Mezzo soprano Simona Genga, who is at once “compelling and technically confident” (Opera Canada) and “formidable” (Saint Louis Dispatch) is a recent graduate of the Opera School at the University of Toronto under the tutelage of Wendy Nielsen. ​ As a Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Simona covered the role of Mother Chen in the premiere of Huang Ro’s An American Soldier, is Annina in Verdi’s La Traviata under the direction of Patricia Racette, and sings Charlotte and Marcellina in the 2018 Centre Stage Gala under Maestro Stephen Lord.

An avid interpreter of song, Simona will has a recital debut with the Elora Festival this July, received the 2017 Norcop Song Recital Prize, and is excited to join the Ravinia Steans Music Institute as a Voice Fellow this season. In 2016, she received a grant from the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation to attend the Franz Schubert Institute in Baden bei Wien, where she was deeply inspired by the late Dr.Deen Larsen.

Simona was the 2016 recipient of the Classical Voice Grant from the Hnatyshyn Foundation and most recently was awarded the Barbara and Stanley Richman Award at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the Richard Bradshaw Graduate Fellowship in Opera at the University of Toronto.

She is also the First Prize and Audience Choice Award of this year’s Ensemble Studio Competiton at the Canadian Opera Company where she joins the Ensemble for the ¹⁸⁄₁₉ season. Highlights include covering both Olga in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Emilia in Verdi’s Otello, singing 2nd Maid in Strauss’ Elektra and the lead role in this season’s Opera for Young Audiences.