Jul 25, 2024

2024 DIGITAL EMERGING ARTISTS PROGRAM ARTISTS ANNOUNCED

Manitoba Opera is pleased to announce the singers who will be participating in the company’s fifth annual Digital Emerging Artists Program (DEAP). This year, the four-week intensive online professional development program runs from August 1 to 30 and will serve four Emerging Artists and one Independent Learner selected from a pool of applicants from across Canada.  

The Emerging Artists are soprano Lauren Estey (Toronto), mezzo-soprano Taryn Plater (Vancouver), tenor Jeremy Scinocca (Toronto), and bass-baritone James Coole-Stevenson (Toronto). The Independent Learner is Innu soprano Gabrielle Côté-Picard (Montreal).  

The Independent Learner position was introduced in 2022 to provide the opportunity for a BIPOC artist who is in the early stages of their operatic career or who may be considering a career in opera to study with some of Canada’s preeminent voice teachers and benefit from the professional development and peer collaboration that this program offers. 

Returning to the core program faculty are sopranos Tracy Dahl and Monica Huisman, mezzo-soprano Marion Newman (Kwagiulth and Stó:lō First Nations), tenor John Tessier, director Ann Hodges, and filmmaker Stephen Bell. 

Through lessons and masterclasses with the core faculty, and workshops with guest artists and industry professionals, participants will cultivate skills that are necessary for success as multi-platform performers. They will learn valuable skills in project management, communication, recording practices, and post-production, as well as civic engagement which is a growing focus.  

This program has been instrumental in launching the careers of emerging Canadian singers. Keely McPeek (Anisininew soprano, DEAP 2023 Independent Learner) and Nolan Kehler (tenor, DEAP 2021) both made their main stage debuts with Manitoba Opera in leading roles in the world premiere of Li Keur: Riel’s Heart of the North in the fall of 2023. Keely later went on tour with Vancouver Opera’s production of Flight of the Hummingbird with fellow alumna Olivia Kang (soprano, DEAP 2022). Keely and Nolan recently shared the stage in June, alongside Marion Newman, in a workshop performance of Indians on Vacation at the Banff Centre.  

Program alumni continue to find career success across Canada and internationally. Arieh Sacke (tenor, DEAP 2023) made his Cincinnati Opera role debut in La Traviata during their 2024 Summer Festival, and Sydney Baedke (soprano, 2020) made her Covent Garden debut to critical acclaim as a chorister in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia (Royal Opera House, 2022). Lizzy Hoyt (mezzo-soprano, DEAP 2020) enjoys a career as a multidisciplinary artist; the 2023 season saw her debut in the title role of Rossini’s La Cenerentola with both Manitoba Opera and Brott Opera. That same year she was honored with the Traditional Singer of the Year Award at the 2023 Canadian Folk Music Awards for her album, The Parting Glass. 

DEAP 2024 sees the return of two program alumni in mentorship roles. Nicholas Borg (baritone, DEAP 2020) will lead a panel discussion on civic engagement. Keely McPeek will convene a panel of Indigenous opera and theatre artists to discuss their perspectives as Indigenous creators and performers working within a predominantly settler-driven industry.  

Manitoba Opera’s 2024 Digital Emerging Artists Program is generously supported by RBC Emerging Artists, Azrieli Foundation, and the Jacqueline Demarais Foundation.