Talking with Singers: Robert Pomakov

Interview

Canadian bass Robert Pomakov has built himself a pretty enviable career. He’s currently in the middle of a Metropolitan Opera-heavy season, returning in January for productions of Les contes d’Hoffmann, Manon and Don Carlo. He has sung for conductors like James Levine, James Conlon, Riccardo Muti, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Nicola Luisotti.

Wendy Nielsen: On Teaching Singing

Interview

Originally from New Brunswick, Canadian soprano Wendy Nielsen has enjoyed a multi-decade career as a singer and as a teacher. Roles like the Countess Almaviva, Fiordiligi, and Donna Elvira are staples of her singing career, which has taken her across Canada, and includes twelves seasons at the Metropolitan Opera.

Tom Diamond: On Directing Opera

Interview

Winnipeg-born Tom Diamond is one of Canada’s busiest, most sought-after opera directors. His work has earned him both Dora (Chan Ka Nin’s Iron Road) and Gemini awards (Bathroom Divas: So You Want To Be an Opera Star? on Bravo!), and he’s in huge demand as an operatic acting coach to young professional singers.

Retta, the opera fan

Humour

Happy New Year! I’m starting 2015 off light, with a fun opera find out in the world of general media. Did you know actress/comedienne Retta, who plays Donna on Parks and Recreation, trained as an opera singer? She’s still got some decent chops, too, which she showed off to Conan O’Brien in 2012.

Talking with Agents: Alia Rosenstock

Interview

Alia Rosenstock is an Artist Manager with Dean Artists Management, Canada’s biggest and most successful agency for classical singers. She studied voice at the New England Conservatory and she holds a law degree from Dalhousie University; these days, she’s melding her musical, administrative, and law skills into one very neat job representing Canada’s exciting talent. I asked her what she loves about it.

Chris Enns: Rags to Reasonable

Interview

Canadian tenor Chris Enns is the creator of the new blog Rags to Reasonable: Personal Finance for Artists & Storytellers. It’s great, I’ve already learned things, and Chris is writing about a really important topic for us artsy types. He was nice enough to sit down with me and tell me why he created Rags to Reasonable, and what it can do for today’s generation of professional artists.

Talking with Singers: Jennifer Holloway

Interview

American singer Jennifer Holloway is currently in Toronto, all set to make her Canadian Opera Company debut as Donna Elvira in Dmitri Tcherniakov's production of Don Giovanni, which opens January 24th. She was kind enough to sit down with me and talk about the character of Donna Elvira, about sympathizing with the Don, and about Mozart's sense of feminism.

Talking with Valkyries: Rihab Chaieb

Interview

​Tunisian-born mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb is a graduate of the COC Ensemble Studio (Semele, La clemenza di Tito), and she's currently in Toronto to be a Valkyrie. She sings Waltraute in Atom Egoyan's production of Die Walküre, opening January 31st at the Four Seasons Centre. I asked her about being the production, and what she's learned about the art and the business of opera.

Tales from One Soprano's European Audition Tour

Humour

When they’re not too far from their university years, many young Canadian opera singers start thinking about an audition tour in Europe. Germany, in particular, is appealing to Canadians for its many, many opera houses, and the coveted fest contract in German houses. Canadian soprano Lydia Skourides Péquegnat is one of those singers, having spent three seasons at Theater Dortmund before returning to Germany for a four-month audition tour.

John Cage Would Have Laughed

Humour

Since John Cage didn’t write anything easily defined as an opera, this is officially a topical digression. Concerning the above screenshot, possible explanations include a) a hilarious coincidence concerning copyright infringement, b) John Cage is haunting AdamLore and his YouTube channel, or c) AdamLore infringed upon copyright knowing that this would be perfect.