Ryan Downey

A proud Newfoundlander, tenor Ryan Downey is quickly gaining nationwide recognition for his “nimbleness of voice” (Bachtrack) and “attractive lyric tenor colour” (Edmonton Journal).

You’ll have seen Ryan on the opera stage recently with the Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera, Toronto Operetta Theatre, Opera in Concert….and the North York Concert Orchestra!. Recent solo credits include the title role in last year’s NYCO production of Candide, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Ralph Rackstraw in HMS Pinafore, and Count Boni in Czardas Princess, Rodolfo in La boheme, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Goro (Pinkerton cover) in Madama Butterfly, the Gingerbread Witch in Hansel and Gretel and Basilio / Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro. This past season at the Canadian Opera Company, Ryan covered the roles of Remendado in Carmen and Spoletta in Tosca.

On the concert stage, Ryan has recently sung Handel’s Messiah with the Edmonton Symphony and Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Mozart’s Requiem with the Windsor Symphony, Beethoven’s Mass in C with the Guelph Symphony as well as making his Kennedy Centre debut in Washington, DC, singing Adolphus Hailstork’s I will lift up mine eyes.

Emily Rocha

Emily Rocha is a captivating and compelling artist with a warm, silvery soprano voice. She is a citizen of Canada, Switzerland, New Zealand and Portugal. In the 2024-2025 season, she joins the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio and is a Vocal Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center.

Emily’s recent operatic credits include Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Gilda (Rigoletto), Cunegonde (Candide, cv), Ernestine (M. Choufleuri…), Lucie Manette (A Tale of Two Cities), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte), and Cassandra (Disobedience, premiere). Emily’s concert work includes Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder, the Fauré Requiem, and the Beethoven Mass in C. A supporter of new music, she workshopped the role of Justine in Melancholia (Karlsson, Vavrek), premiered fall 2023 at the Kungliga Operan.

Most recently, during the 2023-2024 season, Emily was the 2^nd Prize Winner at COC Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition 2023 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts and the District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition in Tulsa. Other recent accolades include an Encouragement Award at the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition Illinois District, Winner of the 2023 UTSO Concerto Competition with Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder, 1^st Prize in the Toronto Mozart Competition, and U of T’s prestigious Ivan Alexandor Chorney Opera Scholarship.

A University of Toronto graduate (MM Opera, Hon. BM Voice Performance), Emily studied with Lorna MacDonald, and had unique opportunities to perform for John R. Stratton Visitor in Music Master Classes with Joyce DiDonato, Eric Owens, and Margo Garrett.