As COC General Director, Ian Derrer brings wide-ranging experience drawn from across the operatic world. Most recently, he served for eight years as Kern Wildenthal General Director and CEO of The Dallas Opera, where his leadership demonstrated a deep and sustained commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion—onstage, offstage, and at the governance level.

Previously, he served as General Director of Kentucky Opera and spent eight years at Lyric Opera of Chicago as Director of Production and Head of the Rehearsal Department, building a foundation of extensive technical and operational expertise.

Derrer is also an artist himself: a trained baritone with a strong academic foundation, who holds degrees from Brooklyn College, Northwestern University, and Southern Methodist University. Earlier in his career, he worked professionally as a singer, stage manager, and assistant director with several major opera companies. This background gives him a deeply personal understanding of what artists and creators need to do their best work—an essential quality that supports decision-making that stems from compassionate first-hand knowledge.

German-born conductor Johannes Debus was appointed Music Director of the Canadian Opera Company in 2009, having already established himself in many of the great opera houses and festivals worldwide. Over the course of his tenure, he has captivated Toronto and international critics alike, skillfully leading productions that include Götterdämmerung, Eugene Onegin, Otello, Salome, and the COC world premiere of Hadrian in 2018. Throughout the pandemic disruption of 2020-2022, his work for digital included the hosting of Solo Spotlights, a video series highlighting musicians of the COC Orchestra, as well as conducting for several of the company’s online presentations, including: In Winter, In Concert with Jane Archibald, and Bluebeard’s Castle. Debus most recently conducted the COC’s productions of Fidelio, Don Giovanni, and The Cunning Little Vixen, as well as Faust, La Reine-garçon, and Wozzeck in the company’s 2024/2025 season.

When he is not conducting at the COC, Debus is very active with international engagements that include appearances with the BBC Proms, the orchestras of Boston, Baltimore, Cleveland, Aspen, the National Arts Centre, Houston, and Toronto, at the Spoleto, Bregenz, and Tanglewood festivals, and at opera companies such as San Francisco, Berlin Staatsoper, Komische Oper Berlin, Oper Frankfurt, and Bayerische Staatsoper, among many others. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2016 conducting Salome, and returned the following year to conduct Les contes d'Hoffmann.

In 2021, Debus co-founded the Biglake Festival in Prince Edward County, Ontario. The annual summer event showcases music that bridges the past and present, originating from various countries and influenced by a diverse range of cultures from around the world.

Johanne Debus is generously underwritten by Riki Turofsky & Charles Petersen

The COC Orchestra is generously sponsored by The Schulich Foundation and by W. Bruce C. Bailey

Roberto Mauro joined the Canadian Opera Company in 2009 and currently serves as the company’s Artistic Director having helped to shape more than seventy-five mainstage productions over his tenure to date. A widely respected arts leader recognized for his keen artistic judgment, Mauro has been instrumental in curating seasons that balance beloved classics with innovative new works, bringing to COC audiences such landmark productions as Die Walküre (2015), Siegfried (2016), Götterdämmerung (2017); boundary-pushing commissions that include Hadrian (2018) and La Reine-garcon (2025); and the very first staging of Medea in COC history. Among his proudest programming achievements is Arabella (2017), as well as the company’s upcoming 2026 production of Werther—a historic first co-production between the Canadian Opera Company, Opéra de Montréal, and Vancouver Opera.

Before the COC, Mauro worked on the Artistic and Production teams of several leading North American opera companies, including Michigan Opera Theatre, Arizona Opera, and Opéra de Montréal. His global reputation as an adjudicator and advocate for vocal artistry has led to prestigious invitations, including serving on juries for the Grand Finals of the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions (2024), the Concours musical international de Montréal (2025), and the International Stanisław Moniuszko Vocal Competition in Warsaw (2022).

Mauro’s exceptional reputation has been defined by his ability to attract and champion some of the world’s finest artists and creative teams, engaging directors such as Robert Carsen, Atom Egoyan, Paul Curran, Christopher Alden, and Tim Albery; composers including Cecilia Livingston, Ian Cusson, Julien Bilodeau, and Ana Sokolović; and internationally celebrated singers Sondra Radvanovsky, Tamara Wilson, Clay Hilley, Russell Braun, Quinn Kelsey, and Christian Van Horn.