Monica Whicher

Style and musical elegance combined with an intuitive theatrical sense are the hallmarks of soprano Monica Whicher's performances on the concert and opera stage. Extravagantly praised for repertoire ranging from the title role in Thaîs to the most intimate masterpieces of German Lieder, the Ontario native has captivated listeners from Lameque, New Brunswick to Vancouver, British Columbia. 

She has also been heard in Brahms’ Requiem with Symphony Nova Scotia, Messiah with Vancouver Chamber Choir, Weihnachts-oratorium for Toronto Bach Consort, Anna in Weill’s Street Scene for VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert, and Wolf’s Italienisches-Liederbuch for the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music Artist Series. For Early Music Vancouver, she appeared in the title role in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, as well as Rolfe’s Aeneas and Dido in Ottawa and Vancouver, and Ottawa Choral Society’s Elijah.

In previous seasons she was heard with the Symphony Nova Scotia and Ottawa’s Thirteen Strings in repertoire ranging from Villa Lobos to Fauré and Bach. Ms. Whicher debuted with Houston’s Mercury Baroque as Asprano in Vivaldi’s Montezuma, the work’s premiere in North America. Her many recitals include the works of Lysenko at Toronto’s Koerner Hall, engagements with the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, the Leith Festival, and the Indian River Festival. The varied aspects of her artistry are reflected in performances of Strauss’ Vier Letze Lieder with Peter Oundjian and the Toronto Symphony, Elijah with the Calgary Philharmonic, Bach’s Johannes Passion for the Amadeus Choir, Bach’s Weihnachts-oratorium with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Kingston Symphony, and Grieg’s Peer Gynt with the Victoria Symphony.

Additional credits include Strauss’ songs for Orchestra London, the Hamilton Philharmonic, and the Ottawa Symphony; Messiah with the Elmer Iseler Singers, the title role in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas for Opera Atelier’s tour of Korea and repeating the role for Toronto Masque Theatre; Armide and Orfeo for Opera Atelier and a return to Pacific Opera Victoria for Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, Elijah with the Vancouver Symphony, Die Schöpfung for Orchestra London, Bach’s Mass in B Minor for the Vancouver Bach Choir and Mozart’s Requiem with the Victoria Symphony. 

She has been featured in Messiah with the Toronto Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic and the Edmonton Symphony; as Drusilla in Monteverdi’s Coronation of Poppea for the Cleveland Opera, as the Countess in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro for Opera Atelier, and she was lavishly praised for her Naxos recording of Castor et Pollox with Opera in Concert of Toronto. She appeared at the Nürnberg Chamber Music Festival as the Governess in Turn of the Screw and Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, the latter recorded for broadcast by Bayerischer Rundfunk. Other festivals have included Lanaudière, Westben, Festival of the Sound, Winnipeg New Music, Toronto Summer Music, and the Michoacàn Festival of Music and Culture in Mexico.

Further performance credits include Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and Exultate, Jubilate with Helmuth Rilling in Bilbao, Spain, and appearances with the symphonies of Barcelona, Utah, Hartford, and Minnesota. She has sung Pamina in Die Zauberflöte for Opera Lyra in Ottawa, Elisa in Il re pastore for the Canadian Opera Company, Zerlina in Don Giovanni for Vancouver Opera, Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs with the National Ballet of Canada, and, for CBC television, the inaugural Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards, where she sang in honour of Leopold Simoneau.                                                                                        

Winner of the George London Award, Ms. Whicher has been nominated for a Juno Award for Singing Somers Theatre (Centrediscs) as well as two Dora Mavor Moore awards (LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, DIDO AND AENEAS) and is featured on the Juno-award winning CD’s Beethoven Lives Upstairs, Mozarts’ Magic Fantasy, and Daydreams and Lullabies.  Her recordings of Bach, Schubert, and Hatzis are available on Marquis Classics, and her critically acclaimed portrayal of Mérope can be seen in the EuroArts DVD of Lully’s Persée. 

Ms. Whicher is currently the Head of Voice at the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto.                                                

August 2024

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Naxos