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Our Professional Consultants List is in progress, please revisit the site periodically for updated information.
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Richard Margison
Artistic Director/Voice
One of the most critically acclaimed singers on the international stage today, Canadian tenor Richard Margison has performed in many of the world's leading opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna Staatsoper, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the San Francisco Opera, the Théatre Royale de la Monnaie in Brussels, Covent Garden, the Sydney Opera and the Netherlands Opera.
Verdi, Puccini, Bellini, and Mahler all feature on Richard Margison's 2006-2007 calendar. He begins the season as Bacchus in the Teatro Real's production of Ariadne auf Naxos in Madrid and returns to Madrid in February for four performances of I Pagliacci. November will see him take on an unusual role - he will perform Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, the composer's farewell to the joy and beauty of the world, to a ballet choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan and performed by the National Ballet of Canada. Mr. Margison appears in Hamburg twice next season - the first time as Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera and the second in concert performances of Norma with Edita Gruberova. Spring signals a return to the Metropolitan Opera for one of his signature roles - Calaf in Turandot. Mr. Margison completes his season with appearances at the Cincinnati Opera Summer Festival as Radamès in Verdi's Aida.
Richard Margison's 2005-2006 includes performances as Enzo in La Gioconda in Barcelona, Ricccardo in Verdi's great masterpiece Un Ballo in Maschera at the ROH Covent Garden, Florestan at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and Radamès in the l'Opéra de Montréal's production of Aida. The season concludes in Cincinnati where he will appear in Un Ballo in Maschera.
The highlight of the 2004-2005 season was Richard Margison's performance as O'Brien in the Royal Opera House Covent Garden's premiere production of Lorin Maazel's 1984. The production will subsequently be seen at La Scala and other cities, yet to be confirmed. In that same season, Mr. Margison appeared as Manrico in Il Trovatore at Berlin's Deutsche Oper, Radamès at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Oviedo, Spain, in the title role in Don Carlo at the Metropolitan Opera and as Calaf in Barcelona.
Recent seasons have featured performances in the Washington Opera's production of Norma, productions of Turandot and Il Trovatore for the Canadian Opera Company, as Dick Johnson in La Fanciulla del West and Florestan in Fidelio for the Seattle Opera, and as Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos at the ROH Covent Garden as well as regular appearances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in Ariadne auf Naxos, Don Carlo, Aida, and Turandot. He also made a highly acclaimed appearance as Manrico in the San Francisco Opera production of Il Trovatore.
A much sought after concert artist, Mr. Margison took Toronto by storm in a concert at Roy Thomson Hall garnering such praise as "...it is an important experience to hear Margison live, simply to come into contact with the phsyical presence of the voice. It has both brass and beauty, and its power is so forceful and concentrated that you have to remind yourself that its source is a human throat..."(Globe and Mail). As well, he has appeared with with the Royal Philharmonic in London, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and at the Ravinia Festival. He has also performed with Bryn Terfel at his opera gala at the Faenol Festival in Wales.
Mr. Margison's most recent releases are an all-Verdi recording on CBC Records and the highly acclaimed recording of Fidelio with Christine Brewer. He has also recorded Lanza (Warner Music), a recording made for the film on the life of Mario Lanza, in which he sings the title role. Other recordings include Verdi's Don Carlo with the Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of Bernard Haitink (Philips) and Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Neeme Järvi (Deutsche Grammophon). He has made three recordings with Richard Bradshaw and the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra: a solo album of French and Italian Arias (CBC Records), Rarities by Rossini and Verdi, with Gary Relyea (CBC Records) and Aria, une sélection de Radio-Canada with Anita Krause, Wendy Nielson and Gary Relyea (CBC Records). Richard Margison is also a featured artist on the Millennium Opera Gala recording released by CBC Records.
Richard Margison was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2001.
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Valerie Kuinka
Artistic Director/Stage Director (La Bohème)
Having worked within the realm of alternative multi-disciplinary theatre to grand opera, Canadian director Valerie Kuinka brings a wealth of experience and unique creativity to her work. The list of highly accomplished artists with whom she has collaborated is extensive: Placido Domingo, Anna Netrebko, Roberto Alagna, Richard Margison, Jose Cura, Nathan Gunn, Matthew Polenzani, Veronica Tennant, Rex Harrington, Quartetto Gelato, Alannah Myles, Frank Moore, Shauna Rolston, to name but a few.
A stage director at the Metropolitan Opera in New York for four seasons (2004 – 08), Valerie was on the stage directing team of the recent new production of Romeo et Juliette (2005 – 06) and its revival (2007 – 08) as well as the revivals of Samson et Dalilah (2004 – 05, 2005 – 06), Idomeneo (2006 – 07) and Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci (2006 – 07).
In 1997, Valerie established her own Toronto-based multi-disciplinary theatre company, COLLABORATIONS, and during its eight-year existence wrote, produced, directed, and often performed in 14 productions. “Kuinka has established no small reputation for creating exciting seamless theatrical collage” – Geoff Chapman (Toronto Star, 2003)
Valerie has also directed productions for Pacific Opera Victoria, Opera Hamilton, Quartetto Gelato, International Vocal Arts Festival (Tel-Aviv), The Banff Centre, The Glenn Gould School (Toronto), Opera Mississauga, The Canadian Childrens’ Opera Chorus (Toronto), Opera York, ProVoce Studios and has assisted at the New York City Opera and the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp. She has also been on the faculty of the Vermont International Opera Festival and the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy (Sulmona).
August, 2010, will mark the fourth season of The Highlands Opera Studio for Advanced Opera Studies in which she shares the duties of Artistic Director with her husband, operatic tenor Richard Margison.
Beginning her career as a classical violist, Valerie has been active as a chamber, orchestral, studio, and performance artist for over twenty years and was a member of the orchestras of the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada playing every position from section to principal before her retirement from the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra in June 2005.
Upcoming engagements for the current season include directing productions for the Opera de Quebec, Manitoba Opera, Opera Lyra, and Highlands Opera Studio.
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Giselle Clarke
Stage Manager (La Bohème)
Giselle is so excited to be back with Highland Opera Studio! Last year she made her opera Stage Management debut with Die Fledermaus. Recent credits include: El Numero Uno (LKTYP), ASM for Macbeth (Opera Lyra Ottawa), Die Fledermaus and La Boheme (Opera Hamilton) and The Africa Trilogy (Volcano Theatre for Luminato). She has worked for six seasons with Carousel Players working on shows such as the Dora nominated The Incredible Speediness of Jamie Cavanaugh and Where The Wild Things Are. She has also been an ASM with Opera Hamilton for four seasons. Previously she was the Assistant Stage Manager on Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Lyra Ottawa and Anne of Green Gables: The Musical with the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario. She has done two seasons at the Blyth Festival and has worked with such companies as Tapestry New Opera Works, Opera Atelier, CanStage, Showboat Festival Theatre, Obsidian Theatre, Tarragon Theatre and Factory Theatre. She has also toured Sweden with NorrDans, a modern dance company.
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Rosemary Thomson
Music Director (La Bohème)
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Melissa Stephens
Producer/Collaboarative Piano
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Brahm Goldhamer
Collaborative Piano
Brahm Goldhamer is one of Toronto’s most experienced and respected accompanists and vocal coaches. He has performed across Canada, the U.S. and Europe, and is in great demand as recital collaborator with some of Canada’s most celebrated soloists. For the past twenty-seven years he has been a faculty member of the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Glenn Gould School, where in addition to his studio coaching, he is the founder and Artistic Director of the Opera Ensemble Program, a lecturer in Art Song and Operatic Repertoire, and a teacher of collaborative piano studies. His performances include work with Opera in Concert, Toronto Operetta Theatre, CBC’s Music Around Us, the Elora Festival, Debut Atlantic and Opera Anonymous. He was nominated for a Dora Award for Best Musical Direction following his work with Comus Music Theatre.
Mr. Goldhamer has worked in Italy since 1990 in a variety of educational settings. In the mid-nineties he directed operatic scenes for “ Oberlin at Casalmaggiore, ” with an international cast of students. This summer, Mr. Goldhamer is looking forward to his fourth season as a music director for the Highlands Opera Studio in Haliburton, Ontario, under Co-Artistic Directors Canadian tenor Richard Margison and New York Metropolitan Opera Director Valerie Kuinka. He is thrilled to be returning to Italy for his fourth season working as a music director with Northern Arizona’s International Summer Opera program, “ Flagstaff in Fidenza, “ under artistic director, Nando Schellen.
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Christopher Mokrzewski
Collaborative Piano
Former Ensemble Studio member Christopher Mokrzewski most recently served as music director for the COC EnsembleStudio’s Xtrata School Tour production of The Barber of Seville. Other notable events this season have included a performance of Messiaen's Theme et Variations in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre with COC Orchestra Concertmaster Marie Berard as well as an appearance with soprano Simone Osborne on CBC's radio program GO!. He has been an apprentice vocal coach and répétiteur for the COC’s mainstage performances of Don Giovanni, Fidelio, La Bohème, and the Ensemble Studio production of Così fan tutte. Other credits include assistant conductor for La Cenerentola at the Bay View Music Festival, music director forAssassins at Eastman Opera Theatre, and coach, accompanist, and assistant chorus master for Norma and Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Mercury Opera Rochester, and Cendrillon, L’etoile, L’enfant et les Sortilèges, and Claudia Legare with Eastman Opera Theatre. Mr. Mokrzewski studied at the Eastman School of Music, and is a graduate of the Vocal Piano Program at the Music Academy of the West. He was the first prize winner of the 1999 Eastman School of Music International Young Artists Competition and has also been awarded first prizes at the Milosz Magin International Piano Competition and the Canadian Music Competition.
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Leanne Dixon
Movement
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Timothy Noble
Voice
Baritone Timothy Noble has enjoyed an international career spanning forty-four years, performing leading roles at major opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Dallas Opera, Canadian Opera Company, La Fenice in Venice, Italy, Netherlands Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and the Glyndebourne Festival. In addition his directing credits include I Pagliacci and Tosca for Kentucky Opera, and Madama Butterfly for Columbus Opera. He has performed in concert with the London Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, and has appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and the Ravinia Festival, to name a few. Professor Noble also toured with Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians for seven years as soloist, rehearsal conductor, and arranger, appeared on Broadway, numerous television programs including the Ed Sullivan and Mike Douglas Shows, and received a Grammy nomination for his performance as “Harold Hill” on the Telarc recording of “The Music Man” with the Cincinnati Pops and Erich Kunzel conducting.
Professor Noble is now beginning his eleventh year at the Jacobs School of Music and was elevated to Distinguished Professor in 2004. He serves as vocal trainer/coach for the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble program, and is the founder and director of the Charley Creek Vocal Workshop held each June in Wabash, Indiana. Professor Noble is also in demand as an adjudicator and clinician throughout North America.
Noble’s students have won the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions at the District, Regional, Semi-final and Grand Finals, the Palm Beach Vocal Competition, the George London Competition, the Bel Canto Competition, the Orpheus Competition, and the Matinee Musicale Competition. During the summer of 2009 his student, Jordan Bisch, won the second prize of $20,000 at Placido Domingo’s Operalia International Competition.
Professor Noble’s students hold or have held positions with virtually every young artist program in North America, including the Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera Merola and Adler programs, and Santa Fe Opera. His students have gone on to appear in major roles with the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Opera Omaha, Indianapolis Opera, Sarasota Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, and Virginia Opera.
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John Fanning
Voice
Recently appointed to the Order of Canada, Baritone John Fanning is a veteran of nine season at the Metropolitan Opera where he has performed such roles as the Villains in LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN, Mr. Astley in THE GAMBLER and John Plake in SLY co-starring with Placido Domingo. A frequent guest with all major opera companies in Canada and many in the United States including San Francisco, New York City Opera, Arizona, Minnesota and Kentucky, his wide ranging repertoire includes such varied roles as Harasta in CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN, Dr Kolenaty in MAKROPULOS CASE, Faninal in DER ROSENKAVALIER, Jokanaan in SOLOME, Ein Musiklehrer in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, Jack Rance in LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST, the title roles in EUGENE ONEGIN, WOZZECK and the demon Barber of Fleet Street SWEENEY TODD.
He bowed to great acclaim, as Wotan and Gunther in the Canadian Opera Company’s RING CYCLE marking the official inauguration of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto and in the past year created the title role in FROBISHER for Calgary Opera where, most recently he portrayed Horace Tabor in THE BALLAD OF BABY DOE. The 2007 season also included Iago in OTELLO in Quebec City, Winnipeg and Ottawa and saw role debuts as Tonio in PAGLIACCI for Vancouver Opera, Moneybags Billy in AUFSTIEG UND FALL DER STADT MAHAGONNY for the Spoleto USA Festival, Creon in OEDIPUS REX for Orchestra Sinfonica Brasilieira in Rio de Janeiro, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with The National Arts Centre Orchestra, Belshazzar’s Feast with the Calgary Philharmonic and Dvorak’s Te Deum for Festival 500 in Newfoundland.
Mr. Fanning debuted at Carnegie Hall in Strauss' DAPHNE conducted by Sir Andrew Davis and has appeared with all major Canadian orchestras in much of the concert and oratorio repertoire.
He was featured as Firmin in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA both on the national tour and at the Pantages Theatre in Toronto and is the operatic voice of many commercials. He starred in an episode of CBC's WIND AT MY BACK and was featured as Rodolfo in Norman Jewison‘s MOONSTRUCK.
He has appeared with many esteemed conductors including Levine, Gergiev, Mackerras, Minczuk, Zuckerman and Runnicles, McGegan and Jurovski.
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Christiane Riel
Voice
Montreal native Christiane Riel is recognized for the beauty of her voice, the generosity of her interpretations and her dramatic prowess as a singing actress. The most demanding roles of the soprano repertoire including the heroines of Puccini, Verdi, and those of the French romantic repertoire encompass the very heart of her career. After a triumphant debut as Antonia in THE TALES OF HOFFMANN with the Canadian Opera Company, and, particularly, when she stepped in at short notice to perform the role of Elisabeth in Verdi’s Don Carlos at the COC, she began drawing the attention of the Canadian press. Since then, Ms Riel has enjoyed an international career with performances throughout Canada, United-States and Australia in such roles as The Countess in THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, Donna Elvira in DON GIOVANNI, Micaëla in CARMEN, Marguerite in FAUST, The Governess in THE TURN OF THE SCREW, Desdemona in OTELLO, Hanna Glawary in THE MERRY WIDOW, Rosalinda in DIE FLEDERMAUS, Mimì in LA BOHEME, Liù in TURANDOT, and Nedda in I PAGLIACCI to name but a few. She recently added to her repertoire the title roles in Puccini’s TOSCA and MANON LESCAUT garnering warm applause and kudos for her poignant portrayals.
It is especially for her interpretation of Cio-Cio-San in MADAMA BUTTERFLY that Christiane has earned the widest acclaim performing this role in eighteen different productions for such companies as San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Canadian Opera Company, West Australia Opera and for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Each performance has launched staggering ovations from the audience and rave reviews from the critics.
Since 1997, despite her professional engagements and desiring to transmit her extensive knowledge of the voice, Christiane has devoted significant time to vocal instruction in her own studio. Amongst her students are beginners as well as young professionals and university graduates seeking to perfect their art. Furthermore, she has given master classes at several Universities, Conservatories and opera companies’ young artists programs. Also, she acted, on numerous occasions, as a jury member evaluating examinations, competitions, grants and bursaries and, as an advisor, participated in various forums discussing the future and viability of opera throughout Canada. This year she taught voice at Wilfrid-Laurier University and more recently for Opera Nuova. She is excited to join this September the vocal department of the faculty of music at UWO.
Christiane has successfully completed with excellence her Graduate Diploma in Management of Cultural Organizations from HEC University, Montreal. This additional perspective coupled with her extensive performing and teaching experience has given her a substantive comprehension and appreciation of the lyric arts.
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Alexander Neef
Professional Development
German born Alexander Neef, appointed General Director of the COC in June 2008, has worked with some of the most prestigious arts organizations in the world. His career as an artistic administrator has taken him from the Salzburg Festival, to the RuhrTriennale in Germany, Opéra national de Paris (ONP) and New York City Opera, to leading the COC. The Director of Casting for ONP since August 2004, Mr. Neef functioned as one of Gérard Mortier’s closest collaborators and was instrumental in the production of over 80 operas. He was also responsible for contracting the conductors for the ballet performances and concerts in both the Palais Garnier and Bastille opera houses. In addition to his role at ONP, in March 2007, Mr. Neef joined Gérard Mortier in New York as Mortier prepared for his tenure at New York City Opera. Previously, Mr. Neef was responsible for all the programming at the RuhrTriennale, a three-year, multi-disciplinary festival in the Ruhr region of Germany. He was charged each year with preparing opera, theatre, and dance productions as well as concerts and events. Prior to his tenure at the RuhrTriennale, he spent two seasons at the Salzburg Festival in an artistic administration position. Mr. Neef has a master of arts from Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen where he studied Latin Philology and Modern History.
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Jeff Mitchell (Zemsky/Green Artists)
Professional Development
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John Fisher
Professional Development
John Fisher was born in Glasgow in 1950. He was educated at Glasgow University, the Royal Academy of Music and at the London Opera Centre. He started his operatic career at WNO in 1972 as Music Director of the company’s Opera For All project.
From 1973 – 75 he worked at Théâtre à la Monnaie, Brussels, on the Music Staff and as Music Director of the Opera Studio. Between 1975 and 1977 he was a member of the Music Staff at De Nederlandse Operastichting, Amsterdam. In 1977, he was appointed Head of Music Staff at Teatro alla Scala, Milan; in 1981 he became the company’s Artistic Administrator (Segretario Artistico) a position he held until 1988. In 1989, he was appointed Artistic Director of Teatro alla Fenice, Venice, the first non-Italian to be appointed to that position in any of the state-funded Italian opera houses. From 1983 – 1988, he was also an artistic/musical consultant for Festival Rossini, Pesaro. From 1994 – 1997, he was Director of Opera and Vocal Productions and Executive Producer at Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft, Hamburg. From 1997 until 2006 he was Director of Music Administration at Metropolitan Opera, New York before taking up the post of General Director of Welsh National Opera in May 2006.
In addition, John has collaborated extensively with Decca records and with Unitel films, collaborating with Jean-Pierre Ponnelle on several opera films.
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David Speers
Professional Development
David Speers has been the General Director of Opera Hamilton since 2004. His previous positions include ten years as the General and Artistic Director of the Calgary Opera and five years in the same role with the Arizona Opera.
Mr. Speers is widely recognized for his ability to discover emerging young talent and his skills in assembling strong ensemble casts.
A native of Edmonton, Mr. Speers received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music from the University of Alberta where he was the recipient of the University of Alberta’s Graduate Award in Music. He pursued post-graduate studies in Orchestral Conducting at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City and received additional training at the Tanglewood Festival and the Aspen Music Festival.
David Speers was the Chairman of The Professional Opera Companies of Canada in 1988 and from 1993-1998, and was a member of the Board of Directors of Opera America from 1995-2001. He has received awards from The Canada Council, Alberta Culture, and the National Endowment for the Arts (U.S.). In 2000, Mr. Speers was named 'Arizona Arts Person of the Year' by the Tucson Citizen.
At the podium, David Speers has conducted more than 50 opera productions and made numerous appearances with symphony orchestras throughout Canada and the U.S. In addition to his responsibilities as General Director of Opera Hamilton, Mr.Speers continues his freelance conducting career. Following an engagement with the Toronto Operetta Theatre conducting The Mikado in April of 2008, he returned to the company in February of 2009 to conduct the Canadian premiere of Kurt Weill’s Knickerbocker’s Holiday.
David Speers resides in Ancaster, Ontario with his wife and their two children.
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David Briskin
Professional Development
A conductor renowned for the versatility of his repertoire and the depth of his musical interpretations, David Briskin joined The National Ballet of Canada as Music Director and Principal Conductor in 2006. One of the leading ballet conductors of his generation, Mr. Briskin served as Conductor with American Ballet Theatre for seven years, leading performances at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York’s City Center and in major opera houses throughout the world.
Highly in demand as a guest conductor, he appears regularly with New York City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet and has conducted for Houston Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, as well as the companies of Martha Graham and Paul Taylor, among others. He served as Conductor of The Juilliard School’s Dance Division for 12 years.
Equally at home on the concert stage and in the opera house, Mr. Briskin has conducted symphony orchestras and opera productions throughout Europe, Asia and North America. He has appeared with the Pittsburgh, Detroit, Baltimore and Indianapolis symphony orchestras, among others, as well as such opera companies as Calgary, Manitoba, Opera Carolina and Lake George. He also served for six years as the Music Director of the Masterwork Chorus and Orchestra, conducting annual performances of Handel’s Messiah at Carnegie Hall. In 2008, Mr. Briskin was appointed Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music and Conductor of the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Raised outside of Boston, David Briskin attended the Indiana University School of Music and received a Bachelor of Music degree in orchestral conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Master’s degree from Queens College, City University of New York.
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