LESLIE FAGAN
Back by popular demand, soprano Leslie Fagan has a voice that Peterborough flocks to hear. "Her voice sounds nothing short of astonishing,"writes Robert Thomas in Wholenote. "She is in a class of her own."

The Ottawa-born soprano, who now lives in Hamilton, has delighted audiences and critics alike at Roy Thomson Hall, Royal Albert Hall, and Carnegie Hall. Recently (April 2010), she performed Mozart's Mass in C Minor with Musica Sacra at Carnegie Hall. But her Carnegie Hall debut took place in December 2007, when she sang in the Musica Sacra performance of Handel's Messiah under the baton of Richard Westenburg.

"Leslie Fagan was more adventurous in her embellishments and took a few risks as well, soaring fleetingly into an upper range ... she gave "How Beautiful Are the Feet of Them" and "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth" the dignified grace they require," wrote Allan Kozinn of her performance in Messiah at Carnegie Hall in 2007.

Leslie has been fortunate enough to share the stage with many great artists including Victor Borge and Maureen Forrester. And she has sung under the batons of such noted conductors as Hans Graf, Sir David Wilcocks, Jukke Pekke Saraste, Kent Tritle, and Daniel Lipton.

On the opera stage, Leslie has sung the title role in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix, Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Sophie in Massenet's Werther, Musetta in Verdi's La Bohème, and Nanetta in Verdi's Falstaff. At the Aldeburgh Festival in England, she performed the roles of Tytania in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni.

This versatile soprano can be heard frequently on CBC radio and has appeared on CBC television and both BBC radio and television. Her recordings include the debut solo album Le miroir de mon amour and A Song for all Seasons with The Toronto Children's Chorus.

Leslie Fagan is a graduate of the University of Toronto where she studied with Madame Irene Jessner and Lois Marshall. Prior to entering university, she studied privately with Catherine Robbin and Greta Kraus. In 2001, Leslie was the recipient of a Chalmers Grant, which enabled her to study with the great Romanian soprano Ileana Cotrubas in France. In the summer of 2007, she traveled to Italy to study with Martin Isepp at the Centre for Operatic Studies Sulmona Italy, which led to an invitation to work with this master of Mozart privately in London, England.

In between her busy performing schedule, Leslie collects antique furniture and designs and makes many of her performance gowns.

LAURA PUDWELL
Grammy-nominated Laura Pudwell is a mezzo-soprano whose reputation as a superb vocalist has been well-established as a result of her performances in London, Paris, Salzburg, Houston, Vienna, and Boston. Her vast repertoire ranges from early music to contemporary works. Ms. Pudwell is equally at home on the opera, oratorio or recital stage, and has received international acclaim for her recordings.

A frequent guest of many national and international presenters, Ms. Pudwell has had the privilege of working with outstanding conductors, including Hans Graf, Hervé Niquet, Andrew Parott, Ivars Taurens, David Fallis, Brian Jackson, John Sinclair, Bernard Labadie, Lydia Adams, Howard Dyck, and Robert Cooper.

On the opera stage, Ms. Pudwell has performed across Canada with such companies as Opera Atelier, the Calgary Opera, Vancouver Early Music, and Festival Vancouver, as well as with the Houston Grand Opera and the Cleveland Opera. Her many roles include Cornelia (Giulio Cesare), Marcelina (Le Nozze di Figaro), Nerone and Arnalta (L’Incoronazione di Poppea), Mrs. Quickly (Falstaff), and Dido/Sorceress (Dido & Aeneas), which also was an award-winning recording performed by Ms. Pudwell in Paris.

Laura Pudwell is a regular participant in many festivals, including Festival Vancouver, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, the Banff Summer Festival, the Elora Festival, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Grand River Baroque Festival, and the WinterPark Bach Festival in Orlando. Ms. Pudwell appears regularly with the Toronto Consort and is a frequent guest soloist with Tafelmusik, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Toronto Chamber Choir, Symphony Nova Scotia, the St. Lawrence Choir, Le Concert Spirituel, Chorus Niagara, and the Menno Singers.

Ms. Pudwell lives in Kitchener-Waterloo with her husband and two children.

Critics have praised him as a "rich-voiced, cultured tenor who mastered the high notes effortlessly" (Coburg Tageblatt, Germany) and an "effective communicator who expressed the text with sensitivity and fervour" (Hamilton Spectator). His recordings and broadcasts include performances on American Public Radio (NPR), the Canadian Music Centre (Centrediscs), and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC Radio 2).

Currently, Darryl Ewards is Associate Professor and Head of Voice Studies at the University of Toronto, and he has gained fame as "the coach behind many of Canada's best young voices" (Toronto Star). Demand for his master classes has taken him to such distant venues as Prague, London, and New Zealand. His students have appeared with many of the world’s leading opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera (New York), the Bavarian State Opera (Munich), Chicago Lyric Opera, the Royal Opera at Covent Garden (London), the Canadian Opera Company (Toronto), Washington National Opera, Zurich Opera, the Greek National Opera, and San Francisco Opera.

SEAN WATSON
Sean Watson is a graduate of the opera programme at the University of Toronto. He has sung throughout Canada, Europe, and the Middle East and has been a featured soloist on several international television and radio broadcasts.

In October of 2003, he made his Opera Ontario debut as Dr. Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and, in the spring of 2004, he made his Opera in Concert debut as Argante in Rinaldo, which was subsequently recorded for Naxos. Since then, he has performed many times with Opera in Concert in such works as Donizetti's Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda. He has also appeared with Opera Ontario as Masetto in Don Giovanni, as well as with the Toronto Operetta Theatre as Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow and Prince Ypsheim in Wiener Blut.

Recent performances include The Bonze in Madama Butterfly with Opera Hamilton, the title role in The Mikado with the Toronto Operetta Theatre, and in John Estacio's The Houses Stand Not Far Apart with Chorus Niagara and the Orpheus Choir.

Sean has sung many oratorios and choral works as well, performing with the likes of the Ottawa Choral Society, the Kingston Symphony, the Elora Festival Singers, Early Music Vancouver, the Windsor Symphony, and the Carmel Bach Festival in California.