I have been teaching voice at Laurier since 2002 and am currently the Coordinator of the Opera Program where I also teach creative process, passing on my knowledge of the performing arts industry to a wide range of students. This year I also take on the role of Associate Dean: External, expanding my reach into the wider community to build partnerships for the Faculty of Music and grow opportunities for our students current and future. I hold a Bachelor of Music and Opera Diploma from the University of Toronto, was a member of the COC Ensemble Studio and sang as a company soloist at Frankfurt Opera from 1989-94.

Nationally and internationally, I have performed on operatic and concert stages in Paris, Chicago, New York City, London, Rome, Tokyo, Montréal, Seattle and Toronto. In the spring of 2017 alone, I gave two world premieres—one of a new opera, Oksana G. for Tapestry Opera in Toronto, and one of a newly commissioned piece written specifically for me, TorQ Percussion Quartet and harp, called This Land, which was presented by NUMUS concerts here in Kitchener-Waterloo.

I interact with students in as many ways and different kinds of settings as possible — whether exploring vocal technique in my group class, leading auditioning, resumé and grant writing or Body Mapping workshops, or creating countless performing opportunities and professional connections. I enjoy discovering the unique capabilities and strengths that each student I interact with brings to the table, and helping them to grow artistically and personally throughout their time at Laurier and beyond.

• Commissioning grant: THIS LAND (Abigail Richardson-Schulte); Ontario Arts Council, 2017.
• Winner: 2013 Award OPUS (Montreal’s most prestigious arts award) for Musical Event of the Year; DEAD MAN WALKING (Opéra de Montréal) in the role of Mrs. Patrick de Rocher (first artist to make the jump to this role after performing Sister Helen previously).
• Recipient: Laurier Merit Award 2016, 2013, 2008, 2004.
• Nominee: Mentor Award, Kitchener-Waterloo Arts Awards, 2011.
• Recent role debuts: Asa in world premiere performances of OKSANA G (Gervais/Murphy) with Toronto's Tapestry Opera; world premiere of THIS LAND (Abigail Richardson-Schulte), with Rene Meshake (narrator/storyteller), TorQ Percussion Quintet and harpist Angela Schwarzkopf for NUMUS Concerts, both May 2017.
• Performances with London Symphony, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Paris Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Montréal’s I Musici, the Chicago and Toronto Symphonies, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; recording for Deutsche Grammophon in a wide repertoire ranging from Handel, Ravel and Mahler to Stravinsky, Argento and Bernstein.

I frequently supervise upper level undergraduate and opera diploma students in directed studies projects ranging from in-depth role studies to arts creation projects. I also mentor many students (from all musical disciplines) as they develop their performing profiles, prepare CVs and other promotional materials.

• Le petit elfe; Works of Florent Schmitt; with pianists Leslie De'Ath and Anya Alexeyev; Dutton Classics, 2011.
• L’accordéoniste; L’accordéoniste (Kimberly Barber, mezzo-soprano; Peter Tiefenbach, piano; Mary-Lou Vetere, accordion; Carol Bauman, percussion) and the New Berlin Ensemble; Independent, 2009.
• Rinaldo (title role), Handel, with Kevin Mallon, conductor, Naxos Records, 2006.
• Faustina Bordoni: Portrait of a Prima Donna, solo recording with Ensemble Arion, Monica Huggett, Music Director, CBC Records, 2005.

The environment at Wilfrid Laurier University is collegial, supportive and innovative. Our extraordinary confluence of active professional musicians in every discipline—performance, academic scholarship, education, music therapy—attracts an eager group of students, hungry to chart their own courses and make their mark.