Spotlight on: Christina Haldane

Interview

"I feel one of the biggest challenges for us all not to compare our own successes with others. Have faith in your abilities and learn to keep re-defining your image of what 'success' looks like to you. Check in with what the 'old' you in a rocking chair would say about the choices you make now, any regrets? "

Spotlight on: Adam Fisher

Interview

"For me, exercise and the outdoors has always cathartic. Getting outside for a bike ride or weight training during a contract is such a great release for me. It's kinda like meditation and gives me a place to let out all the baggage built up from the process of creating art."

Talking with singers: Nino Machaidze

Interview

"I think a long career is made by saying 'No,' not by saying 'Yes' to everything. Even when there are really attractive operas that you want to sing in that moment and important opera houses are offering them to you, even more you must say 'No.' The more carefully you go, the further you will go!"

Talking with singers: Giles Tomkins

Interview

"Being a dad has also included an emotional maturity that frankly took me a little by surprise. As a result, I often feel more dramatically connected to the opera roles I take on, and not just the typical "father figure" parts. This in turn has impacted my singing as it's all part and parcel of how I produce my sound on the stage. It's an exciting time, as I feel there are many more opportunities opening up to me."

Talking with singers: Nahuel Di Pierro

Interview

I decided to become an opera singer when I was 7 years old. I was singing at the children choir at the Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires, and I remember the first time I performed on stage with Menotti's Help, Help, the Globolinks! I had a big shock. I was totally amazed by the stage, the costumes, the lights, the orchestra, the soloist... I think I went a little crazy at that moment... I will never forget it... That's why I sing...

Talking with composers: Aaron Gervais

Interview

Obviously, my opera Oksana G., which is opening this week, is something I'm very proud of. It's the longest and most ambitious piece I've ever written, the story is gripping and powerful, the vocal lines are nuanced yet singerly, the orchestration is colorful and dynamic, and every moment is vital — there is no "filler" music. It really embodies what I believe makes for great opera.

Songbird: the debut album from Layla Claire

Interview

"Because this was our own love project we were really free to change repertoire as we went. Marie-Eve and I started with a list of songs but during the rehearsal process we let some fall away and added others organically. We were after a cohesive sound garden — songs that we loved and thought worked well together, rather than a collection built around a specific theme."

Don't miss: Songs of the Soul Beams

Interview

"I want the audience to take away the fact that it is OK to talk about grief. It is OK to talk about loss. Most importantly, it is OK TO NOT BE OK. As the composer, I wanted to normalize the experience of grief through this musical work."

A comprimario amid a "huge, sweeping, romantic love story"

Interview

"I also love seeing how Joel [Ivany] and Toph [Mokrzewski] have evolved with the score and libretto, and with their directing styles. One of my favourite things about this business is watching my friends and colleagues grow and learn and develop and continue to astound me. I never cease to learn from everyone in the room, and you learn the most from people with a bona fide passion for what they do."

Oksana G.: "It's so out of this world, and yet so realistic."

Interview

"This is very common, and I have heard lots of stories like this," she says. Economic desperation, and a certain level of naïveté can make it quite simple for recruiters to entice young women with the promise of decently paying work. Gennadi grew up in the Ukraine, and she is of a similar age to Oksana herself. "I understand this desperate desire to improve your life."