OpéraFest 2024
La Cenerentola Finale “non più mesta…” – Full Company on stage at Jeanne Lamon Hall, Toronto
FEBRUARY 24 – MARCH 23, 2025
STUART GRAHAM, Artistic & Music Director
JEANNETTE ASTER, Artistic Adviser & Stage Director
OpéraFest is a 4-week intensive role-study residency (tuition-free) for emerging and established artists; offering them a non-critical environment to develop new repertoire that culminates in a lyric showcase in the renowned Jeanne Lamon Hall. Originally, OpéraFest was a collaborative project amongst a few colleagues that had the common need to record video demos required for audition submissions. Any performing artist knows this is a costly proposition once one rents a suitable venue, engages the pianist, rehearses and hires a quality videographer with the right kind of equipment. Our solution was “why not create a public concert and stage our rep, present and record said performance. This formula quickly proved successful in its product (suitable video clips of live performances) and in the audience enthusiasm. Our principal objective of the OpéraFest showcase concert remains the professional recording (HD audio/video) offering the artists premium demo recordings of their individual performances for their portfolios.
Normally, in the beginning, our showcase programming had been a concert of assorted arias and ensemble excerpts of the operatic repertoire. We upped our game for the 2023 edition and presented 2 complete one-act operas (A Hand of Bridge & Il Tabarro) in addition to a selection of arias and ensembles to complete the evening celebrating the talented cast and the lyric arts. For our 2024 edition, OpéraFest focused on the Italian Bel Canto style and celebrated the repertoire featuring excerpts from Bellini’s NORMA & I CAPULETTI E I MONTECCHI, Donizetti’s DON PASQUALE, Rossini’s LA CENERENTOLA and Verdi’s UN BALLO IN MASCHERA, underlining the contrast of compositional styles, the composer’s distinct “signatures”, demonstrating the technical and aesthetic distinctions of each composer within the scope of Bel Canto and the theatrical conventions from Commedia dell’Arte into the more romantic realism.
OpéraFest 2025 – Celebrating l’Opéra Française!
In this our 11th edition, our scene-study proposition is the juxtaposition and exploration of the distinct compositional signatures and temperaments that define each of these composers and their works as well as the unique demands of the French language, its cultural temperament, and how it imposes subtle technical and interpretive shifts from the artist.
PROPOSED WORKS & CASTING:
Massenet: WERTHER (Act III) pgs. 138-197 Heugel edition
- Charlotte (mezzo)
- Sophie (coloratura soprano)
- Werther (tenor)
- Albert (baritone
Offenbach: LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN (Act II) pgs. 152-217 Schirmer edition
- Giulietta (soprano)
- Nicklausse (mezzo/countertenor)
- Hoffmann (tenor)
- Dapertutto (baritone)
- Schlemil (baritone)
- Pittichinaccio (tenor)
- Chorus
Bizet: CARMEN (various scenes)
- Carmen (mezzo)
- Don José (tenor)
- Toreador (baritone)
- Micaela (soprano)
- Frasquita (soprano)
- Mercédès (mezzo)
Various excerpts: Gounod, Poulenc, Delibes, Saint-Saëns, etc.
CLOSING CONCERT: MARCH 23, 2025 7:30PM JEANNE LAMON HALL
ADMISSIBILITY:
- This artistic residency is open to emerging and professional level singers
- NO AGE LIMIT
HOW TO APPLY:
Interested applicants should email their materials (C.V., bio, headshot) and, apart from their role consideration, their proposed repertoire to be workshopped for this residency. If the candidate is unable to present a live audition, they may submit video links (YouTube, Vimeo) in their application email.
AUDITION: (DEADLINE – DECEMBER 24, 2024)
- Live Auditions
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- TORONTO (CAN): September 18 – December 24, 2024
- MEXICO CITY (MEX): September 3-14, 2024
- UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO (LONDON, ON): September 20, 2024
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Please send all inquiries and application materials to Mr. Stuart Graham to:
Previous Editions:
Some photo highlights from OpéraFest 2024
Our venue Jeanne Lamon Hall
