Brian Law Opera Scholarship
Competition 2007
The Finals
The Final Round of the 2007 Brian Law Opera Scholarship Competition took place on 24 November 2007 at 7:30 P.M. in the First Unitarian Congregation at 30 Cleary Ave.
The Finalists
On 4 October 2007, the preliminary jury chose the following candidates for the competition recital:
Baritone Jonathan Estabrooks, 24, began his musical training as a member of Opera Lyra Ottawa Boy’s Choir and OLO Chorus while studying voice with Laurence Ewashko. In 2006 he received the Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto. The recipient of several scholarships, he is currently in his second year in the Master’s Degree program in Vocal Performance/Opera at the Juilliard School in New York, where he will perform the role of Papageno in a production of Die Zauberflöte. On Canada Day he was a featured artist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Pinchas Zukerman; he will be returning here to appear in Ein Deutsches Requiem with Ottawa-based Coro Vivo. Jonathan is a 2007 grant recipient from the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation.
Soprano Sharleen Joynt, 23, grew up in Ottawa and studied with voice teacher Yoriko Tanno-Kimmons. She moved to Toronto and for two years studied Voice Performance at The Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music. In 2005, she transferred to the New School for Music at Mannes College in New York, where she earned a Bachelor of Music and is presently in her first year in their Master’s program. Performances include the roles of Damon in Handel’s Acis and Galatea and Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Last April Sharleen was a prizewinner at the Palm Beach Opera Vocal competition. For next summer she is planning to travel to Germany to solidify her German.
Soprano Yannick-Muriel Noah, 28, studied singing in Ottawa, most recently with Yoriko Tanno-Kimmons, and earned a Bachelor of Architectural Studies from Carleton University. In 2005 she became a member of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio training program and continued her voice studies in Toronto with private singing lessons from Dr. Darryl Edwards and vocal coaching from Stuart Hamilton. She is covering several lead roles for COC performances, among them Elisabeth in Don Carlos and Tosca, and was one of the soloists of the “Opera Under the Stars” concert in LeBreton Flats Park in June. In July Yannick-Muriel won several prizes at the Hans Gaber Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna.
Kathleen Promane, mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano Kathleen Promane, 29 and a native of Ottawa, earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Carleton University. She was a member of Opera Lyra Ottawa’s Young Artist Training Program 2004-2006, playing the male lead in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. Currently she is in her final year in the Opera Diploma Program at the University of Toronto, where she was featured in the title role of Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia. At the Centre for Opera Studies in Sulmona, Italy, this summer, she performed lead roles in scenes of operas by Massenet, Mozart and Bellini. Kathleen plans to audition for opera companies in several Canadian provinces.
Soprano Maghan Stewart, 29, a native of Timmins, began her studies with a Bachelor of Voice Performance at the University of Toronto, completed her Master’s degree at the University of Ottawa, and is continuing her post-graduate work at Bard College Conservatory of Music. As a member of Opera Lyra Ottawa’s Young Artist Training Programme, she appeared in productions of Die Zauberflöte, Rigoletto and Salome. Maghan’s debut at Carnegie Hall was last spring; upcoming New York performances include Finzi’s “In Terra Pax” and a staged recital of American song, “Echoes of the Soul.” She recently received prizes in the Académie Internationale d’Eté de Nice competition and the Canadian Music Competition, as well as a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Mezzo-soprano Jillian Yemen, 28, attended Canterbury High School for the Arts, then moved to Toronto. By 2005 she had received the degrees of Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Operatic Performance from the University of Toronto. For Opera York she played Hansel in Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck). As a member of OLO Opera Studio, Opera Lyra’s renamed young artists training program, she has again been Hansel and also performed in Little Red Riding Hood. For OLO main stage productions she has been the understudy for Rosina, Emilia and Mignon and will cover Donna Elvira in the upcoming Don Giovanni. Jillian is continuing her studies with voice teacher Neil Semer of New York, focusing on her technical development and exploring new operatic roles.