Ensemble Studio Members

Toronto-based soprano Ambur Braid is a new member of the COC Ensemble Studio. She holds her bachelor of music degree from The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music and her master’s of music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Ms Braid performed the role of Diane in Iphigénie en Tauride with Opera Atelier; Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, Princess/Fire in L’enfant et les sortilèges and Peaseblossom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the San Francisco Conservatory; and, Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music. Ms Braid has won the East Bay Opera Competition, the San Francisco Conservatory Concerto Competition, and the Palm Beach Opera Competition. With the COC this season she will perform the Danish Lady in Death in Venice, the Queen of the Night in the Ensemble Studio production of The Magic Flute, and Amore in Orfeo ed Euridice. Ms Braid also understudies roles in The Magic Flute, La Cenerentola, and Ariadne auf Naxos.

Tunisian-born mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb is a new member of the Ensemble Studio. She graduated this year from the Schulich School of Music at McGill University with a bachelor of music in vocal performance, where she performed the title role in Carmen, Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress, Sister Mathilde in Les dialogues des Carmélites, and Suzy in La Rondine. She recently performed Dido in Dido and Aeneas with the McGill Chamber Orchestra, and Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte with Opéra de Montréal. Ms Chaieb has studied with Opera Nuova in Edmonton and the International Vocal Art Institute in Tel Aviv. In 2007, she received first prize and the most promising singer award at the National Association of Teachers of Singing. With the COC this season she will perform the roles of French Mother in Death in Venice, Third Lady in the Ensemble Studio production of The Magic Flute, Second Secretary to Mao in Nixon in China, and Thisbe in La Cenerentola. Ms Chaieb also understudies roles in The Magic Flute and Ariadne auf Naxos.

Bass-baritone Neil Craighead was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and raised in Calgary. Last season for the COC he sang the roles of the Oracle and the Trojan Man in Idomeneo, Japanese Envoy 2 in The Nightingale and Other Short Fables, and the Official Registrar in Madama Butterfly. Mr. Craighead graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2009 with a bachelor of music and was a member of the Vancouver Opera Chorus. He recently performed Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte and Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte with Opera NUOVA; the bass solo in St. John’s Passion with Vancouver Voices; and Pistola in Falstaff, Dr. Furtwängler in The Dream Healer and Colline in La Bohème with University of British Columbia Opera Ensemble. He has received the Gordon S. Lumb Bursary, the UBC School of Music’s 25th Anniversary Scholarship and the Ben Heppner Scholarship. This season, he performs the Russian Father and Restaurant Waiter in Death in Venice, The First Priest in The Magic Flute, The Speaker in the Ensemble Studio performance of The Magic Flute,and understudies roles in Aida, The Magic Flute, La Cenerentola, and Ariadne auf Naxos.

Born in Manitoba, tenor Christopher Enns is a new member of the Ensemble Studio. He holds his bachelor of vocal performance from the University of Manitoba, and recently graduated from the University of Toronto with a diploma in operatic performance. Recent performances include Ecclitico in Il mondo della luna, Gonsalve in L’heure Espagnole, La théière in L’enfant et les sortileges and Paulino in Il matrimonio segreto with the University of Toronto’s Opera Division; Alfred in Die Fledermaus with Highlands Opera Studio; and Al in The Barber of Boomtown with Saskatoon Opera. Mr. Enns has also performed with the Toronto Summer Music Academy, Opera NUOVA, and the Winnipeg Symphony. In 2010, he performed as part of the Aldeburgh Discovery Series. This season with the COC, Mr. Enns will perform the roles of the American, the Glass Maker, and the Strolling Player in Death in Venice; Tamino in the Ensemble Studio performance of The Magic Flute, and Scaramuccio in Ariadne auf Naxos. He will understudy roles in Aida and The Magic Flute.

A native of Ottawa, mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta last performed with the COC as the Cretan Woman in the Ensemble Studio performance of Idomeneo and understudied the role of Mercédès in Carmen. Last season she also performed the role of Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro with Opera Atelier. She is a graduate of The Glenn Gould School with an artist diploma in voice. Other operatic credits include the title role in Pandora’s Locker, the King’s Mistress in The Children’s Crusade, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Ernesto in Il mondo della luna. She has sung with Opera Atelier, Opera Lyra Ottawa, the Regina Symphony, the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival and the Orpheus Choir. In 2009, Ms Giunta was the winner of the Lilly Kertes Rolin International Prize in vocal studies, and the Royal Conservatory Orchestra Concerto Competition, and received awards from the George London Foundation and The Canada Council for the Arts. This season with the COC, Ms Giunta performs as the English Lady in Death in Venice and the Second Lady in both the mainstage and Ensemble Studio performances of The Magic Flute. She is also understudying the roles of Nancy T’sang in Nixon in China and Angelina in La Cenerentola.

Baritone Adrian Kramer was born in Guelph, Ontario. He holds a bachelor of music from the Juilliard School of Music and a master’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia studying under Marlena Malas. Last year, Mr. Kramer sang Pelléas in Pelléas et Mélisande with Curtis Opera Theatre and Sid in Albert Herring with the Chateauville Festival. He has performed with Glimmerglass Opera, the Chautauqua Institution, Mendelssohn Club, and the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival. In 2005 he was the winner of the Juilliard Honors Recital Competition. During the COC’s 2009/2010 season he understudied the roles of Moralès and Le Dancaïre in Carmen, Japanese Envoy 3 in The Nightingale and Other Short Fables, and Prince Yamadori and Yakuside in Madama Butterfly. This season he appears as the Hotel Waiter and Guide in Venice in Death in Venice, Papageno in the Ensemble Studio performance of The Magic Flute, and The Wig-Maker in Ariadne auf Naxos. He is understudying roles in Death in Venice, The Magic Flute, Nixon in China, La Cenerentola, and Ariadne auf Naxos.

Originally from Saskatoon, soprano Ileana Montalbetti recently performed Anna Kennedy in Maria Stuarda, Elettra in the Ensemble Studio performance of Idomeneo, Fiordiligi in the Ensemble Studio production of Così fan tutte and Mavra Kuzminichna in War and Peace. Last summer Ms Montalbetti attended the Chautauqua Institution where she sang the role of Tatyana in Eugene Onegin. She has also held two consecutive soprano fellowships at the Tanglewood Music Centre where she sang the Celestial Voice in a concert version of Don Carlos under the baton of Maestro James Levine. Ms Montalbetti is a graduate of the opera diploma program at the University of Toronto, where she performed the roles of Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro and the Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia. She has also appeared as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni for Saskatoon Opera and The Toronto Summer Music Academy. This season Ms. Montalbetti appears as the Russian Mother and Newspaper Seller in Death in Venice, First Lady inthe Ensemble Studio performance of The Magic Flute, and Clorinda in La Cenerentola. She is also understudying roles in Aida, The Magic Flute, and Nixon in China.

Soprano Simone Osborne is a Vancouver native. Last season she sang the roles of Anna Kennedy in Maria Stuarda, Frasquita in Carmen, Ilia in the Ensemble Studio performance of Idomeneo and the Chorus Solo Soprano and Pribaoutki as part of The Nightingale and Other Short Fables. Ms Osborne attended the University of British Columbia and studies with Marilyn Horne and Nancy Hermiston. Operatic credits include the title role in Mignon with the Music Academy of the West; Laetitia in The Old Maid and the Thief with Wexford Opera Festival; Nannetta in Falstaff with University of British Columbia Opera; and she has appeared as a guest soloist with the Vancouver, Edmonton and Prince George Symphonies. Ms Osborne was the winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2008, Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition in 2008, International Czech and Slovak Voice Competition in 2007, and the Palm Beach Opera Competition in 2007 and 2008. She is the recipient of the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation and Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation grants for 2008. This season with the COC her roles include Pamina in The Magic Flute, the Strolling Player in Death in Venice, and the Naiad in Ariadne auf Naxos. She will be understudying the role of Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice.

Born in Kitchener, bass Michael Uloth performed last year with the COC as The Bonze in The Nightingale and Other Short Fables and theImperial Commissioner in Madama Butterfly. In the 2008/2009 season he appeared as Don Alfonso in the Ensemble Studio production of Così fan tutte, Snug in A Midsummer Night’s Dream,and Gavrila in War and Peace. An alumnus of Glimmerglass Opera’s 2007 Young American Artists Program, he debuted with Opera in Concert as Enrico VIII in Anna Bolena, Opera York as Masetto in Don Giovanni, Toronto Masque Theatre as the High Priest and Hymen in The Indian Queen, and Brampton Lyric Opera and Saskatoon Opera as Sparafucile in Rigoletto. Other operatic credits include Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, Il Re di Scozia in Ariodante, Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia, Superintendent Budd in Albert Herring, and Reverend John Hale in The Crucible. Mr. Uloth is a graduate of the University of Toronto with a master’s of music in opera, as well as a bachelor of music and opera diploma from Wilfrid Laurier University. This season, he appears as Priest in St. Mark’s in Death in Venice, Second Armed Man in The Magic Flute, Sarastro in the Ensemble Studio performance of The Magic Flute,and Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos, as well as understudying in The Magic Flute.

Soprano Jacqueline Woodley was born in Southampton, Ontario, and is a new member of the Ensemble Studio. She holds both her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance and master’s in opera performance from McGill University, and also trained with the International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv and Montreal, and Opera NUOVA in Edmonton. Ms Woodley’s opera roles include Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lisette in La Rondine, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Serpina in La serva pedrona, and Despina in Così fan tutte. As a soloist, she has performed in Handel’s Dixit Dominus, Bach’s St. John Passion, Handel’s Messiah, and Saint-Saens’ Christmas Oratorio. This season with the COC, Ms Woodley will perform as the Lace Seller in Death in Venice and Papagena in the Ensemble Studio performance of The Magic Flute. She will understudy roles in The Magic Flute, Ariadne auf Naxos, and Orfeo ed Euridice.

Liz Upchurch is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London, England, where she won several prizes as solo pianist and accompanist. As a music director, vocal coach and repetiteur she has worked in 21st-century and traditional opera, music theatre and theatre. She has also covered a wide range of working techniques with singers, actors and instrumentalists in community and educational projects. For many years she worked with young artists at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh where she played for masterclasses with artists such as Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Suzanne Danco, William Pleeth and Dame Joan Sutherland. Upchurch has also worked at the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg festival in Germany and the National Theatre in London. She held a faculty position in the 20th-century Opera and Song program at the Banff Centre for the Arts and was repetiteur and chorus director at Edmonton Opera. As a pianist she has performed all over Europe and has been broadcast with the BBC, Norwegian Radio and the CBC. Upchurch also appeared as a judge on Bravo’s hit series, Bathroom Divas: So you want to be an opera singer!