Biography2024-08-20T00:21:25+00:00

Saskatchewan born baritone Stuart Graham, received his formal education at the Faculty of Music of McGill University in Montréal, Canada, with the renowned Canadian baritone Mr. Bernard Turgeon. In 1998, he continued his studies with Diane Forlano at the Koninklijk Conservatorium, Den Haag, Nederlands, and since January of 2000, Mr. Graham has enjoyed the mentorship of Diana Soviero (Metropolitan Opera, New York) as well as coaching with the incomparable Maestra Teresa Berganza (Madrid, España). Since 1992 Stuart Graham has been heard in recital, oratorio and in opera in Canada, the United States and in Europe, enjoying successes accompanied by orchestras and ensembles, such as: l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, I Musici de Montréal, the Saskatoon Symphony, Silesian State Opera, Slovak State Philharmonic (Košice) and the Oakville Symphony Orchestra. His performance in the world premier of Edifice by Arlan Schultz was broadcast by CBC, the BBC, Radio-France and the Bavarian Radio. In 1993, Mr. Graham made his New York debut as invited artist in recital as part of theRiverside Chamber Music Series (Riverside Church, New York, NY.).

Just before the global pandemic hit, Stuart enjoyed a busy calendar with performances that include his most recent recital outing with pianist Narmina Afandiyeva presenting their program of Rachmaninoff songs, Rachel Laurin’s LES TROIS FABLES and Gustav Mahler’s DES KNABEN WUNDERHORN (Jeanne Lamon Hall – Toronto, La Roche d’Hys – France). In opera he played Plagio in VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert’s Canadian Premier production of Mercadante’s I DUE FIGARO, as Fr. Andrew in Opera in Concert’s World Premier production of Victor Davies’ adaptation of George Ryga’s THE ECSTACY OF RITA JOE (also presented at the Ryga Festival, Summerland, BC), as Agamemnon  in Toronto Operetta Theatre’s LA BELLE HÉLÈNE of Jacques Offenbach. 2018 also saw Mr. Graham’s Italian debut in Milan performing the roles of Tonio/Taddeo in Leoncavallo’s I PAGLIACCI with La Compagnia di Canto Vittorio Tosto. He returned to Milan in February 2019 to sing further presentations of I PAGLIACCI. Other recent performance credits include: Peter Tongi’s ISIS AND OSIRIS: THE GODS OF EGYPT as the Grand Vizier Khamet (world premier) with Toronto’s Opera in Concert, as Marquis Evrémonde in Victor Davies/Eugene Benson’s TALE OF TWO CITIES (world premier), as well as performances of Jacques Offenbach’s LA VIE PARISIENNE (Baron Gondremark) with the Toronto Operetta Theatre, Angeles Lopez-Artiga’s YO VIVO (for baritone & orchestra) at the Palau des Arts (Valencia, Spain) and in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony as guest artist with the Opera Nacional Bellas Artes (Mexico City) and the Orquesta Sinfónica Silvestre Revueltas in Celaya, México.

Other endeavours have taken him to further success with his recent solo recitals titled “Destino” with Mexican pianist Eduardo Núñez in the historic Teatro de la República in Querétaro, Mexico (broadcast live by Radio Querétaro), as well as “Le Chasseur Perdu”, accompanied by Claudette Denys (l’Opéra de Montréal) and narrated by operalogue Stuart Hamilton at CBC Toronto’s Glenn Gould Studio and “Fate” accompanied by pianist José Hernández, with songs of Rachmaninoff, Poulenc and Mahler’s “Kindertotenlieder”. His repertoire includes the roles of Musiklehrer (Ariadne auf Naxos), Massakroff (The Chocolate Soldier), Danilo (The Merry Widow), Pimienta (Cecilia Valdes)*, Paquiro (Goyescas)*, Felipe (La Revoltosa), Don Luis (Luisa Fernanda)*, Prinz Tschang (The Land of Smiles), Onegin (Evgeny Onegin), Horace Tabor (The Ballad of Baby Doe)*, Olin Blitch (Susannah)*, Argante (Rinaldo), Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Conte Almaviva (La Mère Coupable)*, Gaveston (La Dame Blanche)*, the four villains (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Michele (Il Tabarro), Marcello (La Bohème), Renato (Un Ballo in Maschera), Don Fernando (Fidelio).

One could also hear him in solo recitals Toronto, Montreal, Festival International de l’Art Vocale (Trois-Rivières), Holland, Belgium, Spain and throughout Central Europe under the auspices of the Janáček Academy in Brno (Košice Slovakia, Brno, Chateau Austerlitz, Polička, Krnov, Czech Republic) and while participating in major international singing competitions in Belgium (Concours International de Musique Reine Elisabeth [l’Opéra de Monnaie, Brussels]—semi-finalist), France (Concours l’Opéra National de Paris—finalist) and Spain (Concurso Internacional de Canto de Bilbao [Teatro Arriaga, Bilbao]—finalist, Concurso Internacional de Canto Francisco Viñas [Opera Liceu, Barcelona]—finalist) where he received much personal encouragement from such renowned artists asDame Joan Sutherland, José Van Dam, Stuart Burrows, Sena Jurinac, Fiorenza Cossotto, Teresa Berganza, Katia Ricciarelli, Diana Soviero, Mæstro Edoardo Mϋller and Anna Barovà.

As a pedagogue:

Voice… Piano… Chamber Music… Performance Coaching

Stuart Graham, with 30 years as a pedagogue and performance coach, enjoys a solid reputation at home and abroad as a strong advocate and teacher of the lyric arts. Well regarded in the Toronto scene, he came to Toronto from Montréal, then affiliated with the Conservatoire de Musique de Québec à Montréal,  Mr. Graham’s studio quickly took root and the artists under his tutelage have enjoyed a very high and consistent rate of success, both at a student level and in the professional arena locally and points abroad (Université de Montréal, McGill University, Conservatoire de Musique de Québec à Montréal, Berkley School of Music – Boston, Britten-Pears – England, Royal Academy of Music – London, concert and opera engagements throughout Canada, USA, Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Czech & Slovak Rep., Bulgaria & Romania). Other pedagogical credits include being studio répetiteur for the class of Anna Barová in the International Masterclasses at the Janáček Academy (Brno, Czech Rep.), and is regularly called upon to adjudicate graduate level recitals for the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto) as well as for Music Festivals across Canada. Over the past few years, his pedagogical outreach now includes an established studio in Mexico City as well as producing/teaching a summer artistic residency at La Roche d’Hys: Domaine des Arts, Bourgogne, France.

Some Success Stories:

Artists that have enjoyed the service of this Artist Incubator Program have directly acheived:

  • – Admittance (full performance scholarship – Graduate level) to McGill University, Conservatoire de Musique de Québec à Montréal, Unversité de Montréal, Royal Academy of Music (London, England), Britten-Pears School, Manhattan School of Music (New York, USA), Berkley School of Music (Boston, USA)
  • – 1st Prize winner of the Classical Singer International Singing Competition (New York, New York)
  • – Prize winners in competitions in Barcelona, Brataslava.
  • – Professional engagements for concert, opera and musical theatre in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Chicago, New York, Sarasota, London, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Mexico City, Rome, Budapest, Prague, Bratislava, Burgas (Bulgaria), Bucharest & Brasov (Romania),  as well as for the Festival Juste Pour Rire, Cirque du Soleil, Shaw Festival.
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