Centre for Creative Learning at the Crescent School
2365 Bayview Ave., Toronto
Cast
Fiordiligi – Rosanna Murphy
Dorabella – Alexandra Beley
Despina – Kate Applin
Ferrando – Ryan Allen
Guglielmo – Anton Mamine
Don Alfonso – Alastair Smyth
Creative Team
Stage Director – Alison Wong
Music Director – Jennifer Szeto
Technical Director – Keith Hebert
RYAN ALLEN (Ferrando)
Toronto-born tenor Ryan Allen studied voice at the University of Toronto and the Glenn Gould School with Jean MacPhail. Ryan was often seen in his early career in contemporary operas such as Dean Burry’s Pandora’s Locker with the Glenn Gould School, Tapestry New Opera’s touring production of Richard Payne’s Get Stuffed, and Native Earth’s production of Spy Denomme Welch/Catherine Magowan’s Dora-nominated new opera, Giiwedin. Ryan has also sung the roles of Jupiter in Handel’s Semele and Argirio in Rossini’s Tancredi for Summer Opera Lyric Theatre. Ryan was a National Finalist for the Canadian Music Competition.
Called “a multi-dimensional talent” by Guidingstar online magazine, Ryan concurrently pursues an acting career and has made appearances in regional theatres as an actor in Ontario and the Maritimes. He can also be seen in several films and TV shows, most recently CTV’s Nikita and the film Score: A Hockey Musical. Ryan returns to opera this season playing the role of Ferrando in Metro Youth Opera’s production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte.
KATE APPLIN (Despina)
Hailing from Toronto, soprano Kate Applin holds an Honours BMus in Voice Performance and an Opera Diploma from Wilfrid Laurier University. There she studied under the tutelage of Kimberly Barber and Christiane Riel. In 2010, Kate attended Opera NUOVA (Edmonton, AB) where she performed the role of Héro in Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict in the Vocal Arts Festival. With Opera Laurier, Kate performed the roles of Anne Egerman in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, Sister Mathilde in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites and First Witch in Purcell’s Dido and Æenas. Kate is thrilled to perform the role of Despina in Così fan tutte for Metro Youth Opera‘s inaugural season, in addition to her roles as Founder, Artistic Director and President of the company. Summer 2011, Kate will perform Zerlina in Don Giovanni at the Centre for Opera Studies in Sulmona, Italy.
For nearly a decade, Kate sang with the Canadian Children’s Opera Company, performing in various productions including Little Red Riding Hood in Sondheim’s Into the Woods, Carrie in Rodgers’ Carousel and children’s chorus in Hansel and Gretel (COC, 1997), which cemented Kate’s love of opera for life. Noted for her strong acting, Kate has been described as “intriguingly intense” (The Cord Weekly), “compelling and powerful” and “filled with raw emotion” (The Imprint).
ALEXANDRA BELEY (Dorabella)
Canadian Mezzo-Soprano Alexandra Beley is currently completing her MMus in Opera Performance at the University of Toronto’s Opera School. Here she continues her studies with Professor Lorna MacDonald. Alexandra holds her Honours BMus and a Diploma in Operatic Studies from Wilfrid Laurier University. From a young age Alexandra realized her love for opera with her involvement in the Canadian Children’s Opera Company. She recently sang Alisa in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor; Mère Marie de l’Incarnation in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites; Countess Charlotte Malcolm in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music; and the Third Knitter in Seymour Barab’s A Game of Chance. Alexandra has recently understudied Hänsel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel; Stéphano in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette; and the title role in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Alexandra is thrilled to be performing Dorabella in Metro Youth Opera’s inaugural performance of Così Fan Tutte.Upcoming events for Alexandra include Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera NUOVA and Irene (cover) in John Estacio’s new opera Lillian Alling with The Banff Center’s Opera as Theatre summer program.
ANTON MAMINE (Guglielmo)
23-year-old baritone Anton Mamine first became involved in music after finishing his commerce degree at the Rotman School of Business (University of Toronto) in 2009. In his final years of commerce studies he began taking voice lessons with late Maestro Karpinsky who made him fall in love with the world of opera. Since 2010, Anton has been studying with Inna Golsband, placing first at the 2009 NATS competition in the mature beginner’s category. In the summer of 2010, Anton made his operatic debut with Summer Opera Lyric Theater under direction of Guillermo Silva-Marin as Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Manuel/Cantaor in Falla’s La Vida Breve. He was then invited to take part in the Opera In Concert ensemble and was offered the role of Ivan in Toronto Operetta’s Theatre’s production of Die Fledermaus. 2011 engagements include performances with Metro Youth Opera as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte and Giuseppe in The Light in the Piazza with Opera NUOVA. Anton is determined to dedicate his life to studying the higher art of music and opera.
ROSANNA MURPHY (Fiordiligi)
Rosanna Murphy, from Moncton, New Brunswick is in her first year of the Opera Diploma program studying with Mary Morrison. She holds a BMus from Mount Allison University and a MMus from the University of Manitoba where she studied with Tracy Dahl. In Manitoba she performed concert versions of Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro and Pamina in Die Zauberföte. Last summer she performed Juliette in Roméo et Juliette with Opera NUOVA. She was the winner of the 2010 Winnipeg Rose Bowl and Lieutenant Governor’s Award as well as a finalist in the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Upper Mid-west Regional Auditions. This year at the University of Toronto, she performed the role of The Mother in Hänsel und Gretel and is covering the role of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. In April, Rosanna will perform the role of Fiordiligi in Così fan Tutte with Metro Youth Opera in Toronto. This summer she will be performing Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with the Centre for Opera Studies in Sulmona, Italy.
ALASTAIR SMYTH (Don Alfonso)
Originally from Vancouver, baritone Alastair Smyth moved to Toronto to study music at the University of Toronto. He graduated with a Bachelors in Voice Performance in 2010, and continues to study privately with his teacher JoAnne Bentley. During his time in University, he appeared in productions of Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, Hayden’s Il mondo della luna, and Bernstein’s Candide. Also an aspiring oratorio soloist, Alastair has performed the baritone solos in both Mozart’s and Durufle’s Requiem, and in Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion. In addition to appearing as Don Aflonso in Metro Youth Opera’s Così fan tutte, the 2011 season will see Alastair appear as Top in Summer Opera Lyric Theatre’s production of Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land here in Toronto.
JENNIFER SZETO (Music Director)
Pianist Jennifer Szeto is currently pursuing a M.Mus. in Piano Accompaniment at McGill University with Michael McMahon. This upcoming season, Jennifer is the apprentice pianist with 2011 Emerging Artist Program at the Green Mountain Opera Festival and will participate in the Canadian Operatic Arts Academy at the University of Western Ontario this upcoming summer. She joins Toronto’s Metro Youth Opera as Music Director for its inaugural season with a production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte. Recent repetiteur experience includes La Bohème (Opera McGill); Albert Herring (Opera on the Avalon); Béatrice et Bénédict, and Così fan tutte (Opera Nuova). In the summer of 2008, she studied at the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy under the guidance of Martin Isepp, Liz Upchurch, and Steven Philcox.
Jennifer has performed in master classes by Cynthia Hoffman, Judith Forst, Benjamin Butterfield, Nico Castel, and Sanford Sylvan. She holds a B.Mus. in Piano Performance from University of Toronto, where she studied with Dr. James Parker and Marietta Orlov.
ALISON WONG (Stage Director)
Driven to explore and extend the Singer’s range in the craft of interpretation and performance, Alison began directing as an undergraduate at the Don Wright Faculty of Music at the University of Western Ontario. After completing her Honors Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance, she began her private studio in her native city of Toronto. In 2009 and 2010, she was chosen to complete the Stage Direction Fellowship at the Canadian Operatic Arts Academy. Her recent assistant-directing credits include Too Many Sopranos with UWOpera, Songspiel with American Opera Theater, and Giulio Cesare with OperaLondon. Her future engagements will take her to assistant-direct Dido and Æneas at the international opera festival, Operadagen Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and a directing residency with Accademia Europea Dell’Opera in Lucca, Italy.
Alison is thrilled to direct her first full production with Metro Youth Opera.