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Meet the Centre Stage Finalists!
By COC StaffPosted in Centre Stage Finalists
Before the Centre Stage Gala and Ensemble Studio Competition takes place on November 3, take a moment to become acquainted with our seven finalists! For more information on the event and the competition, or to purchase tickets, click here.
Andrea Lett
Soprano
Prince Albert, SaskatchewanWho is on your dream dinner party guest list?
David Duchovny (I had a dream once that we went for lunch and he was very nice), Anna Moffo, Amelia Earhart, George Orwell, Nina Simone.
What is your dream operatic role, regardless of voice type?
Leporello.
What is the best advice you've ever been given?
Eat your veggies first.
What book have you read again and again?
Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient.
What's the best thing about being an opera singer?
The passionate, brilliant, quirky, and inspiring people you get to meet—on stage, in the orchestra, behind the scenes, and in the audience.
Andrea Núñez
Soprano
Markham, OntarioWhat is the best advice you've ever been given?
"Be in the moment, enjoy yourself when you're performing."
What is your favourite musical? Hamilton, Rent, or Les Misérables
Rent! I did a lot of musical theatre in high school and would look for any excuse to do an impromptu duet of "Take me or leave me".
What would be your Lip Sync Battle song choice?
"Don't Rain on My Parade" by Barbra Streisand.
What's the best thing about being an opera singer?
This world in which we all live in can be so stressful and ugly at times. As an opera singer, I love being able to transport the audience to another place filled with beautiful music and heartfelt stories. Nothing is more rewarding than when someone tells you that your performance brightened their day. Plus, five-year-old me is happy to be playing dress-up at work.
Geoffrey Schellenberg
Baritone
Vancouver, British ColumbiaWhat is your favourite musical? Hamilton, Rent, or Les Misérables
Hamilton at a party, Les Misérables at the gym, and Rent when I am home alone.
What is your dream operatic role, regardless of voice type?
Figaro in The Barber of Seville!
What book have you read again and again?
Harry Potter 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. And 2 as well, I suppose.
What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I am an identical twin. Besides the obvious differences in profession (opera singer vs. economist), we are fairly similar.
What's the best thing about being an opera singer?
I get to pretend like singing all the time is for work instead of pleasure. I love pretty much everything about what I do.
Maria Lacey
Soprano
St. John's, NewfoundlandWhat is your favourite musical? Hamilton, Rent, or Les Misérables
Les Misérables, because Little Cosette was my first role!
What book have you read again and again?
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott—both for pleasure when I was younger and more recently for research when I played one of the sisters in the opera.
What would be your Lip Sync Battle song choice?
The theme song to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I've been preparing for this moment since the '90s.
What's the best thing about being an opera singer?
Spending every day with people who are open-minded, curious, and full of heart (not to mention FUN)!
Myriam Leblanc
Soprano
Saint-Lazare, QuebecWhat is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I also have a folk band in which I play violin. We’re called the Humming Trees. I really do love this kind of music. I listen to folk music a lot in my daily life. It’s relaxing.
What is your dream operatic role, regardless of voice type?
My dream role will sound cheesy but it is, and has been for many years, the role of Violetta in La Traviata. The music is just gorgeous. All the time! Never boring. The story is just breathtaking.
What's the best thing about being an opera singer?
You get to play and sing emotions. Singing makes you vibrate. I think it should be mandatory for everyone to experience and use it as a therapy. It’s something that people aren’t used to feeling, to crying and shouting, and we get to do that every day. For me, it’s my therapy.
Samuel Chan
Baritone
Calgary, AlbertaWhat is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
One thing people might be surprised to know about me is that I purposefully read crime fiction/mystery novels right before stepping out on stage, and have found that they’re my most effective way to clear my mind before performing.
What is your favourite musical?
It's so hard to choose one, but one that immediately comes to mind is Batboy the Musical. Most. Ridiculous. Plot. Ever!
What is the best advice you've ever been given?
"Listen, don't try, and just be."
What's the best thing about being an opera singer?
The best thing about being an opera singer is being able to share amazing music written by timeless composers, and tell amazing stories which are still truthful and relevant to our lives in the present today, with people all over the world.
Simone McIntosh
Mezzo-soprano
Vancouver, British ColumbiaWhat would be your Lip Sync Battle song choice?
Anything by Rush... "YYZ" would be an interesting song to sing.
What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
This is hard to admit to the public, but I'll go ahead and say it. I don't care for chocolate... I'm glad that's off my chest.
What's the best thing about being an opera singer?
I truly love singing, and I go home every day with a smile on my face because there is almost nothing I don't like about my job. I enjoy working on the music to improve it to my possible best, working with people in rehearsals, listening to recordings, etc. However, when all is said and done, the best thing for me is the performance.
I love feeling an extra bit of adrenaline before I go on stage, and cultivating everything my colleagues and I have worked towards into one live moment. This moment in performance is wonderfully special, and I hope to share it with an audience in a way that is memorable every time.
