CONDUCTOR FRANCIS CHOINIÈRE AWARDED THE 2023-2024 MÉCÉNAT MUSICA PRIX GOYER

Conductor Francis Choinière, choral conductor and artistic director of Orchestre Philharmonique et Choeur des Mélomanes, Orchestre FILMharmonique & Ensemble Classico Moderne, is the winner of the $125,000 Mécénat Musica Prix Goyer 2023-2024 for Collaborative Emerging Artist.

Mécénat Musica Prix Goyer is the biggest prize of its kind in Canada and one of the largest in the world for a collaborative emerging artist in classical music.

Mécénat Musica Prix Goyer honours Jean-Pierre Goyer and his contributions to music, arts and culture in Montréal, Québec and Canada. Mr. Goyer was Chairman of the Conseil des arts de Montréal and Chairman of the Orchestre Métropolitain where he hired Yannick Nézet-Séguin as emerging conductor at the age of 25 years old.

Read the press release here.

Congratulations, Francis!

EVAN KORBUT WITH CONFLUENCE CONCERTS

This weekend, Confluence Concerts presents their T’łabat'si: Copper Box concert series.

Dean Artists' baritone Evan Korbut serves as both curator and performer for this weekend of inspiration, healing, and enriching artistry.

Schedule of performances:

Lifegivers: Friday February 10th at 7:30pm,

Music is Good Medicine: Saturday February 11th at 4:00pm

Sharing our Stories: Sunday February 12th at 4:00pm

Learn more here.

DEAN ARTISTS MANAGEMENT WELCOMES TEIYA KASAHARA 笠原 貞野 (SOPRANO)

WE ARE DELIGHTED TO WELCOME SOPRANO Teiya kasahara 笠原 貞野 TO THE DEAN ARTISTS MANAGEMENT ROSTER!

Nikkei Canadian settler Teiya Kasahara 笠原 貞野 (they/them) is a queer/trans non-binary opera singer and theatre creator based in Tkarón:to (Toronto). Recently featured in the CBC short-doc OPERA TRANS*FORMED, Teiya is a graduate of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio and the 2022 recipient of the Joseph S. Stauffer Prize in Music (Canada Council for the Arts). 

Heralded as “a force of nature” (Toronto Star), a “commanding presence” (Theatre Reviewer), and “an artist with extraordinary things to say” (The Globe and Mail), Teiya has nearly 20 years of experience singing both traditional and contemporary operatic roles across North America and Europe. Highlights include engagements with the Canadian Opera Company, Edmonton Opera, Vancouver Opera, Vancouver Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Windsor Symphony, Against the Grain Theatre, Aalto-Essen Musiktheater (Germany), Opéra Toulon, Tapestry Opera, the Luminato Festival with Beverley Glenn Copeland, and Theatre Gargantua, among others.

For the 2022/2023 season, Teiya is a resident artist with re:Naissance Opera’s Indie Fest, developing new works including Imaginarium; Inferno, a new hip hop opera by Omari Newton and Amy Lee Lavoie; a live computer animated performance of Eurydice: Into the Underworld; and a concert with BIPOC Voices. They are also covering the title role in Salome with the Canadian Opera Company, and returns to the COC to perform the Priestess & Bartender in the premiere of Marshall and Hale’s Pomegranate later in the season. They will also be seen singing the soprano solo in Beethoven‘s Symphony No. 9 (Kingston Symphony Orchestra) and Orff’s Carmina Burana (Amadeus Choir). Upcoming engagements also include Japanese opera Nae by Kokichi Kusano, a new opera by composer Rita Ueda, and video opera The Future’s Market by Douglas Rodger and Kong Kie Njo.

Click here to learn more about Teiya or head to their website here.

SIMON RIVARD APPOINTED MUSIC DIRECTOR OF THE EDMONTON OPERA

Congratulations to Dean Artists conductor Simon Rivard on his appointment as Music Director of the Edmonton Opera - the first ever in the company's history!

Simon looks forward to conducting all three of EO's mainstage productions this season, following his success at the podium in their productions of Puccini's La Bohème and Tosca (both 2022).

To read more about Edmonton's exciting 23/24 season plans and Simon's directorship, head over to their website.

BASS ALAIN COULOMBE - 22/23 NOMINEE OF THE PAUL DE HUECK AND NORMAN WALFORD CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Congratulations to Dean Artists bass Alain Coulombe who is a 22/23 nominee for the Ontario Arts Council’s prestigious Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement award.

The awards recognizes established Canadian artists for their significant contributions, nationally and internationally, to the field of classical singing.

An incredible nomination to honour Alain's 30+ year performance career!

Click here to learn more about the award on the OAC’s website.

DEAN ARTISTS MANAGEMENT WELCOMES LILLIAN BROOKS (MEZZO SOPRANO)

WE ARE DELIGHTED TO WELCOME MEZZO SOPRANO LILLIAN BROOKS TO THE DEAN ARTISTS MANAGEMENT ROSTER!

Canadian mezzo-soprano Lillian Brooks has been praised for her “lyric sound” (Ludwig van Toronto), “easy handling of coloratura” (Schmopera), and has been noted for her “wonderful sensitivity to story and the development of song,” (FYI Music). During the 2023 season, Lillian will appear with chamber ensemble InnerCHAMBER (Stratford, ON), for an intimate performance of Mahler’s Ruckert Lieder and returns to Chorus Niagara in March 2023 for Beethoven’s epic oratorio, Missa Solemnis. To close out the season, Lillian will be seen performing the role of Mrs. Anderssen in the Royal Conservatory Presents: A Little Night Music (Sondheim), alongside a star studded all-Canadian cast.

Lillian made her professional debut in 2015 singing Mozart’s Requiem with Chorus Niagara, under the baton of Robert Cooper. Her love of oratorio and concert works has continued to grow, as she performs as a soloist in repertoire such as Handel’s Messiah and Dixit Dominus, Bach’s St John Passion and St Matthew Passion, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Durufle’s Requiem, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, and the Canadian premieres of both Last Light Above the World by Alan Bevan and The Cross of Christ by Romulo Delgado. Equally at home on the operatic stage, her past roles include Bradamante in Alcina, Annio in La clemenza di Tito, Third Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Flora in La Traviata, and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro.

Lillian’s musical journey has led to numerous accolades for her dedication to the craft. In 2015, she was awarded the prestigious Hnatyshyn Foundation Developing Artists Grant, while graduating cum laude from York University, where she studied with Canadian mezzo-soprano Catherine Robbin and earned first prize in their annual Concerto Competition. Brooks received her Artist Diploma Program in Vocal Performance from the Glenn Gould School in 2017 and went on to participate in the Calgary Opera Young Artists Program and the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme in Aldeburgh, UK, where she studied with internationally acclaimed faculty including Matthew Rose and Anne-Sofie von Otter.

Click here to learn more about Lillian or head to her website here.

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