Andrew Greenwood
Baritone
No stranger to the Interior, Andrew Greenwood lived in Prince George for four years, singing as a boy soprano in school choirs. Two decades later and two octaves lower, he is delighted to return. Being employed as a full-time firefighter with the City of Vancouver, he has led a double life for the past several years performing as frequently as his work schedule allows both in Canada and in Europe. Last season, Andrew performed the role of John Proctor in the Czech Republic premiere of The Crucible, by Robert Ward. Andrew’s performance was well received and resulted in an invitation to sing for the Prague State Opera. He was immediately engaged to perform the roles of Escamillo in Carmen and Germont in La Traviata later that same month.
Andrew’s most recent Canadian engagements include: a solo recital of opera arias with the Fraser Valley Symphony, the role of Dandini in Rossini’s Cinderella with Burnaby Lyric Opera, John Proctor in The Crucible with UBC Opera, Carl Orff’s Concento di Voci with Chor Leoni, Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer with the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with Sinfonia, and Carmina Burana with the West Coast Symphony.
Andrew has performed with various opera companies in the Lower Mainland, including Vancouver Opera, Opera Breve, Burnaby Lyric Opera, Western Concert Opera, and Modern Baroque Opera. Additional European credits include the roles of Marcello in La bohème for Opera Studio de Genève, Switzerland, and The Ferryman in Benjamin Britten’s Curlew River in Lausanne, Switzerland and Cuenca, Spain. Upcoming engagements include a return to Prince George in two weeks for the PGSO’s production of Messiah, the title role of Figaro in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville for Burnaby Lyric Opera, and an opera gala in Dawson Creek, BC.
Robyn Driedger-Klassen
Described as having a "golden rounded voice", Saskatchewan native, Robyn Driedger-Klassen is in high demand in the opera field. Seen on many Canadian opera stages, Robyn’s operatic roles span from Gretel (Hansel and Gretel) to Donna Anna (Don Giovanni). Also in demand for solo work, Robyn has performed Mozart’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Messiah, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Haydn’s Creation, and most recently was the soprano soloist for a new work by Canadian composer, Larry Nickel entitled Requiem for Peace
Robyn has received awards and grants from the ’Toni Cavelti Foundation’, the ’Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation’, and the ’Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques’. In 2002 and 2003, Robyn won the Western Canadian Metropolitan Opera Auditions. She is also the 2003 winner of the Octave Artists Management’s competition for Excellence in the Arts. In addition to Opera Saskatchewan and Edmonton Opera, Robyn is a frequent performer with the Vancouver Opera Association, performing roles on the main stage as well as the role of Gretel in the VOA’s touring show Hansel and Gretel. Recently Robyn sang the Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at the Banff Center and in Seattle Opera’s productions to critical acclaim. Recently Robyn sang the Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at the Banff Centre. She has also just completed two seasons with Seattle Opera’s young artist program where she again performed the Countess and the Governess in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw.
Marion Newman
First Nations mezzo-soprano Marion Newman has quickly established herself as a "jewel in Canada’s impressive performing arts crown". In 2005 Marion made her debut in the title role of Carmen, with Opera 2005 in Cork, Ireland where the Irish Examiner review noted her “superbly sinuous sexuality” and marked her as a “very exciting new talent”. She has also appeared as Margret in Wozzeck and Juno in the The Tempest with Pacific Opera Victoria, Meg Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and the White Cat, Dragonfly and Squirrel in L’Enfant et les Sortilège. Recently released is a Naxos recording of the Aradia Ensemble performing Handel’s Rinaldo with Marion singing the role of Goffredo.
Highlights of Marion’s 2006-2007 season include Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte with Vancouver Opera, a Naxos recording of Vivaldi’s opera La Griselda, with Marion in the title role, a return to Cork, Ireland for the role of Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, nominated for an Irish Times theatre award for best opera production and the roles Flora in Verdi’s La Traviata and Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro in Sulmona, Italy.
Other international appearances include performances in the Czech Republic and in Germany as Don Ramiro in Mozart’s Die Gärtnerin Aus Liebe and Ericlea in Il Ritorno di Ulisse. Ms. Newman also sang the roles of Zita and La Zia Principessa in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica in Italy. As part of the Banff Centre new music programme, Marion toured France with Richard Dubelski’s What’s Goin’ On and in 2004 she traveled to Lithuania with the ERGO ensemble to perform at the Is Arti New Music Festival.
Marion has also demonstrated her "luscious mezzo soprano voice and captivating vivacity" on television, having been featured four times as a soloist on CBC’s National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, and opening the 2002 Royal Golden Jubilee Gala at Roy Thomson Hall, where she performed the National Anthem with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir before Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
On the concert stage, Marion has performed with the Victoria Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Portland Baroque Orchestra, CapriCCio Vocal Ensemble, San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra, Kingston Symphony, Symphony Nova Scotia, Elora Festival Singers, Talisker Players, Bell’Arte Singers, Aradia Ensemble, Toronto Philharmonia, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, St Lawrence Choir, Fanshawe Chorus London and Sooke Philharmonic. Her extensive repertoire includes Handel’s Messiah, the Mozart Requiem, Coronation Mass and Davidde Penitente, Copland’s In The Beginning, Bach’s St. John Passion, Magnificat, and Cantata no. 4, recorded with the CapriCCio Vocal Ensemble, as well as Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit, Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater, and Clarae Stellae Scintillate, which are both recorded with the Aradia Ensemble for the Naxos Label.
Ms. Newman made her orchestral debut at the age of sixteen with the Victoria Symphony, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto K. 488 in A Major. She holds a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from the University of Victoria and a Master of Music with Distinction in vocal performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She is the recipient of a Career Development Grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Marcel van Neer
Canadian tenor Marcel van Neer is familiar to British Columbia audiences, having sung several mainstage roles with Vancouver Opera- including Pedrillo (Die Entfuerung aus dem Serail), Goro (Madama Butterfly) and Sellem (The Rake’s Progress)- as well as numerous concert performances with organizations such as The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and The Vancouver Bach Choir.
Concert appearances include performances of Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Die Schoepfung, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and the Evangelist in Bach’s Johannespassion.
Now living in Toronto, his recent operatic performances include Bajazet in Handel’s Tamerlano, Carlo in Verdi’s I Masnadieri, and The Prince in L’amour des Trois Oranges by Sergei Prokofiev with Toronto Opera in Concert, Sou Chong in Land of Smiles (Lehar) with Toronto Operetta Theatre, and the title role in Mozart’s Idomeneo with Opera McGill.
David M. Adams
Narrator
David has performed in theatre, opera, film and TV, across North America,from mega musicals Showboat, Phantom of the Opera and Sunset Blvd. to three seasons at The Shaw Festival, from appearances on The X-Files and the movie Little Women to voicing the role of Nawaz in CBC Radio’s monumental adaptation of A Fine Balance. He spent the past 3 seasons as Vancouver Opera’s Resident Associate Director and last fall assisted the British director John Caird, on Verdi’s grand opera - Don Carlos for The Canadian Opera Company. He just directed the opening event of the 2008 Cultural Olympiad-The Spirit of Haida Gwaii- a celebration of the opening of the new Bill Reid Museum, will be playing Rev. Brock in a revival of the musical Tenderloin and is very excited to be playing Shylock in The Merchant of Venice and both Duke Frederick and Duke Senior in As You Like It for the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Company in Ottawa this summer.
