{"id":38857,"date":"2016-09-28T15:28:06","date_gmt":"2016-09-28T19:28:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=38857"},"modified":"2016-09-28T17:38:45","modified_gmt":"2016-09-28T21:38:45","slug":"scrutiny-coc-ensemble-studio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2016\/09\/28\/scrutiny-coc-ensemble-studio\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Meet The Young Artists Of The COC Ensemble Studio"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Young
Young Artists Of The COC Ensemble Studio 2016 (Photo credit: Chris Hutcheson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

COC Ensemble Studio at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre. Tuesday, September 27.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every September, Toronto opera lovers look forward to the unveiling of the COC Ensemble Studio, which evolves as old members \u201cgraduate,\u201d to be replaced by new artists.\u00a0 I think I speak for myself and other voice fans \u2014 there\u2019s nothing like discovering new voices, some of them destined to be the stars of the future. The standards of the COC Ensemble Studio is very high \u2014 all the singers have beautiful voices (or technical prowess in the case of the pianists), solid training, musicality, the desire to communicate, and the drive to pursue a career in music. Yesterday, the 2016-17 edition of the Ensemble had its inaugural noon-hour concert at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre. \u00a0It was quite the occasion, with a larger than usual crowd, made up of the audience \u201cregulars\u201d plus many donors and supporters of the Ensemble.<\/p>\n

The 2016-17 Ensemble Studio is unusual in that seven out of ten members are new \u2014 six singers and one pianist. They are sopranos Danika Lor\u00e8n and Samantha Pickett, mezzos Lauren Eberwein, Megan Quick, and Emily D\u2019Angelo, baritone Bruno Roy, and pianist St\u00e9phane Mayer. They join three \u201csophomores\u201d from last year \u2013 tenors Aaron Sheppard and Charles Sy, and pianist Hyejin Kwon. \u00a0I had the good fortune of having already heard the seven \u201cnewbies\u201d a couple of weeks earlier, at the President\u2019s Council Season Opening Party. Their selections for the noon hour recital were identical to that earlier concert.<\/p>\n

Soprano Danika Lor\u00e8n kicked off the proceedings with the showy \u201cEndless pleasure, endless love\u201d from Handel\u2019s Semele<\/em>. Lor\u00e8n was a standout the last couple of years at the U of T Opera school, and she continues to develop nicely. She sang this aria with her gleaming light lyric tone, even up and down the scale, not to mention admirable agility. A very promising singer indeed. Lor\u00e8n was followed by mezzo Megan Quick, who sang one of the best known of all Baroque arias, \u201cChe faro senza Euridice\u201d from Gluck\u2019s Orfeo<\/em>. Quick impressed all of us a few months ago in a performance of Das Lied von der Erde<\/em>. She has a large, rich low mezzo bordering on contralto, the kind of voice that\u2019s in short supply these days. Her \u201cChe faro\u201d impressed with rich, mellow tone. St\u00e9phane Mayer, whom I heard playing beautifully this past year at several masterclasses, was excellent once again, rock solid in his support of the two soloists.<\/p>\n

Another new member, mezzo Lauren Eberwein, sang Sesto\u2019s very challenging aria \u201cSvegliatevi nel core\u201d from Handel\u2019s Giulio Cesare<\/em>. Her high mezzo and slim figure are tailor-made for trouser roles \u2014 I can totally see her as a fine Sesto and Cherubino, and even Octavian as she develops. The Sesto aria is very long and very demanding, one that pushes at both extremes of a mezzo\u2019s range. Eberwein sang well in the middle register, while the top and bottom didn\u2019t have quite the freedom yet, but it will likely come with further seasoning. Tenor Aaron Sheppard was next, with Nemorino\u2019s ingratiating \u201cQuando e bella, quanto e cara.\u201d In the course of a year, Sheppard has developed a firm technique, including an unusually soft head voice which is ideal in this aria, which he sang with plaintive tone. He has also reigned in his naturally larger sound for the tenore di grazia <\/em>repertoire, which I imagine is his direction for the future.<\/p>\n

Soprano Samantha Pickett offered \u201cO malheureuse Iphigenie\u201d from Gluck\u2019s Iphigenie en Tauride. <\/em>Hers is a lyric soprano of good volume, with focused tone and slightly cool timbre. She sang the aria quite well, albeit with a\u00a0somewhat steely tone at the top of her range. A bit more chiaroscuro would have been welcome. She was followed by the only new male singer this year, baritone Bruno Roy. To my ears, his pleasing high baritone has almost a tenor-like quality, and he delivered Mercutio\u2019s aria from Romeo et Juliette<\/em> with a bright tone, lots of energy and engaging stage presence.<\/p>\n

Tenor Charles Sy, in his second year as an Ensemble member, sang \u201cKuda, kuda,\u201d Lensky\u2019s poignant, soul-touching aria from Eugene Onegin, one of the most beautiful of all tenor arias.\u00a0 Sy\u2019s voice has increased in volume and his tone, always warm and pleasing, has become more robust. I like his \u201cKuda, kuda,\u201d very much, sung with passion and intensity. That said, I would have liked a bit more head voice \u2014 this aria demands it! There was also a slight blemish in one note in a high phrase near the end, I believe a G, that sits in an awkward place in a tenor\u2019s passaggio,<\/em> but these are minor glitches in an otherwise fine performance.<\/p>\n

The last singer was mezzo Emily D\u2019Angelo, arguably the highest profile singer of this year\u2019s Ensemble Studio. She has won a ton of competitions, including the prestigious Met Auditions in March of this year. To my ears, she is the most \u201ccomplete\u201d of all the young artist in the Ensemble. She chose Rosina\u2019s \u201cContro un cor\u201d from Il barbiere di siviglia<\/em>. Unlike \u201cUna voce poco fa\u201d, this \u201cvoice lesson\u201d aria is less vocally showy but just as difficult and requires great acting. D\u2019Angelo was perfect. I am not a frock-watcher, but I couldn\u2019t help noticing the brilliantly beautiful skirt she was wearing. Through it all, Korean pianist Hyejin Kwon was exemplary in her attentive support. Bravi to both.<\/p>\n

There you have it, the 2016-17 Ensemble Studio. A very fine group of young artists. No doubt some are more ready for prime time than others, as they are in different stages of development. But without exception, they all have beautiful voices, solid foundation, and the requisite musicality. I am sure the COC coaches will bring out the best in each of them. I for one look forward to hearing them in the course of the season.<\/p>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The COC unwraps the latest crop of young Ensemble Studio artists at the inaugural COC noon-hour concert.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":38858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5723,43,52],"tags":[628,825,5780],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/09\/2016-09-27-FCS-Ensemble-092.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-a6J","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38857"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38857"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38864,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38857\/revisions\/38864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38857"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=38857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}