Introducing the 2026/2027 COC Ensemble Studio

The Canadian Opera Company’s prestigious Ensemble Studio has invited two of the country’s most talented sopranos to join its resident artists for a 46th season of highly specialized professional career development.

Sopranos Nikan Ingabire Kanate and Sarah Caulfield will join five returning Ensemble Studio artists entering their second year of the program: mezzo-soprano Ariana Maubach, tenor Angelo Moretti, bass-baritone Nick Murphy, soprano Emma Pennell, baritone Ben Wallace, and pianist/coaches Elisabeta Cojocaru and Kimly Wang.

Last fall, following an extensive national audition tour, Kanate and Caulfield placed as two of the seven finalists at the COC’s 12th annual Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition, with Kanate clinching both First Prize and the Hatch Audience Choice Prize for her performance of the aria “Dupuis le jour” from Charpentier’s opera Louise. Caulfield, hailed as a “singer to watch” (Opera Canada), debuted this year at the Banff Centre in their production of Poul Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale and recently appeared in concert with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Richmond Orchestra.

“The COC is thrilled to welcome Nikan Ingabire Kanate and Sarah Caulfield to our program,” says Dorian Cox, Director of the Ensemble Studio. “As two of the most unique and exciting voices we encountered throughout our cross-Canada tour, I am excited to see their growth during this next step in their professional careers. We are so proud of all our resident artists as they shape a bold new future for Canadian opera!” Ensemble Studio artists receive a blend of intensive coaching and practical experience through a highly tailored multi-year program that includes performing and understudying mainstage roles and acting as company ambassadors in community-based performances, while being provided with individualized career mentorship and guidance. In addition to rigorous training from some of the industry’s best vocal, language, movement, and acting coaches, and one-on-one time with acclaimed visiting artists, which have recently included renowned tenor Matthew Polenzani and conductor Speranza Scappucci, Ensemble Studio artists also work directly with the COC’s executive and artistic leadership through every stage of their creative development before embarking onto some of the world’s most prestigious stages.

Two accomplished singers will graduate from the Ensemble Studio at the end of the 2025/2026 season: bass Duncan Stenhouse, who will perform in a special upcoming student performance of The Barber of Seville, and soprano Emily Rocha, who will perform in Rigoletto this winter as Countess Ceprano. Ensemble Studio artists Maubach, Moretti, Murphy, Pennell, and Wallace will also feature in the COC’s productions of Rigoletto, The Barber of Seville, and Massenet’s Werther, working alongside the Ensemble’s pianist/coaches Elisabeta Cojocaru and Kimly Wang during rehearsals for all productions.

Stenhouse and Rocha will perform together in a farewell concert on May 12, 2026 as part of the Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Presented by TD Bank Group.

National auditions for the 2027/2028 Ensemble Studio will be announced in the spring, with the next COC Ensemble Studio Competition scheduled for October 22, 2026.

For more information on the Ensemble Studio and its artists, please visit coc.ca/Ensemble 

Hailed as a “singer to watch” by Opera Canada, Sarah Caulfield is an alumna of the University of British Columbia. Her operatic repertoire includes the title role in Rusalka, Frau Fluth in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Corinna in The Journey to Rheims, and Giulietta in Les contes d’Hoffmann. This year, she debuted at the Banff Centre in The Handmaid’s Tale and with Good Mess Opera in La Rondine. She has appeared in concert with the Vancouver Symphony and Richmond Orchestra, and looks forward to performing with the Vancouver Island Symphony.

Nikan Ingabire Kanate is an Ivorian-Rwandese soprano from Ottawa pursuing her master’s in opera at the Curtis Institute of Music with Julia Faulkner, after earning a Bachelor of Music at the University of Toronto under Nathalie Paulin. She was the soprano soloist in Carlos Alberto Pinto Fonseca’s Missa Afro Brasileira at Koerner Hall with the Nathaniel Dett Chorale. With the Curtis Opera Theatre, she portrayed Fortuna and Ottavia in George Lewis’ The Comet/Poppea, and this February she debuts the title role in Kaija Saariaho’s La Passion de Simone.

Season Sponsor: BMO Financial Group

The COC Ensemble Studio Underwritten By: Arrell Family Foundation, The Catherine And Maxwell Meighen Foundation. With Major Support From: Marjorie Linden In Memory of Roy Linden, The MacNeill Family Foundation, Patrick and Barbara Keenan Foundation, Brian Wilks, Wendy J. Thompson, The Azrieli Foundation, RBC Foundation, Stingray Radio. With Additional Support From: ARIAS: Canadian Opera Student Development Fund, Marcia Lewis Brown, Neil & Blanche Carragher, Catherine Fauquier, Dr. Eudice Goldberg, Joy Levine, Patricia & Frank Mills