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Browsing: Vocal

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (TMChoir), conductor Jean-Sébastien Vallée

Newswire | Toronto Mendelssohn Choir 2026/27 Season

By Newswire on 24 March 2026 Arts Industry, Choral, Classical Music, Newswire

Toronto, ON, March 24, 2026 – The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (TMChoir) is delighted to announce its 2026/27 season, presenting major masterworks through a boldly renewed artistic vision. Alongside these large-scale works, the season also embraces more intimate and socially resonant programming, creating space for reflection, connection, and dialogue with our audiences. This approach builds on our strong foundation of meaningful community collaborations – both with new and long-standing partners – fostering deeper, more engaged deeper experiences for all. Under the visionary leadership of Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, Jean-Sébastien Vallée, TMChoir invites you into music that feels alive with powerful…

Laffont Competition Grand Finals Winners Gabriel Natal-Báez, Elizabeth Hanje, Song Hee Lee, Shannon Crowley, Robert Wente, and Anna Thompson. Photo: Natalie Powers / Met Opera)

Newswire | 2026 Metropolitan Opera Competition Winners Announced

By Newswire on 23 March 2026 Arts Industry, Classical Music, Opera, Vocal

New York, NY (March 22, 2026)—The Met announces the winners of the 2026 Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition: sopranos Shannon Crowley, Elizabeth Hanje, Song Hee Lee, and Anna Thompson; and baritones Gabriel Natal-Báez and Robert Wente. Following a season-long series of competitions at the district, regional, and national levels, a panel of judges named these six singers as the winners. Each winner receives a $20,000 cash prize and the prestige, exposure, and networking opportunities that come with winning a renowned competition that has launched the careers of many of opera’s most well-known stars. The 2026 winners, their ages,…

Mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, Photo: Victoria Nazarova

Newswire | Emily D’Angelo wins Glenn Gould Protégé Prize

By Newswire on 18 March 2026 Arts Industry, Classical Music, Newswire, Vocal

TORONTO (March 18, 2026) – The Glenn Gould Foundation is pleased to announce that legendary musician and humanitarian Elton John, Laureate of The 15th Glenn Gould Prize has selected acclaimed Canadian mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo as the recipient of the prestigious Glenn Gould Protégé Prize. She will receive her prize at The Glenn Gould Prize Gala honouring Elton John on May 9th at The Theatre at Great Canadian Toronto. Widely celebrated as one of the most compelling vocal artists of her generation, D’Angelo has achieved international recognition for her powerful artistry, musical intelligence, and distinctive voice. Hailed by The New York Times as…

Left to right: Diana Damrau, Emily D'Angelo, Erin Morley, Peter Rose, Thomas Ebenstein, Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Photos: Jiyang Chen, Mark Pillai, Jamie Fisher, Paul Cochrane, Julia Wesely, Vladim Vilain

Newswire | Orchestre Métropolitain and Opéra de Montréal Officialize Artistic Partnership

By Newswire on 18 March 2026 Arts Industry, Chamber Music, Classical Music, Montreal, Newswire, Opera, Orchestral

Montreal, Wednesday, March 18, 2026 – Orchestre Métropolitain (OM) and Opéra de Montréal (OdM) are proud to announce the official launch of their artistic partnership, sealing a long-standing relationship between two leading institutions in Montreal’s and Canada’s cultural life. Developed over more than twenty years of collaboration, this relationship now enters a new, structuring phase, with a shared commitment to strengthening artistic, human, and institutional ties between the two organizations. “The collaboration between Orchestre Métropolitain and Opéra de Montréal is rooted in shared values: openness, innovation, and respect. We share the conviction that by building on our respective strengths, we can…

A scene from Opéra-Comique's Nuit sans aube. Photo: S. Brion

Review | Matthias Pintscher’s luminous Nuit sans aube at Opéra-Comique

By Denise Wendel-Poray on 17 March 2026 Concert Reviews, Opera, Vocal

After more than a decade shaping the sound of the Ensemble Intercontemporain and several years working largely in New York, Matthias Pintscher returns to the Paris stage with his fourth opera, Nuit sans aube (seen March 11). Lasting just 90 minutes, this finely wrought work confirms the composer’s distinctive sonic imagination. The score unfolds in luminous orchestral colours and reveals a striking sensitivity to the expressive possibilities of the human voice. At moments one hears distant echoes of Pelléas et Mélisande, premiered on this very stage in 1902, and even something of the darker psychological atmosphere of Debussy’s unfinished opera…

Jean-Philippe Sylvestre with Orchestre Classique de Montréal. Photo: Tam Photography

Review | Polish Gems with Orchestre Classique de Montréal

By Amanda Wong on 17 March 2026 Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Montreal, Orchestral, Piano, Vocal, Winds

On an unassuming night in the seclusion of Montreal’s Salle Pierre-Mercure, Orchestre Classique de Montréal (OCM) welcomed three unique soloists to perform a stylistically diverse program, unified under a theme of Polish music. Under the direction of OCM’s music director Andrei Feher, soprano Karoline Podolak, clarinettist Kornel Wolak (both Polish), and local pianist Jean-Philippe Sylvestre presented pieces by Frédéric Chopin (to no one’s surprise given the theme), Stanisław Moniuszko and Mieczysław Weinberg, as well as more contemporary pieces including works by Wojciech Kilar. The OCM, this time, was just a small group of string-only players. Sylvestre and Wolak kicked off…

Demetrious Sampson Jr. and Alissa Goretsky, Photo: Lynn Lane

Newswire | HGO streams Of Mice and Men

By Newswire on 12 March 2026 Classical Music, Newswire, Opera, Orchestral

WHAT: On Mar. 15, 2026 at 2:30 p.m., Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will share the company’s new production of Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men via its YouTube and Facebook channels. The livestream of the matinee performance at the Wortham Theater Center’s Cullen Theater will provide online audiences with the opportunity to experience the classic opera featuring a cast comprised entirely of rising artists from the company’s Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio program. For audiences who wish to attend Of Mice and Men in person, tickets to both performances—on Friday, Mar. 13 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Mar. 15 at 2:30 p.m.—are…

Newswire | Discover Opéra de Montréal’s 2026–2027 Season

By Newswire on 10 March 2026 Classical Music, Montreal, Newswire, Opera

Montreal, March 10, 2026 – Opéra de Montréal is proud to unveil its 2026–2027 season, an ambitious program bringing together six works, including four coproductions and two world premieres. Opéra de Montréal will also strengthen its collaboration with the Orchestre Métropolitain, which will participate in four productions, highlighting the scale and musical quality of the upcoming season. From grand repertoire to contemporary creations, the season stands out for its intensity and boldness, while reaffirming its commitment to local talent through its strong connection with the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, a leading residency program for Canadian singers, pianists, and stage directors. Tickets will go…

Newswire | The Opéra de Montréal’s Atelier lyrique Announces Its New Cohort for 2026–2027

By Newswire on 10 March 2026 Arts Industry, Classical Music, Employment, Montreal, Opera

Montreal – February 26th 2026 – The Opéra de Montréal is proud to announce the new 2026–2027 cohort of its Atelier lyrique, following the grand finale of the National Auditions. Three singers, one director and one pianist* are joining this leading training programme, recognized as a springboard to a professional career in opera on the international stage. These national auditions generated considerable interest, with 140 applications received for singers, six for stage direction and nine for piano. The live voice auditions took place in several rounds in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Calgary. Ten finalists were invited to participate in the final round in Montreal before a renowned jury.…

Zita Szemere (Lucia) in Hungarian State Opera's Lucia di Lammermoor. Photo: Attila NAGY / Hungarian State Opera

Review | Zita Szemere Shines in Hungarian State Opera’s Dramatically Confused Lucia di Lammermoor

By Gianmarco Segato on 3 March 2026 Concert Reviews, Opera, Vocal

Hungarian State Opera’s revival of their 2016 production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor by Máté Szabó gives us a new Lucia ascendant who succeeds within a dramatic vacuum. Up until now, soprano Zita Szemere has mostly been known for lyric roles such as Ilia, Norina, and Blonde. Here, she cranks things up a notch on her own vocal terms. She offers a beautifully sung, and convincingly dramatic Lucia, the tragic heroine abused by the men in her life, who only gains agency once she has been driven mad. Would that the production around her could offer a better showcase for…