Thanks to all for a great day at our NATS Ontario Spring meeting!

We were delighted to host Ann Cooper Gay & the Canadian Children’s Opera Company, Susan Ambrose (who presented an overview of the new RCM Voice Syllabus “Resonance”), and Wendy Nielsen.

Stay tuned for updates on our upcoming events:

November 16th, 2012 – Ontario Chapter General Fall Meeting.

November 17th, 2012 – NATS Ontario Student Auditions – Wilfrid Laurier University.

March 2, 2013 - NATS Regional Auditions – Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

The ICVT 2013 Congress gathers voice teachers in all styles from all over the world for a quadrennial meeting, held in Australia for the first time. The program includes renowned international teachers and singers delivering performances, lectures, hands-on workshops, masterclasses, panel sessions, research presentations and social events, with pre- and post-event travel suggestions for delegates to enjoy. Congress themes will include all aspects of learning and teaching singing, fine singing performance and access to recent research.

ICVT 2013 will allow delegates to meet and discuss ideas, broaden their own knowledge and form connections with other professionals in this industry. It is anticipated that approximately 300 delegates will attend the congress.

For further information regarding ICVT 2013, please visit www.icvt2013.com.

Ann Cooper Gay is an accomplished conductor, opera singer, pianist, organist,
and flutist, well known in the artistic community for her extraordinary enthusiasm, energy, and consistently high level of artistic achievement.  During her tenure of the Canadian Children’s Opera Company, which began in July 2000, Ms. Cooper Gay has formed a youth chorus; established a drama instruction program for all divisions; produced a CD entitled There and Back Again; commissioned five operas:  Laura’s Cow: The Legend of Laura Secord (premiering in June 2012 as part of the Luminato Festival), The Hobbit, A Dickens of a Christmas, Dragon in the Rocks, and The Secret World of Og; and led the CCOC in a recording of Harry Somers’ opera A Midwinter Night’s Dream, nominated for a Juno award in 2007.

Ann has served as conductor of the University of Toronto Women’s Chorus,
Associate Conductor of the Hart House Orchestra, University of Toronto, and
string/orchestra instructor for the Toronto Board of Education.  She founded the
Children’s Choir at the Royal Conservatory of Music and the award-winning High Park Choirs of Toronto, and was honoured by the Toronto YWCA as a “Woman of Distinction.” She led the CCOC on European tours in 2001 and 2007. In 2011, 54 young artists (ages nine to 17) won new friends and garnered great
reviews on the tour to Austria and Northern Italy. A musical highpoint was
placing 2nd in the Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival (treble
category) resulting in an invitation to sing on the Gala Concert at Vienna’s famed
Musikverein.

Ms. Cooper Gay holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music and Music
Education, as well as a Diploma in Opera Performance.  Before becoming
Assistant Professor of Music at Houghton College in New York, she was a
soprano soloist with the Canadian Opera Company, touring throughout North
America as Despina (Così fan tutte), Mimì (La bohème) and Violetta (La traviata).  Ann can be heard as Sara Riel on the Centrediscs recording of Harry Somers’ Louis Riel, recorded live at Washington’s Kennedy Center.

New Brunswick soprano Wendy Nielsen enjoys an international career on the operatic and concert stage. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Fiordiligi
in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte in 1996 and has performed numerous roles there in the
ensuing seasons. These include Countess in Marriage of Figaro, Donna Elvira in
Don Giovanni and Micaela in Carmen.  She has also performed with many companies across North America including the Canadian Opera Company where she was an apprentice artist, New York City Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Boston Lyric Opera, L’Opera de Montreal, Calgary Opera, Minnesota Opera, and Florida Grand Opera.

With orchestra she has performed world wide from Beijing to St John’s in a variety or repertoire from Mozart to Penderecki with such acclaimed conductors as James Conlon, Kurt Masur, Ivan Fischer, Long Yu, Eiji Oue, Charles Dutoit, and Mario Bernardi.

Her 2010/ 2011 season performances included the title role of Tosca with Manitoba Opera, Vitellia in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito with Vancouver Opera and the title role in Barber’s Vanessa for Pacific Opera Victoria. She also toured the Maritime region giving recitals and master classes.

Ms. Nielsen was Visiting Artist in Voice and Opera at the University of Toronto for the 2011/2012 academic year in addition to her duties as vocal consultant for the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble training program and the Calgary Opera Emerging Artist program. She has also been a guest teacher at the Glenn Gould Studio, University of Manitoba, McGill, Dalhousie and Mt Allison University to name a few. She has taught at a variety of summer programs including Orford, Opera Nuova in Edmonton,the COSI in Sulmona Italy and is the artistic director of the summer program at St Andrews by the Sea which she has developed into a nationally recognized program over the past 17 years.

Ms. Nielsen began her formal studies at Mount Allison University and has a Bachelor of Music in voice from the University of Lethbridge, a Masters Music in Opera from the University of British Columbia as well as honorary doctorates from the University of New Brunswick, the University of Lethbridge and Mount Allison University.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Edward Johnson Building @ the Faculty of Music
University of Toronto

9:30 -10:30 (NATS Members Only) Meeting & Elections
10:30-12:00 Ann Cooper Gay & the Canadian Children’s Opera Company
12:00-12:30 RCM Voice Syllabus “Resonance” Overview
12:30 -2:00 Lunch Break; Music Vendors including Plangere & Red Leaf
2:00 – 4:00 Wendy Nielsen Masterclass

Admission
NATS Members: Free
Non Members & Students: $10

Click here to download a PDF of the poster.

Ann Cooper Gay – “To Blend Or Not To Blend – That Is The Question”
Discussion and Demonstration
Ann Cooper Gay, Artistic Director of the Canadian Children’s Opera Company will discuss the needs of the young singer.

Singers from the CCOC will perform excerpts from their upcoming opera Laura’s Cow with librettist Michael Patrick Albano and Composer Errol Gay on hand to answer questions.

Wendy Nielsen – “Training the Young Opera Singer”
Discussion and Masterclass
Soprano Wendy Nielsen has sung in many of the major opera houses across North America including the Metropolitan Opera.

Recognized as a mentor for young Canadian opera singers, she recently accepted a joint teaching position at the University of Toronto and the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble.

In my role as District Governor, it is my delight to inform you that the current NATS Ontario Executive has agreed to let their names stand to be re-elected in their current positions.

I hereby give notice of these nominations:

If there are other nominations for the NATS Ontario Executive, I will certainly accept them (please forward nominations to me via e-mail) but, I imagine I speak for the entire NATS Ontario Membership, as I express how VERY pleased I am that this energetic and productive Executive has agreed to stand for a second term in office.

Our chapter secretary, Michael Donovan, will have an up-to-date list of membership so that we can be sure of a quorum on May 5^th.  Michael will also be sending out a form to make an official request for proxy votes for those members who are not able to attend the meeting.  This is important, since our by-laws stipulate that we must have these elections AND that we must have a quorum of members’ votes to make the elections legitimate.

SongFest Mentor Program participants will enjoy the opening reception, attend specific performing classes, observe all master classes, optionally sing/play in two master classes, and learn from a selected faculty member in a private lesson/coaching session. The faculty members scheduled to participate at SongFest 2012 include William Bolcom, Amy Burton, Melanie Emelio, D’Anna Fortunato, Margo Garrett, Jake Heggie, Martin Katz, Libby Larsen, John Musto, Rosemary Hyler Ritter,  Lisa Saffer, William Sharp, Liza Stepanova, Jennifer Tung, Roger Vignoles, Lucas Wong, and Frances Young.

“NATS continues to expand its membership benefits, and this SongFest scholarship is yet another way for you to find value in your association with NATS,” says Allen Henderson, Executive Director.

SongFest takes place on June 5-28 at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. We invite you to go to the website www.songfest.us for more information.

The deadline for NATS members to apply for a SongFest Mentor Program scholarship is Wednesday, March 30, 2012. Interested NATS members should download the Mentor Program informational flyer. Applications are being accepted on YAP Tracker (or download the paper application). Applicants should mark in the “comments” section that they are applying for the NATS scholarship. There is no need to audition live, two audio recordings should be submitted with the application.  SongFest and NATS will choose two NATS members to attend one or both Mentor sessions: Session I: June 6-17, Session II: June 17-28.

Founded in 1996 by Rosemary Hyler Ritter, SongFest is a unique program that focuses on the art of song.  Participants from all over the world, ranging in age from high school students to working professionals, gather each summer at Pepperdine University for an intense program to learn from experts in the field of classical art song.

Warren Jones - Photo by: Kobie van Rensburg

Voice Studies Masterclass – Wednesday, March 14, 2:30-5:00, Walter Hall
Opera Studies Masterclass – Thursday, March 15, 2:00-4:30 Walter Hall OR 3-5:30 Geiger Torel, (location to be confirmed)

We had a wonderful day of singing here in London at the Von Kuster Recital Hall on Saturday January 21st.  Some of this province’s most accomplished young singers met to compete for the responsibility of representing our NATS District in the Great Lakes Regional round of NATSAA with an eye to the Final Round at our National Convention in Orlando.

Under the supervision of our Great Lakes Regional Governor, Laurie Lashbrook, the following singers from (first-place to third place) will move on to the regional round at the Grand Valley State University, Cook DeWitt Chapel in Allendale, Michigan:

Lesley Bouza (studies with Inna Golsband)

Shatelle Przybylo (studies with Lorna MacDonald)

Michele Bogdanowicz (studies with Jean MacPhail)

The following are our TWO alternates:

Courtney Murias (studies with Patricia Green)

Tamera Newberry (studies with Torin Chiles)

I would like to express my thanks to our three judges for the day:  Irene Welhasch-Baerg, Michael Cavanagh and Brian McIntosh.  They managed that tricky balance very well, where they took their responsibilities very seriously but were gracious and easy going at the same time!  They are wonderful colleagues and I am sure that you all share my gratitude.

Two NATS members (in addition to me) were on hand to see that things ran smoothly.  I thank Gwenlynn Little and Jackie Short for their presence and support throughout the day.  I am sure that they will echo my comments about what an enjoyable day of singing it was.

Finally, I would like to thank one of our Performance Department Administrative Assistants, Natalie Donnelly and three of my grad students, Hannah Stewart, Victoria Trevoy and Albert Montanez.  These four delightful people gave of their personal time to help me run this competition on a sunny Saturday.  Thank you – you were a sunny group of people to work with and to represent NATS Ontario for this competition!

And now, on to round two… We NATS Ontario members wish you well Lesley, Shantelle and Michele.  We will be cheering for you in Michigan and I hope to cheer one of you on at the Final Round on Orlando Florida in six months time!

Sincerely,
Torin W. Chiles (NATS Ontario, District Governor)

This grant available to young teachers of singing covers up to $750 of expenses for the NATS National Conference in Orlando this summer (June 29-July 3, 2012).

Designed to recognize and support NATS teachers with no more than ten years of teaching experience, this grant will help selected winners attend sessions, network with colleagues, and enjoy all the benefits available at the NATS Conference.

Click here for all the details at the nats.org website.