbey, King's College Chapel, Cambridge), France (Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris), USA, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary, and Denmark. In Canada, he has performed in inaugural series on new concert hall organs, including in Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall, Calgary's Jack Singer Hall, and the Winspeare Centre in Edmonton. As a regular performer in the North American International Liszt Festival, Ian has performed the complete organ works of Liszt, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Reubke. In 1999, he represented Canada as the first Canadian member of the International Jury for the Liszt Organ Playing Competition in Budapest, Hungary.

Ian has performed concertos with The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, The Hamilton Philharmonic, and The Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra and with the Timmins and North Bay Symphony Orchestras. Ian's discography is extensive with a series of CD's on major organs in Toronto (Thomson Hall, Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, and St. James' Cathedral), a CD from Stratford of organ recital favourites entitled The Sadler Selection and a CD devoted to the music of Mozart for the 250th Anniversary Celebrations. In 1999, Ian won a Juno Award. He has further recorded many programmes for the CBC and was featured last year on BBC's Radio 2 performing the organ music of Vaughan Williams. Ian's CD Romantic Music for Organ Vol. I, which was recorded at St. James' Cathedral in Toronto, was released in February 2008. In March of that year, he recorded a further CD on the fine historic Casavant organ of St. John's Cathedral, Newfoundland.

Born in England, Ian began his musical training as a boy chorister for five years at St. Paul's Cathedral, London. He attended The King's School, Canterbury from where he won the Organ Scholarship to Bristol University. During postgraduate study at London University, Ian was Organ Scholar at St. Paul's Cathedral for two years. Before moving to Canada, his final engagement in the UK was to play the organ in the movie Chariots of Fire. In 1980, Ian moved to Canada following his appointment as Director of Music at Toronto's Grace Church on-the-Hill and Choral Director at Upper Canada College.

Ian is Artistic Director of the Stratford Concert Choir, founder and conductor of the Stratford Children's Concert Choir, and Director of the Cathedral Singers of Ontario.

For his dedication to promoting the organ and Canadian music, both at home and abroad, The Royal Canadian College of Organists honoured Ian in 2007 with their highest award, “Fellow of The Royal Canadian College of Organists.”

PAUL OTWAY - Monday, December 13 & Tuesday, December 14

Paul pursued musical studies at the University of Western Ontario where he earned an Honours Bachelor of Music in Performance (1994) and a Masters in Music Performance and Literature (1996). He has toured North America with the musicals South Pacific and Chicago, The Musical, and he toured the United States with Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

Paul has held the position of Principal Trumpet with the Oshawa-Durham Symphony, Sudbury Symphony, the Royal Conservatory of Music Orchestra (Toronto), the Scarborough Philharmonic, the University of Western Ontario Symphony Orchestra, and the London Youth Symphony. Paul has also been a member of Brass Rings (a brass quintet), the Intrada Brass Band, and Brassroots, a ten-piece brass ensemble. He currently heads up his own group, The Paul Otway Brass.

Freelance playing has allowed Paul the opportunity to perform with other groups, including the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic, Windsor Symphony, Canadian Opera Company, Shaw Festival, Hannaford Street Silver Band, Niagara Symphony, North York Symphony, North Bay Symphony, Peterborough Symphony, National Academy Orchestra, Toronto Lyric Sinfonietta, Etobicoke Symphony, Toronto Wind Ensemble, and the Trillium Brass Quintet. He has also performed in chamber music settings and in numerous musicals, including Annie Get Your Gun, Cabaret, Guys and Dolls, Camelot, West Side Story, The Wizard of Oz, and The Music Man; productions of Wonderful Town and "Follies - in Concert" at the Shaw Festival; and the Mirvish productions of Wicked, Les Miserables, Nicholas Nickleby and The Phantom of the Opera.

As a soloist, Paul has performed with the Oshawa-Durham Symphony, Brampton Symphony, Etobicoke Centennial Choir, Brass Rings Brass Quintet, Windsor Symphony Brass Quintet, Bells of Bowmanville, Durham Youth Orchestra, London Youth Symphony, Caledon Concert Band, at charity events, and in recitals. He currently freelances and teaches privately in South Central Ontario and also finds time to compose and arrange a variety of music.

Paul's playing has been recorded on CD and broadcast on CBC Radio with a variety of different ensembles, and he can be seen in the movie Fever Pitch (look for the trumpet player!). He has performed for live audiences in 36 states and 7 provinces.