Alex Halliday
Bass-baritone Alexander Halliday has been praised for his ability in finding “a beautiful balance between strapping and lyric” (Globe and Mail). Frequently gracing the stage with the Canadian Opera Company, Alex has performed under the batons of Johannes Debus, Jacques Lacombe, Lorenzo Passerini and Speranza Scappucci.
During the 2023-24 season, Alex most notably appeared as the title role in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale for the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble performance. Other roles during the season included The Notary (Don Pasquale), The Poacher (The Cunning Little Vixen), and Captain of the Guard (Medea), as well as several cover assignments. This season, Alex makes his house debut with Manitoba Opera as Colline in Puccini’s La bohème, and joins the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. He also returns to the COC to cover Méphistophéles in their new production of Gounod’s Faust.
Alex’s 2022-23 season saw him as Morales in Bizet’s Carmen, as well as featured roles in Puccini’s Tosca, Verdi's Macbeth, Strauss’ Salome and various cover assignments, all with the Canadian Opera Company. Other notable assignments at the COC include Guccio in Gianni Schicchi (2021) and Noah in the 2022 world premiere of Fantasma by Ian Cusson and Colleen Murphy.
Alex is quickly making his mark across Canada in not only opera, but on the concert stage. He recently had the pleasure of performing Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle with Société d’art vocal de Montréal, and as the bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah for the Bach Elgar Choir, the Durham Youth Orchestra, and the Peterborough Singers. Also in concert, Alex has had the pleasure of performing Colline in Puccini’s La bohème with Orchestre Philharmonique et Choeur des Mélomanes at Montréal’s Maison Symphonique.
Additional roles in Alex’s repertoire include Rocco in Fidelio, Sciarrone in Tosca, Sir Thomas Bertram in Mansfield Park, Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, Masetto and Leporello in Don Giovanni, Father in Silent Light, Alexander Throttlebottom in Of Thee I Sing, and Carl Olsen in Street Scene.
Alex hails from St. John's, Newfoundland where he began his journey in opera receiving his BMus in Vocal Performance from the Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2017. Alex received his MMus in Opera studies at the University of Toronto in 2019 and is a graduate of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio.
August 2024
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““[Halliday] took the bold approach and sang with considerable power and brio.””
