After a twenty-five year career on the international opera and concert stages, soprano Wendy Nielsen is now a Lecturer in Voice and Opera at the University of Toronto. In addition, she is Head Vocal Consultant for the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio and maintains an active private voice studio in Toronto teaching many of Canada’s prominent performers. Ms. Nielsen made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1996 as Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte under the baton of James Levine. Subsequent performances there over twelve seasons included: Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Micaela in Carmen and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. Her international orchestral perfomances were numerous, notably opening the Lucerne Summer Festival as Elsa in Lohengrin with Ivan Fisher conducting the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Other significant performances included appearances with the Bejing Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Beethoven Festival in Krakow Poland, Madrid Sinfonica, Prague Autumn Festival, Toronto Symphony, Düsseldorf Philharmonic and Montreal Symphony.

A native of New Brunswick, Ms Nielsen attended Mount Allison University and earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Lethbridge, and a Masters of Music in Opera from the University of British Columbia. In addition Ms. Nielsen holds three honorary doctorates and has garnered numerous awards recognizing her contributions nationally, provincially and locally. Ms. Nielsen is the Artistic Director of three vocal programs at St. Andrews by the Sea, namely: Vocal Techniques Workshop for undergraduates, Opera Workshop for graduate students and young professionals, and a Professional Development Workshop for those in mid-career. She has guided these programs since 1994, helping them to evolve into the nationally recognized programs that they are today.