PERFORMER BIOS

JONELLE SILLS
Canadian Soprano One of the most exciting young sopranos of her generation. A JUNO Award nominee with The Canadian Art Song Project for Known to Dreamers: Black Voices in Canadian Art Song for Classical Album of the Year, she has also been named one of CBC Music’s 30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30. She has made acclaimed debuts with leading companies, including the Canadian Opera Company as Mimi in La bohème, a performance that was lauded as being a “beautifully sensitive Mimi with careful control and colour” (The Globe and Mail). Other notable roles include Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus) and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) with Edmonton Opera, Micaëla (Carmen) and Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) with Vancouver Opera, and Anna Glawari (The Merry Widow) with Toronto Operetta Theatre. She has also appeared in recital with the Viano Quartet at the Prince Edward County Chamber Festival. Her company debut with Toronto’s Against The Grain Theatre in Vivier’s Kopernikus earned her a 2019 Dora Award as a member of the ensemble.

REILLY NELSON
Canadian soprano celebrated for her raw dramatic intensity and warm, burnished sound. Hailed as “a revelation” by Opera News, she recently made her Jazz at Lincoln Centre debut in Blind Injustice, praised for a voice “rising like a phoenix.” A specialist in the Weill/Brecht repertoire and a prizewinner in the Lotte Lenya Competition, she brings fearless artistry to both contemporary and traditional works. Recent appearances include La Clemenza di Tito (Pacific Opera Victoria), the world premiere of Tenor Overboard (Glimmerglass Festival), and projects with Cincinnati Opera, Tiroler Festspiele Erl, and Tapestry Opera. A two-time participant in Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium Young Artists program, she is also a champion of new music, premiering works by Matthew Ricketts and performing with Toronto’s avant-garde ensemble The Happenstancers. Orchestral highlights include the Phoenix Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, and Reno Philharmonic. Her accolades include second place in the 2023 Toronto Mozart Vocal Competition, Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques (2023–24), and district winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She holds degrees from Eastman (BM) and Cincinnati (MM, DMA) and is based in Toronto.

LINDSAY MCINTYRE
Canadian vocal artist whose work lies at the intersection of technical precision and the magic of mindful experience. Awed by the natural world, Lindsay believes music making is a form of transfiguration: creating moments out of thin air. A scholar of the voice, body, and meditative practices, Lindsay is particularly passionate about using her instrument as a vessel for contemporary music. Lindsay is a versatile singer, celebrated for her crystalline extension, grounded presence, and captivating vocal colour. Recent performance highlights include Reich’s “Drumming” and Lang/Gordon/Wolfe’s “Shelter” at Bang on a Can’s LOUD WEEKEND, Orff’s “Carmina Burana” with the Grand Philharmonic Choir and Musicians of the KW Symphony, Handel’s “Messiah” with RESOUND, and Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Lindsay has been a been a fellow at Yellow Barn Summer Music Festival, Bang on a Can, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, and was a 2024 Musician-in-Residence at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

STEPHANIE DECIANTIS
Italian-Canadian dramatic soprano Stephanie DeCiantis has been hailed as a “top Canadian voice” (Opera Canada), recognized for her “powerful” sound (Jake Evans, Intelligencer) and “lush musical ebb and flow” (Opera Canada). She is thrilled to join a cast of outstanding Canadian singers in the Canadian premiere of Meladramma AI. A sought-after concert soloist, she has recently performed with the Burlington Symphony Orchestra, York Symphony Orchestra, and Kindred Spirits Orchestra in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14. On the opera stage, she has sung Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with both Brott Opera and the Canadian Institute for Czech Music, Aida with Opera by Request, Leonora in Verdi’s Il trovatore with Opera Sustenida (film and staged productions), and the Overseer in Strauss’s Elektra with Powerhouse Opera. She is a laureate of the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques and a semi-finalist in both the Elizabeth Connell Prize for Dramatic Sopranos and the Vincerò World Singing Competition.