Royce Vavrek is a Canada-born, Brooklyn-based librettist and lyricist who has been called “the indie Hofmannsthal” (The New Yorker) a “Metastasio of the downtown opera scene” (The Washington Post), “an exemplary creator of operatic prose” (The New York Times), and “one of the most celebrated and sought after librettists in the world” (CBC Radio). His opera “Angel’s Bone” with composer Du Yun was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

With composer Missy Mazzoli he wrote “Song from the Uproar,” premiered by Beth Morrison Projects in 2012, and subsequently seen in multiple presentations around the country. Their second opera, an adaptation of Lars von Trier’s “Breaking the Waves,” premiered at Opera Philadelphia, co-commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects, and directed by James Darrah to critical acclaim in September of 2016. The work won the 2017 Music Critics Association of North America award for Best New Opera and was nominated for Best World Premiere at the 2017 International Opera Awards. A new production premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival in the summer of 2019, produced by Scottish Opera and Opera Ventures, helmed by Tony Award-winning director Tom Morris and earned star Sydney Mancasola a coveted Herald Angel Award for her performance. Their next opera, an adaptation of Karen Russell’s short story “Proving Up,” was commissioned and presented by Washington National Opera, Opera Omaha and The Miller Theatre in 2018, was a finalist for the MCANA Best New Opera Award of that year. They are currently developing a grand opera for Opera Philadelphia and the Norwegian National Opera based on an original story by two-time Governor General’s Award-winning playwright Jordan Tannahill, as well as an adaptation of George Saunders’ Booker Prize-winning novel “Lincoln in the Bardo” for The Metropolitan Opera.

Teaming up with Swedish composer Mikael Karlsson, Royce wrote the story and text for two dance projects, “Crypto,” choreographed by Guillaume Côté for Côté Dance and “Evidence of It All,” choreographed by Drew Jacoby for SFDanceworks, featuring narration by the Academy Award-nominated actress Rosamund Pike. They are currently developing two grand operas: an adaptation of Lars von Trier’s “Melancholia” to premiere at the Royal Swedish Opera in 2023, and “Fanny and Alexander,” working alongside creative partner Ingmar Bergman, Jr. to musicalize his late father’s classic film for La Monnaie de Munt in 2024, in a production to be directed by Ivo van Hove. Both operas are to feature renowned mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, for whom Mikael and Royce wrote the song cycle “So We Will Vanish,” premiered by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra in 2021 to critical acclaim.

His collaboration with composer David T. Little led Heidi Waleson of the Wall Street Journal to proclaim them “one of the most exciting composer-librettist teams working in opera today.” In April of 2016 they premiered their first grand opera, “JFK,” at Fort Worth Opera, a co-commission with American Lyric Theater and Opéra de Montréal that was called “ravishing” (Opera News), earning a ten-star review in Opera Now Magazine. This followed the success of their first opera, “Dog Days,” which received its world premiere in September of 2012 at Peak Performances @ Montclair, in a production co-produced by Beth Morrison Projects and directed by American maverick Robert Woodruff. The work was celebrated as the Classical Music Event of the year by Time Out New York and a standout opera of recent decades by The New York Times. They are currently developing an original work for the Metropolitan Opera through the Met/LCT commissioning program.

Royce has also worked extensively with composer Paola Prestini, first on the song cycle "Yoani," inspired by the blog posts of Yoani Sanchez, and then on "The Hubble Cantata," a virtual reality oratorio produced by VisionIntoArt/National Sawdust in association with Beth Morrison Projects. They recently presented the workshop premiere of “Silent Light,” an opera based on the Cannes Jury Prize-winning film by Carlos Reygadas at the Banff Centre for Creativity, a collaboration with the director Thaddeus Strassberger, and are currently working on a new opera inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea.” They are also developing "Film Stills," a project for mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti that dramatizes four of Cindy Sherman's iconic photographs through musical monologues composed by Paola, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly and Ellen Reid, and directed by R.B. Schlather. Royce and Paola's collaboration can be further heard on the AIDS Quilt Songbook: Sing for Hope recording, where their song "Union," as sung by Isabel Leonard, is featured.

In 2014 Royce premiered “27,” his first collaboration with composer Ricky Ian Gordon, at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Created for renowned mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, the work brought to life Gertrude Stein’s famous salon at 27 rue de Fleurus in Paris. Mark Ray Rinaldi of the Denver Post wrote that the opera “tells a great American story, about Gertrude Stein, as well as opera in the 21st century.” The opera was subsequently presented by Pittsburgh Opera, MasterVoices at New York City Center, Michigan Opera Theater, Opéra de Montréal and Opera Las Vegas. In 2017 their adaptation of Gail Rock’s Christmas classic “The House Without a Christmas Tree” for Houston Grand Opera was premiered to critical acclaim.

Other recent and upcoming projects include “Strip Mall” with Matt Marks for the Los Angeles Philharmonic; “Epistle Mass” with Julian Wachner for Trinity Wall Street, “Midwestern Gothic” with Josh Schmidt for Signature Theatre, Virginia; “Naamah’s Ark” with Marisa Michelson for MasterVoices; “O Columbia” with Gregory Spears for HGOco; “Knoxville: Summer of 2015” with Ellen Reid for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and National Sawdust; “The Wild Beast of the Bungalow” with Rachel Peters for Oberlin Conservatory; “Jacqueline” with Luna Pearl Woolf for Tapestry New Opera; “Adoration” (based on the film by Atom Egoyan) with Mary Kouyoumdjian for Beth Morrison Projects; “The Cremation of Sam McGee” with Matthew Ricketts, supported by a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts; and “Agnes” with Daníel Bjarnason for the Icelandic Opera.

Royce is co-Artistic Director of The Coterie, an opera-theater company founded with Tony-nominee Lauren Worsham. He holds a BFA in Filmmaking and Creative Writing from Concordia University’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema in Montreal and an MFA from the Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program at New York University. He is an alum of American Lyric Theater’s Composer Librettist Development Program.

Spencer Kryzanowski is a passionate crossover artist working as a conductor, music director, répétiteur, and vocal coach in both musical theatre and opera.

Spencer is the assistant conductor and pianist for Edmonton Opera; a staff member in the University of Toronto Opera department; resident music director for Good Mess Opera Theatre; and resident music director for Pop Goes the Opera in Edmonton, Alberta. On top of these regular positions, Spencer maintains a busy freelance schedule.

As a conductor and music director, Spencer has worked on numerous opera and musical theatre productions across Canada. His recent opera credits include Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle (Edmonton Opera), Strauss Jr's Die Fledermaus (Edmonton Opera), Puccini's Il tabarro (Pop Goes the Opera), Massenet's Cendrillon (UofT Opera), Hank and Gremlin (Good Mess Opera), and La bohème (Mercury Opera). Spencer's recent musical theatre credits include Newsies, Mean Girls: The Musical, and Beauty and the Beast with Bravo Academy.

Spencer's recent répétiteur credits include Guerrero's El huésped del sevillano with Toronto Operetta Theatre, Nino Rota's Il cappello di paglia di Firenze, and a comedic triple-bill of Hindemith's Hin und zurück, Offenbach's Monsieur Choufleuri, and Douglas Moore's Gallantry. Other credits include Humperdink's Hänsel und Gretel with Berlin Opera Academy; Copland's The Tender Land; Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia; Puccini’s Suor Angelica & Gianni Schicchi; and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Spencer had the pleasure of workshopping Melancholia, an opera based on the Lars von Trier film, by Mikael Karlsson and Royce Vavrek in 2023 for the Royal Swedish Opera. Additionally, Spencer assisted as a répétiteur and vocal coach in a workshop of Indians on Vacation by Ian Cusson and Royce Vavrek in 2024 as part of a collaboration with Against the Grain Theatre and Edmonton Opera.

Spencer has participated in a number of prestigious training programs in Canada and Europe including the Opera in the 21st Century program at the Banff Centre, St. Andrew's Opera Workshop, Berlin Opera Academy, and Opera NUOVA.

Spencer completed his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta and a Diploma in Operatic Performance (Répétiteur) at the University of Toronto.

Spencer is based in Toronto, Canada.

Marion Newman is Kwagiulth and Stó:lō First Nations with English, Irish and Scottish heritage. Born in Bella Coola, Marion grew up in Sooke, BC, immersed in and embraced by her community and culture. She is one of Canada’s most accomplished singers in repertoire ranging from Charpentier to Cusson and operatic roles including Carmen and Rosina (The Barber of Seville) as well as Maddelena in Rigoletto.

As the historical explorer Isabelle Eberhardt in Missy Mazzoli’s Song from the Uproar with City Opera Vancouver, Marion was “nothing short of breathtaking”. Marion portrayed Dr. Wilson in the 2017 premiere of Missing (Clements/Current) which gives voice to the story of Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous and performed a concert version with Toronto Summer Music Festival in 2025.

Concert performances this season include Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with Grand Philharmonic and Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, a duo concert with soprano Melody Courage with Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and Bach’s St. John Passion with Regina Symphony.

A driving force for truth and reconciliation within the context of classical music, she is helping lead colleagues and audiences through long overdue discussions about the very nature of what it means to call something “Canadian music”.

Marion is Assistant Professor of Voice at University of Victoria’s School of Music and is the host of CBC’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera.

Evan Korbut is a Toronto based Anishinaabe performer who is quickly garnering praise for his work in traditional and new opera. His recent seasons have included the title role of Louis Riel/Robideau in Manitoba Opera’s world premiere of Li Keur - Riel’s Heart of the North, Bertram in Meyerbeer’s Robert le diable with VoiceBox: Opera in Concert, Owl in the premiere of Vancouver Opera and Pacific Opera Victoria’s production of Flight of the Hummingbird, and a Dora Award-winning performance as Simms/Spirit Chorus in Shanawdithit by Dean Burry, produced jointly by Tapestry Opera and Opera on the Avalon. On the concert stage, he has joined the Regina Symphony for Handel’s Messiah, workshopped the theatrical song cycle American Patriots with Art Impacts Inc., and performed in recital with the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto. Evan
has also interpreted various roles in Current's Missing, with both Anchorage Opera and Toronto Summer Music Festival, and is a part of the recently released studio album of the work with the Artists of the Opera Missing, the Continuum Ensemble, and conductor Timothy Long.

Photo Richard Gray.

Canadian/British bass baritone Giles Tomkins is widely praised for his vocal virtuosity and lyricism in an impressive range of repertoire. His rich, resonant voice brings “authority and power” to the concert and operatic stage, most recently as The King in Pacific Opera Victoria’s The Little Prince.

Giles has appeared as a guest soloist with many of Canada’s finest orchestras and choirs, including Regina Symphony, Bach Elgar Choir, Vancouver Bach Choir, Elmer Iseler Singers, Hamilton Philharmonic and Chorus Niagara.

Acclaimed operatic roles for Giles include Fafner (Das Rheingold) and Hunding (Die Walküre) with Edmonton Opera, Timur (Turandot), Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Superintendent Budd (Albert Herring), Colline (La bohème) and Don Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia). A frequent performer with the Canadian Opera Company, Giles sang the roles of Parson & Badger in their production of The Cunning Little Vixen (Janáček) as well as Zuniga in Carmen with Manitoba Opera.

Giles begins the 2025/26 season as Ed, in Crow’s Theatre powerful production of Octet, exploring the perils of internet addiction. Giles sings Messiah with Windsor Symphony, Leporello in Don Giovanni with Hamilton Philharmonic, and Gandalf with Cantabile Choirs of Kingston in their production of Dean Burry’s The Hobbit.

Julie Lumsden is a proud member of the Manitoba Metis Federation, with Scottish and German settler ancestry, born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Treaty One territory. She is a classically trained soprano, actor, musical theatre performer, audiobook narrator and Juno Award nominee.
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Julie holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Manitoba's Desautels Faculty of Music. She has also completed the Opera in the 21st Century cause at the Banff Centre. She has enjoyed 5 seasons at the Shaw Festival and is currently in her first season at the Stratford Festival. Julie has also been grateful to join companies such as: the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Manitoba Opera, Edmonton Opera, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Neptune Theatre, ARC Stage, Rainbow Stage and many more!

Keely McPeek (she/her) is a member of the Anisininew Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation in Northwestern Ontario, with Irish and German settler roots. A lover of storytelling regardless of genre, Keely loves to perform theatre, musical theatre, and opera. She holds a Bachelor of Music and a Post-Baccalaureate in Vocal Performance from the University of Manitoba. She recently attended the Banff Centre's Interplay Program, where she portrayed Didi in the workshop of Ian Cusson and Royce Vavrek's Indians on Vacation. You may have seen Keely in Manitoba Opera’s Li Keur: Riel’s Heart of the North as Marie Serpente, Vancouver Opera/Pacific Opera Victoria’s Flight of the Hummingbird tour as Bunny, Underground Opera's Count Ory as the title role, Manitoba Theatre for Young People’s seven-month tour of Frozen River, Dry Cold’s A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, or the Winnipeg Fringe Festival.

Described by Opera Canada magazine as possessing “a warm lower resonance [and] brilliant top end,” and by Le Devoir as “possessing true stage charisma”, Canadian baritone Danlie Rae is quickly making his mark in the operatic world.

Danlie Rae sang the roles of Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Gianni Schicchi, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and most recently had covered the role of Sharpless in Madama Butterfly to name a few. A distinguished graduate of the Faculty of Music’s Opera Program at the University of Toronto, Danlie is the recipient of many awards, including the Encouragement and Audience Choice awards given by the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.

In concert settings, Danlie Rae appeared as a soloist for Orff’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s Messiah, Brahm’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem and Finzi’s In Terra Pax. In premiering new works, Danlie was involved in the premiere of Rebecca Gray’s Bus Opera, Matthew Ricket’s The Cremation of Sam Mcgee, and most recently Danlie helped premiere Renee Fajardo’s digital Filipino art song project Liham. Danlie performed recitals in the Philippines, Toronto, Vancouve and Montreal.

Danlie Rae is a graduate of Vancouver Opera’s Yulanda M. Faris Young Artist Program and a current Emerging Artist with Edmonton Opera and an Emerging Artist with Opera On The Avalon.