Adam Da Ros is a Canadian stage and music director from Dawson Creek, B.C. active in opera and musical theatre. He is on academic staff at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as adjunct instructor and director of the UWM Opera Theatre program. He recently completed two seasons as Resident Artist Stage Director at Minnesota Opera, where he assisted on eight mainstage productions, including two world premieres, as well as directing members of the Resident Artist Program in promotional and outreach activities, including a concert at the National Opera Center in New York City.Adam holds a ...


As a baritone, Alan has sung throughout North America and Europe. In the UK, he sang Marcello in Puccini’s La Bohème, Mozart’s Mass in C minor, and Bach’s St. Matthew's and St. John's Passion, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus in London, and Papageno in The Magic Flute in Belfast. He sang Schaunard in La Boheme with Vancouver Opera and with Opera Theátre Besançon in France and returned to Besancon and Dijon, France in Peter Eötvös’ contemporary opera Le Balcon and in Rossini’s opera L’occassione fa il Ladro. Alan performed many times with the Kamloops Symphony including Mahlers’ Das Lied von der ...


2020 Dora Nominee for Outstanding Opera Direction, Amanda Smith, is enamoured by visual storytelling as a platform to explore the psychological impacts of music, colour and movement. Amanda creates stimulating productions that highlight opera’s modern-day potential with collaborations and inspiration from other contemporary art forms, such as new media art, electronic music, contemporary dance and event design.For the past ten years, Amanda’s love of the creative process has led her to exploring the use of devised and collective creation in opera, as a way to empower the performers and ...


Elizabeth Stepkowski Tarhan (she/her) born in Calgary/Mohkinstsis, is a stage director, award winning actor, singer, and educator. Elizabeth has directed for Calgary Opera, The Shakespeare Company, Seadreamer, Urban Stories/Drama on a Dime, Destiny Theatre, the Soulocentric Festival, Storybook Theatre and Stage West. She also directed new work at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, the most recent of which was an exploration of her vision to add Flamenco song and dance to a new translation of The House of Bernarda Alba by the late John Murrell, OC, AOE. Elizabeth is an instructor of ...


Erin Bardua is primarily a singer, voice teacher, and stage director. Like many performers, much of Ms. Bardua's most recent work has been on film and online. In 2020, her company Essential Opera produced two operatic films: Mirror, mirror, by Anna Pidgorna; and December, by Monica Pearce. In 2021, Erin created a solo programme of contemporary and original music for unaccompanied voice and voice with flute titled Afterwards-Day, which premiered at Sappyfest: Infinite Variety, a 24-hour streamed performance event. She also played the role of Helen in a hybrid live and streaming production of ...


Idan Cohen was born and raised in Israel, kibbutz Mizra. After being trained as a classical piano player, Cohen received a scholarship to study theatre and fine arts at the "Art Colony", in Israel‘s Negev (desert), and graduated in excellency.At the age of 20 he joined the world known K.C.D.C (founder Yehudit Arnon, artistic director Rami Beer) where he danced for 7 seasons. Cohen holds a BA (2015) and an MFA (2017) in choreography from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.Since 2005, Cohen has been creating, performing and teaching as a choreographer and opera stage director.Since 2017, ...


Isaiah Bell is a Canadian-American tenor, composer, and writer. Recently he combined these disciplines in his critically acclaimed solo show,The Book of My Shames; in the performance on film of his original translation/adaptation of Poulenc’s solo opera La voix humaine (a “finely tuned performance, so perfectly married to his own sensitive and intelligent adaptation” - Opera Canada); and in hybrid concept recitals across Canada. Previously Isaiah starred in the premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian at the Canadian Opera Company, and Mark Morris’ production ofCurlew Riverat the Brooklyn ...


Born in Linz Austria, Jeannette Aster was brought up and educated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Trained initially as a classical dancer, she obtained her BMus in Voice Performance from McGill University before earning a graduate diploma in Opera Production at the London Opera Centre in London, England. She has since enjoyed an active international career as artistic director, opera consultant, freelance stage director and operalogue.She helped found the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble and in 1980 became its first resident director . In 1986, at the invitation of Peter Hemmings and Placido ...


Of French, Scottish/Irish and Scandinavian ancestry, Julie is astage director, dramaturg, playwright/librettist and multi-instrumentalist. She earned her Master’s degree in Theatre from the University of York (UK) and is also a graduate of Carleton University (Music) and the Canadian College of Performing Arts (Theatre Performance; Playwriting). A four-time Jessie award nominee, she has appeared on stages throughout Western Canada, including productions at the Arts Club, Bard on the Beach, the Belfry, the Citadel, Carousel Theatre, Pacific Theatre, Fugue Theatre, Théâtre la Seizième, Twenty ...


Kyle is an award-winning poet and voice-over artist, Toronto based actor, operatic bass, writer, digital composer, director, and producer. He’s also the Managing Director for North American Operations at Octant Aerospace Consulting, and the president of his production company, Mightier Productions.


Hailed as “sublime, with a beautiful resonant soprano full of colour” (Opera Canada), lyric soprano Robin Hahn has accrued credits all over the world, from Amsterdam to New York to Disneyland. Previous performances include Despina in a toured production of Così fan tutte in the Netherlands; concerts across Germany singing excerpts as Violetta in La traviata and Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffmann with the Thüringer Symphoniker; and a Canadian national tour as a soloist with the Chinese Radio Broadcasting Orchestra. Her wide variety of past roles include Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni); Musetta (La ...