Is there a better time of year than spring to experience the freshest voices and brightest rising stars of Canadian opera? This April and May, there are plenty of opportunities to hear the young artists of the COC Ensemble Studio in performance, as well as one of its notable graduates, as part of the Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre.

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April 18, 2017
Fête

Toronto-based Collectìf, co-founded by Ensemble Studio soprano Danika Lorèn, is dedicated to exploring and expanding the world of art song performance by presenting innovative, song-based theatre. In a newly-compiled pastiche, entitled Fête, Collectìf presents staged vignettes of art song based on Verlaine’s iconic poetry cycle, Fêtes galantes.

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April 25, 2017

A Woman's Life and Love

COC Ensemble Studio artists, mezzo-soprano Lauren Eberwein and soprano Danika Lorèn, explore themes of life, love and sensuality from a woman’s perspective in a program that includes Schumann’s beloved Frauenliebe und –leben. They are accompanied by pianists Stéphane Mayer and Hyejin Kwon.

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April 27, 2017

Collaborations

In this annual tradition, singers from the young artist programs of the Canadian Opera Company and l’Opéra de Montréal join forces in a program of arias and ensembles.

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May 9, 2017

Women on the Edge

Canadian mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy (Julie Riel in the COC’s Louis Riel), and graduate of the COC Ensemble Studio, teams up with pianist Rachel Andrist in a concert about women “on the edge.” The program includes Schumann’s Poèmes de la reine Marie d’Ecosse, and Zemlinsky’s Six Songs after Poems by Maeterlinck.

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May 10, 2017

Transformations

COC Ensemble Studio tenor Aaron Sheppard, accompanied by pianist Stéphane Mayer, reflects on the brevity of life in Finzi’s A Young Man’s Exhortation, based on the poetry of Thomas Hardy. The concert also features performances by soprano Samantha Pickett and mezzo-soprano Megan Quick.

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May 11, 2017

Bach Cantatas

COC Ensemble Studio mezzo-soprano Lauren Eberwein joins members of the COC Orchestra and pianist Hyejin Kwon in a special program featuring two of J.S. Bach’s best-loved cantatas: Ich habe genug, BWV 82, and Vergnügte Ruh, BWV 170.

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May 17, 2017

Dawn Always Begins in the Bones

*WORLD PREMIERE*

Multi-award-winning Canadian composer Ana Sokolović premieres her Canadian Art Song Project-commissioned cycle, Dawn Always Begins in the Bones. She has earned international acclaim for her orchestral, vocal, chamber, operatic and theatrical pieces. COC Ensemble Studio artists, with pianist Liz Upchurch, will perform songs and ensembles based on texts from across Canada, celebrating our country and the richness of its artistic traditions.

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May 18, 2017
Les Adieux: Die schöne Müllerin

Tenor Charles Sy and pianist Hyejin Kwon bid farewell to the COC Ensemble Studio in a performance of one of the greatest song cycles ever composed: Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin.

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All performances are FREE to the public and begin at 12 p.m., but line up early to make sure you get a seat! Doors open 11:30 a.m. and late admission is not possible. There is capacity for 230 patrons. 

For more information and the complete listings of all 2016/2017 Free Concert Series performances, click here.

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Photo credit: Artists of the 2016/2017 Ensemble Studio, photo: Bronwen Sharp