As Canada’s only permanent children’s opera company, the Canadian Children’s Opera Company (CCOC) has ignited a passion for opera in thousands of young voices over 57 years. We offer exceptional training in singing, music, and drama for youth ages 3 to 19 across five choirs and a new Young Artist Studio, a pre-professional training program for young people ages 16 and up. The CCOC performs regularly with leading arts organizations in Toronto and beyond, with members regularly performing in the Canadian Opera Company’s productions. We commission and present world-class children's operas, and empower youth through innovative outreach programs. Annually, over 2,100 youth and families benefit from our programming, reaching diverse communities across the GTA. 

Born in Tkaronto (Toronto) to Hong Kong immigrants, Marjorie Chan has written for opera, theatre, radio drama and various intersections of performance and media, including collective forms. Her operas include Sanctuary Song (with composer Abigail Richardson Schulte) and M’dea Undone (with composer John Harris, also with Tapestry), The Lesson of Da Ji, and The Monkiest King (both with composer Alice Ping Yee Ho) and The Nightingale of a Thousand Songs (with composer Serouj Kradjian). Sanctuary Song, M’dea Undone and The Lesson of Da Ji received the Dora Award for Outstanding New Opera. M’dea Undone was also awarded the Broadway Entertainment Award for Best New Large Work.

Two of her plays, China Doll and Lady Sunrise, were finalists for the Governor General’s Literary Award. Her other plays include a nanking winter, The Madness of the Square, and Tales from the City, as well as co-creations The Ward (with David Buchbinder and others), The Year of the Cello (co-created with composer Njo Kong Kie) and Fare Game: Life in Toronto’s Taxis (with Ruth Madoc-Jones and Alex Williams).

Nominated for 11 Dora Awards in acting, writing and directing categories, Marjorie is also the recipient of an Outstanding Performance Dora for TYA, as well as the K.M. Hunter Artists Award, Bra D’Or Award, as well as the George Luscombe Award for Mentorship. Currently, she is adapting the novel Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien into an opera with composer Tim Brady, and she is serving as a dramaturge for Madeleine Thien and Alice Ping Yee Ho’s opera CHINATOWN.

As the Artistic Director of Theatre Passe Muraille since 2019, Marjorie places access, community, innovation and collaboration at the forefront of the company’s approach.

Claire Elise Harris is a Toronto-based collaborative pianist, specialising in opera and contemporary repertoire. Originally from New Zealand, Claire holds a Bachelor of Music from the New Zealand  School of Music and a Masters from the Royal College of Music, London, England. Prior to moving to Toronto in 2018, Claire was a staff accompanist at the Royal College of Music, London, as well as working with companies including English Touring Opera, the Rossini Young Artists’ Festival, Opera Alumnus, and the Academie de La Roche D’Hys annual opera workshop in France. She has performed internationally as a pianist in venues such as Royal Festival Hall and Wigmore Hall, London, The Porgy and Bess, Vienna, and appeared on radio stations from Guernsey to Bogotá, Colombia.

Claire is pianist with Crossing Borders, a company performing works by living composers across Canada and internationally, most recently touring Colombia with a programme of all Canadian and Colombian living composers. She also recently curated and performed a recital of Canadian art song with baritone Parker Clements at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto.

Claire is co-producer and pianist for Opera Revue, a Toronto opera company which has been featured on the cover of Opera Canada magazine, CBC National Radio and CTV National television. She is also the pianist for Canadian Children’s Opera Company’s Principal Chorus, Associate Director with Opera by Request, Toronto, and Pianist with the Toronto Children’s Chorus, as well as working regularly as a répétiteur and coach with independent companies around Toronto and Ontario. Claire coaches students in the vocal program at the University of Toronto as well as maintaining a private coaching studio. Claire is also the pianist for Amarras, a Toronto-based contemporary Argentinian Tango ensemble with whom she has performed in the USA and Argentina.

Alice Ping Yee Ho is a distinguished Chinese Canadian composer renowned for her versatile and expansive body of work, she seamlessly blends genres including opera, orchestral, chamber music, dance, and theatre. Ho’s compositions are marked by their innovative approach, emotional depth, and striking originality, earning her numerous prestigious awards and accolades.

Among her many honors, Ho is the recipient of the 2024 Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music, the 2022 Symphony Nova Scotia Maria Anna Mozart Award, the 2022 Barlow Endowment Commissioning Award, the 2019 Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize, and the 2013 Mavor Dora Moore Award for her opera The Lesson of Da Ji.

A two-time JUNO Award nominee, Ho has released 10 solo albums under her name. Her works have been performed by renowned ensembles and orchestras worldwide, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Finnish Lapland Chamber Orchestra, the Polish Radio Choir, the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Taiwan Symphony, and the Luxembourg Sinfonietta.

Her cross-cultural operas, The Lesson of Da Ji, The Monkiest King, and Chinatown, transcend cultural boundaries and highlight her unique voice. Ho’s artistry continues to inspire and engage listeners, reflecting both her deep cultural roots and her universal appeal.

Artistic Director and Founder of Zata Omm and W Zento Productions, William Yong has dedicated over two decades to breaking new ground by collaborating with artists, scientists, and engineers in visionary, technology-driven performance projects. William’s artistic journey began with music as a member of the Hong Kong Children's Choir and later as the lead singer and songwriter for the band Fundamental, which was signed by a major record label in Hong Kong/Asia. His passion for the arts expanded into an illustrious 30-year career spanning dance, theatre, acting, directing and filmmaking. Trained at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and London Contemporary Dance School, William graduated with a master’s degree with distinction. He performed with some of the world’s most influential choreographers and companies, including Wayne McGregor’s Random Dance and Matthew Bourne’s Adventures in Motion Pictures, touring 76 cities across 15 countries. As a choreographer and director, William has created over 150 acclaimed works, including innovative productions such as vox:lumen, Steer, and Eden Planted. In 2024, he became the first Asian choreographer commissioned by the National Ballet of Canada for UtopiVerse, performed at Toronto’s prestigious Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts—a groundbreaking achievement in Canadian ballet. William’s contributions to the arts have earned him numerous accolades, including the "I love dance/J’aime la danse" Award for Innovation and a Dora Mavor Moore Award for performance. His stage works have garnered eleven Dora nominations, most recently for Outstanding Original Choreography for UtopiVerse. In film, William’s work as a director, cinematographer and editor has received international recognition, winning awards for Best Cinematography, Award of Excellence, and Best Experimental Short at eleven esteemed film festivals worldwide. With a passion for pushing artistic boundaries and a commitment to innovation, William Yong continues to redefine storytelling for the stage and screen in the technological age.