Ensemble Studio Competition finalists with Music Director, Johannes Debus. Photo: Michael Cooper

The annual Ensemble Studio audition process, open only to Canadian citizens and permanent residents, takes COC artistic staff across Canada and into the U.S. for preliminary auditions in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and New York, followed by a final callback audition at the COC’s Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Opera Centre in Toronto. It’s from this pool of singers that finalists are selected for the Ensemble Studio Competition.

The COC Ensemble Studio Competition highlights the finest young talent from across the country. Winning a place in what is Canada’s premier training program for opera professionals can be a singer’s first step towards an international opera career. The audience at the vocal competition will hear artists following in the footsteps of such renowned Ensemble Studio graduates as Ben Heppner, Isabel Bayrakdarian, and Wendy Nielsen, among others.

At its heart, Centre Stage is about community-oriented philanthropy, with 100% of proceeds going towards supporting the COC’s Ensemble Studio. These young artists undertake an intense training regimen that includes hundreds of hours of vocal coachings, acting classes, language and diction training, and body movement and fitness instruction.

Most importantly, Ensemble Studio artists enrich our cities, towns and neighbourhoods by performing at schools, community centres, and other public spaces in the course of their training, making Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition a truly effective way of generating positive artistic experiences with significant social and cultural benefits.

Learn more about the Ensemble Studio and its current members