Cheryl Hickman, Soprano

""Hickman sang ‘Il est doux, il est bon’ from Massenet’s Herodiade with the superb authority and glorious free steady sound of a young Eileen Farrell."

COC Altamira Concert
Ken Winters, Globe and Mail

Cheryl Hickman is poised to take her place among the outstanding sopranos of her generation. Top prize winner in the George London Competition, this St. John’s Newfoundland native debuted in 2000 with Florida Grand Opera as Desdemona, sang the role of Mary in New York City Opera’s Ballad of Baby Doe and starred in Saint-Saëns La Principesse Jaune for L’Opera Français de New York in 2001, conducted by Yves Abel. Featured in Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi at New York City Opera, Miss Hickman’s roles for this company include Erste Dame(Die Zauberflöte), La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi) and Fortuna in Il Ritorna D’Ulisse in Patria.

In Canada, Miss Hickman has sung with many of the leading opera companies, including Vancouver Opera (Marianne in Der Rosenkavalier), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) with Manitoba Opera, Michaëla (Carmen) and Countess (Le Nozze di Figaro) with Pacific Opera Victoria, Madame Lidoine (Les Dialogues des Carmelites), Mother/Witch in Hansel and Gretel, the role of Kitty Hart in the Canadian Premiere of Jake Hegey’s Dead Man Walkingand Clorinda (La Cenerentola) with Calgary Opera.

Miss Hickman is a Graduate of the University of Toronto, the Juilliard School of Music, and was a member of the Juilliard Opera Center. While a member of the prestigious Canadian Opera Company Ensemble, Cheryl sang Female Chorus in Britten’s Rape of Lucretia, Mother/Witch in Hansel and Gretel, and covered the roles of Senta in Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer and Marenka in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride. This gifted young artist has attended the Aldeburgh Festival, the Aspen Festival and was a Finalist in the Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition.

Recent concert engagements include Berg’s Sieben Frühe Lieder for Orchestra Toronto, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasia and Symphony No. 9 for Symphony Nova Scotia, the Immolation Scene from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung with Vancouver Symphony, Dvorak’s Te Deum for Newfoundland Symphony and Bernstein’s Kaddish with Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Highlights of the current season include Miss Hickman’s return to Calgary Opera as Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and the title role inTosca with Nova Scotia’s Maritime Concert Opera in June, 2009.

Future appearances include The Hibernia Gala in October, 2009, and the Messiah with Newfoundland Symphony in December 2010.

Elizabeth Turnbull, Mezzo Soprano

A Winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, North American finalist in the International Bernstein Song and Oratorio Competition, and recipient of a Canada Council Career Development grant, Elizabeth Turnbull is a mezzo with a distinguished reputation in the U.S. and Canada, hailed by the press as "(one) of this country's finest young singers, luminous and rich-voiced". Recent season highlights include the world premiere of FILUMENA for the Calgary Opera, playing the role of Maria. She was Ulrica in UN BALLO IN MASCHERA for Opera Lyra in Ottawa and other recent engagements include Madame de la Croissy in DIALOGUES DES CARM?LITES for Calgary Opera, Juno in Handel's SEMELE for Chicago Opera Theater, Larina in EUGENE ONEGIN for Opera Ontario, and the title role in CARMEN for Edmonton Opera. On the concert stage, she sang in Bach's MASS IN B MINOR for the London Fanshawe Symphonic Chorus and in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Edmonton Symphony.

Following the Banff Centre performances of Estacio's FILUMENA, she was in Edmonton with the Richard Eaton Singers for Bach's WEIHNACHTSORATORIUM, then back in Calgary for MESSIAH. Opera Ontario patrons heard her as Emilia in OTELLO and she was also in Vancouver for an opera gala with the Vancouver Symphony. She appeared in Montreal and Toronto for concerts encompassing a wide range of repertoire and reprised her role in FILUMENA at the National Arts Centre in April 2005 with a further production of this work for Edmonton Opera in November 2005. She has appeared with Trevor Pinnock and Les Violons du Roy in Montreal and with the Edmonton Symphony singing Mozart's KR?NUNGSMESSE. Jade Boucher in DEAD MAN WALKING (Calgary Opera), Dame Quickly in FALSTAFF (Opera Lyra Ottawa) and concerts with the Aldeburgh Connection of Toronto filled her winter 2006 schedule. In the U.S., she sang in Bach's WEIHNACHTSORATORIUM (Nicholas McGegan and San Francisco's Philharmonia Baroque) and MESSIAH for Los Angeles's Musica Angelica. Her association with composer John Estacio continued with her World Premiere performance of Elizabeth I in his FROBISHER for Calgary Opera. Also in 2007 she sang Emilia in OTELLO for Opera Lyra, Ottawa and Manitoba Opera. Highlights of 2007-2008 include Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Ottawa Symphony and Augusta Tabor in THE BALLAD OF BABY DOE for Calgary Opera.

At the Ravinia Festival, Ms. Turnbull sang with Christoph Eschenbach at the piano in Brahms' SONGS FOR PIANO, ALTO and VIOLA, while David Owen Norris was her pianist for Schubert Lieder. After her debut as Mercedes in CARMEN for the Dallas Opera, she was called back for the Dritte Dame in DIE ZAUBERFL?TE. Berta in IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA has been on her schedule along with Mozart's REQUIEM and ELIJAH in Hamilton and Edmonton. She sang Beethoven's SYMPHONY No. 9 with the Vancouver Symphony, and Haydn's ST. CECILIA MASS for Chorus Niagara. Also on the Chalmers Award winner's schedule were MESSIAHs at the National Arts Centre and Avery Fisher Hall in New York, Mahler's SYMPHONY NO. 8 with the Vancouver Symphony and Bradamante in ALCINA for Opera in Concert. In a lighter vein, Ms. Turnbull was heard in Schumann's SPANISCHE LIEBESLIEDER with the Aldeburgh Connection and in Edmonton, as Ruth in Gilbert & Sullivan's THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE.

Ms. Turnbull debuted with Virginia Opera as Gertrude in ROM?O ET JULIETTE and appeared for the Berkshire Opera as the Dritte Dame in DIE ZAUBERFL?TE. Critically acclaimed as Irene in Handel's TAMERLANO at the Aldeburgh Festival, she sang with Calgary Opera as Olga in EUGENE ONEGIN and also appeared as Alisa in LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR with the opera companies of Edmonton and Regina. Mallika in LAKM? and Countess Federica in LUISA MILLER for Toronto's Opera in Concert, Ms. Turnbull was featured as Mrs. Gleaton in the Vancouver Opera production of Floyd's SUSANNAH. Ms. Turnbull recorded Haydn's HARMONIEMESSE and Mozart's LITANIAE LAURETANAE with Rilling and the Vancouver Cantata Singers. Further credits include the Guelph Spring Festival, New Music Concert Series, the Elora Festival, and the world premiere of Victor Davies' REVELATION with Bramwell Tovey and the Winnipeg Symphony.