The Jury for 2005

Darryl Edwards, Tenor

Tenor Darryl Edwards enjoys a thriving career as an accomplished singer and voice teacher. He has appeared to critical acclaim in oratorio, recital, and opera in England, Germany, France, Corsica, the United States, and across Canada. His Canadian and American radio broadcasts include such works as Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, Kodály’s Psalmus Hungaricus, and Orff’s Carmina Burana. His performances include engagements with major orchestras in many parts of Canada as well as in the United States and Europe. Critical praise described him as a “rich-voiced, cultured tenor who mastered the high notes effortlessly” (Cobourger Tageblatt, Germany, 2001) and an “effective communicator who expressed the text with sensitivity and fervour” (Hamilton Spectator, 2001).

His recent and upcoming engagements include the Britten War Requiem with the Ottawa Symphony and Choral Society at the National Arts Centre, the Verdi Requiem with Bach Elgar Choir of Hamilton, Orff’s Carmina Burana with Orchestra London Canada, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Kingston Choral Society, and the Mozart Requiem with the Pesaro Sinfonica in Italy. Dr. Edwards has pursued a record of music and educational achievement at both the University of Western Ontario and the University of Michigan. He is Ontario District Governor of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and an Assistant Professor of Voice at the University of Toronto, where he teaches both Bachelor of Music and Master of Music performance programs in Voice Studies and Opera.

Henry Ingram, Tenor

Henry Ingram has been closely associated with the Toronto Operetta Theatre since its inception in 1985. He appeared in the company’s first production, Lehar’s The Count of Luxembourg, as Brissard with subsequent memorable performances as Count Boni in Kalman’s The Czardas Princess, Sigi in The White Horse Inn, Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus and Jack Point in The Yeomen Of The Guard. He has appeared in Canada, Germany and the United States in numerous roles including the Simpleton in Boris Godunov, Beppe in I Pagliacci and Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail. On the concert stage he has been heard frequently as the Evangelist in the St. Matthew Passion and as the Roasted Swan in Carmina Burana for major U.S. and Canadian symphonies and at the Domfestspiele in Bad Gandersheim, Germany.

Career highlights include The Postcard From Morocco for the Guelph Spring Festival produced and conducted by Nicholas Goldschmidt and the Stratford Festival’s Mikado in which he played Nanki-Poo. Television audiences will recognize Mr. Ingram from his appearance as Nanki Poo in the original Stratford production of Mikado for CBC and A&E, as well as telecasts of Carmen, The Little Sweep, and Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Hamilton. He can he heard with Tafelmusik and Emma Kirkby in a Hyperion recording of works by Vivaldi. Currently, Mr. Ingram is Director of the Concerts Division of Dean Artists Management, the largest agency for classical singers, conductors and stage directors in Canada.

Christiane Riel, Soprano

Renowned for the intensity and poignancy of her interpretations, Christiane Riel’s remarkable career is built largely in North America around the most demanding roles in the soprano repertoire, with the heroines of Puccini and the French romantics at its very heart. Among her specialties are the roles of the heart-broken Cio Cio San in twelve different productions of Madama Butterfly including the New York City Opera, and the dedicated slave girl Liu in Turandot for L’Opéra de Montréal, the NYCO, and the Berkshire Music Festival. Whether in Mozart’s Don Giovanni as Donna Elvira or as Nedda in I Pagliacci with L’Opéra de Montréal, she has garnered critical acclaim and standing ovations.

Her roles with the Canadian Opera Company include a moment’s notice stand-in for the lead as Elisabeth in the original French version of Verdi’s Don Carlos, and other Gallic ladies such as Marguerite in Faust and the title role in Massanet’s Manon. Equally at home on the concert stage, she has performed with orchestras across Canada, and has also been featured at Festival d’Été de Lanaudière, Toronto’s Opera in Concert, and the Festival International de Musique de Montréal. A native of that city, she has received numerous awards and scholarships, and was a member of the Canadian Opera Ensemble and of l’Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal.