Manitoba Opera has announced the four emerging artists that will be participating in the company’s third annual 2022 Digital Emerging Artists Program (DEAP), a four-week intensive online professional development program that runs from Aug 3 to 31, 2022. This year’s participants include Korean-born soprano Olivia Kang, Canadian soprano Ana Toumine, Canadian mezzo-soprano Ellita Gagner, and Canadian tenor Yanik Gosselin. As in past seasons, instruction and program activities will take place online.
Left to right: DEAP’s core faculty, sopranos Tracy Dahl and Monica Huisman, mezzo-soprano Marion Newman, tenor John Tessier, and director Ann Hodges
Artists were selected by the program’s core faculty: sopranos Tracy Dahl and Monica Huisman, mezzo-soprano Marion Newman, and tenor John Tessier, as well as director Ann Hodges. Canadian Baritone Ritchie Diggs will also be participating in the program as an Independent Learner – a position created to provide Diggs, a BIPOC emerging artist, with the opportunity to join DEAP as a partial participant and have opportunities to grow and be enriched as a performer and creator.
Manitoba Opera’s DEAP has been running since 2020, providing emerging artists with training from its core faculty including masterclasses, lessons and workshops with guest artists and industry professionals. The program empowers participants to cultivate many of the skills necessary for success as multi-platform performers in the digital and live performance spaces. Other training includes project management skills, as each participant takes on the role of executive producer for a video project of their own design.
Prior graduates of the program have gone onto the enjoy success, both in the live and digital space, including mezzo-soprano and multi-instrumentalist Lizzy Hoyt (DEAP 2020) who will be performing the lead role in Manitoba Opera’s La Cenerentola this fall; tenor Kaden Forsberg (DEAP 2020), who has produced touring shows with his trio Volare Tenors, including a 2022 appearance on Canada’s Got Talent; and baritone Luka Kawabata (DEAP 2021) has made two company debuts since completing the program, performing roles with Edmonton Opera (Schaunard in La Bohème) and Saskatoon Opera (Escamillo in Carmen).
For more details on the program and its participants, go here.
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Angela Bell is Opera Canada’s Digital Media Specialist. She has held digital and PR roles with various businesses including the Walt Disney Company, Sullivan Entertainment and Toronto International Film Festival.
