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The young artists of the COC Ensemble Studio will give a special performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute tonight with the COC Orchestra and Chorus, giving Toronto audiences a chance to see Canada's rising young opera stars as they begin their careers. 

Under the direction of the same artistic team as for the mainstage cast, including conductor and COC Music Director Johannes Debus, director Diane Paulus, set and costume designer Myung Hee Cho and lighting designer Scott Zielinski, the Ensemble members will perform with the full COC Orchestra and Chorus. This performance allows the young Canadian artists of the Ensemble Studio to be highlighted in principal roles on the COC’s mainstage. In the 2011/2012 season, the Ensemble members will have the opportunity to sing the principal roles in a performance of Handel's Semele.

COC Ensemble Studio alumni have appeared at all the world's greatest opera houses, and include Ben Heppner, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Robert Gleadow, and Krisztina Szabó. Some current Ensemble Studio members are already working with major opera companies both in Canada and worldwide: soprano Simone Osborne will sing Juliette in Roméo et Juliette with Vancouver Opera next season, as well as Mozart's Requiem with TSO and an East coast tour with Debut Atlantic; Ileana Montalbetti recently understudied the role of Anai in Rossini’s Moïse et Pharaon in Rome under the baton of Riccardo Muti; and Wallis Giunta has been invited to join the Metropolitan Opera's prestigious Lindemann Program.  

Photos:

Blogging about The Magic Flute? We encourage you to use these photos in your post, but be sure to use the full photo credit. All photos are by Michael Cooper, 2011. If you need high-resolution images, email me at cecilyc@coc.ca and let me know.

Download A scene from the COC Ensemble Studio performance of The Magic Flute, 2011. Conductor Johannes Debus, director Diane Paulus, set and costume designer Myung Hee Cho and lighting designer Scott Zielinski.	Download A scene from the COC Ensemble Studio performance of The Magic Flute, 2011. Conductor Johannes Debus, director Diane Paulus, set and costume designer Myung Hee Cho and lighting designer Scott Zielinski.
Download (l – r) Rihab Chaieb as the Third Lady, Christopher Enns as Tamino, Ileana Montalbetti (kneeling) as the First Lady and Wallis Giunta as the Second Lady in the COC Ensemble Studio performance of The Magic Flute, 2011. Conductor Johannes Debus, director Diane Paulus, set and costume designer Myung Hee Cho and lighting designer Scott Zielinski.	Download (l – r) Ambur Braid as the Queen of the Night and Simone Osborne as Pamina in the COC Ensemble Studio performance of The Magic Flute, 2011. Conductor Johannes Debus, director Diane Paulus, set and costume designer Myung Hee Cho and lighting designer Scott Zielinski.
Download Jacqueline Woodley as Papagena and Adrian Kramer as Papageno in the COC Ensemble Studio performance of The Magic Flute, 2011. Conductor Johannes Debus, director Diane Paulus, set and costume designer Myung Hee Cho and lighting designer Scott Zielinski.	Download Simone Osborne as Pamina and Christopher Enns as Tamino in the COC Ensemble Studio performance of The Magic Flute, 2011. Conductor Johannes Debus, director Diane Paulus, set and costume designer Myung Hee Cho and lighting designer Scott Zielinski.

Video:

Simone Osborne, a member of the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio, discusses her upcoming role debut as Pamina with the Canadian Opera Company. She will sing Pamina with the COC on Feb 20, 23, and 25, as well as at the Special Performance on Feb. 17.

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About the Cast:

• Pamina is sung by Simone Osborne, lauded by the New York Times for her “sweet and clear sound, sensitive phrasing and gleaming sustained high notes” and described as “a joy to hear” by the LA Times.
• Manitoba-born tenor Christopher Enns, who last appeared with the COC in the fall 2010 production of Death in Venice, sings the role of Tamino.
• Papageno is sung by Guelph baritone Adrian Kramer, a graduate of the prestigious Julliard School in New York.
• Jacqueline Woodley, the Lace Seller in 2010’s Death in Venice, plays Papagena.
• The Queen of the Night is sung by Ambur Braid, who will play Amore in this coming spring’s Orfeo ed Euridice. She (along with Wallis Giunta) also sung with indie rock celebrities Broken Social Scene in last year's gala Operanation VII.
• Tenor Michael Barrett, a recent graduate of the Ensemble Studio, returns to sing the role of Monostatos.
• Sarastro is played by Michael Uloth, who appeared last year with the COC as The Bonze in The Nightingale and Other Short Fables and the Imperial Commissioner in Madama Butterfly. Next year he will join the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program. 
• South African bass-baritone Neil Craighead sings the roles of Speaker of the Temple, the First Priest and the Second Armed Man.
• Ileana Montalbetti, who recently understudied the role of Anai in Rossini’s Moïse et Pharaon in Rome under the baton of Riccardo Muti, sings the role of the First Lady.
• Mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta, an Ottawa native who has been invited to join the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Program next season, sings the role of the Second Lady. She (along with Ambur Braid) also sung with indie rock celebrities Broken Social Scene in last year's gala Operanation VII.
• Mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb, the French Mother in 2010’s Death in Venice, sings the role of the Third Lady.
• Ensemble graduate Adam Luther, who appeared with the COC in 2010’s The Flying Dutchman and 2009’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Fidelio, returns to sing the roles of the Second Priest and the First Armed Man.

Links:

• About the Ensemble Studio
• Ensemble Studio biographies
• Simone Osborne's blog