Bass Matthew Li is recognized for possessing a “vibrant stage presence and a rich, commanding voice” (La Scena Musicale). His operatic roles include Leporello, Masetto and Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville, Dulcamara in The Elixir of Love, Seneca in The Coronation of Poppea, Polyphemus in Acis and Galatea, Sarastro in The Magic Flute, and Colline in La Bohème. Concert highlights include the bass solos in Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, Handel’s Messiah, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Bach’s Johannespassion (Pilatus) and cantatas BWV 4 and BWV 67, and Mozart’s Requiem. An ardent collaborator with contemporaries, Li created the leading bass-baritone role of Xon Pon in Alice Ping Yee Ho and Madeleine Thien’s opera Chinatown (2022) with City Opera Vancouver in its world premiere, to critical acclaim.

The 2025-2026 season sees Li making a return to Opéra de Montréal to sing Masetto in Don Giovanni. He will also make his debut with Pacific Opera Victoria as Sciarrone in Tosca, with the Choeur Philharmonique et Choeur des Mélomanes as A Mandarin in Turandot, and with the Ottawa Choral Society, singing both the roles of Raphael and Adam in Haydn’s Die Schöpfung. 

Ivan Estey Jovanovic’s music education began in Serbia at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade where he completed his BMus and MMus in piano performance. In 2005, he joined Belgrade Opera Orchestra as a principal vocal coach, mastering an enormous opera repertoire. Jovanovic came to Toronto in 2013 to complete his MMus. in Collaborative Piano from the University of Toronto under the professorship of Steven Philcox. After winning the prestigious Gwendolyn Williams Koldofsky Prize in Accompanying, he joined the UofT Opera Division as a vocal coach and pianist until 2017. In 2023, Jovanovic began his collaboration with classical saxophone students at UofT. Presently, he is a regular vocal coach and harpsichordist in UofT’s Early Music Department and Schola Cantorum. From 2014 to present, Jovanovic has been the accompanist at Toronto City Opera.