Monica Whicher
Lecturer: Voice Studies
Area Head: Voice Studies
B.Mus. (Toronto), Dip.Op.Perf. (Toronto)
Email1. Known as an interpreter of a rich and varied repertoire including Art Song, Oratorio, Chamber Music and Opera. She has performed with every major Canadian orchestra, as well as in the United States, Europe, and Asia with conductors including Helmuth Rilling, Peter Oundjian, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Franz-Paul Decker, Mario Bernardi, Pinchas Zukerman, Richard Bradshaw, Timothy Vernon, Yanick Nezet-Seguin and Steuart Bedford. 2. After several years teaching voice at the University of Western Ontario, she is now on the Voice Faculty of the University of Toronto and the Glenn Gould School, and maintains a private studio. She is in demand as a master class clinician and adjudicator (Victoria Conservatory of Music, University of Alberta, Lakehead University, Memorial University, University of Manitoba, Contemporary Showcase, Canadian Music Competition, Guelph Spring Festival). 3. Numerous recordings including, most recently, Lullabies and Carols for Christmas, with harpist Judy Loman (Naxos) and 2 boxed sets for the Ukrainian Art Song Project, Mykola Lysenko and Yakiv Stepovyi, The Art Songs; Recordings of Canadian music include: Our Own Songs, The Aldeburgh Connection, featuring Stacey, by John Beckwith and Leibesleid Lieder, by John Greer (Marquis); Erotikos Logos, Song Cycles by Christos Hatziz (Marquis); Singing Somers Theatre, the Music of Harry Somers (Centrediscs.) Other recordings include the operas Castor et Pollux, Rameau, with the Aradia Enemble (Naxos) and Persée, Lully, with Opera Atelier (DVD, EuroArts). Also featured on the Juno award-winning CDs “Beethoven Lives Upstairs”, “Mozart’s Magic Fantasy” and “Daydreams and Lullabies”. 4. Frequent performer of new music, including the following world premieres by Canadian composers: Stacey, A Man and His Flute (John Beckwith); Studies and Rambles of Wasagewanoqua, Liebesleid Lieder; Folk Song Suite for Voice and Guitar (John Greer); A Sardonic Songbook (Brian McDonagh); Ophélie (Jeffrey Ryan, Canadian premiere). 5. Awards and Nominations: Juno Award nomination for “Singing Somers Theatre”, The Music of Harry Somers (Centrediscs) Two Dora Award nominations, for Le Nozze die Figaro and Dido and Aeneas Winner of The George London Award Recipient of Sullivan Foundation Grants and a Canada Council Career Development Grant
Working on What
Multiple themed recital programs / collaborations with pianists and instrumentalists.
Will be Where
November 2, 2014, Launch of Ukrainian Art Song Project “Galician Composers” recording, Koerner Hall
Biographical Note
Style and musical elegance combined with an intuitive theatrical sense are the hallmarks of soprano Monica Whicher’s performances on the concert and opera stage. She has performance with orchestras, opera companies and at chamber festivals across Canada and in the United States, Mexico, Europe and Asia with conductors including Helmuth Rilling, Peter Oundjian, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Franz Paul Decker, Steuart Bedford, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Duane Wolff, Pinchas Zuckerman, Trevor Pinnick, Hervé Niquet, Andrew Parrott, Harry Bicket , Timothy Vernon and Alexander Weimann.
Along with all the major oratorio roles, operatic roles have included Thaïs (Massenet’s Thaïs), the Countess (Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro), Pamina and Erste Dame (Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte), Zerlina (Mozart’s Don Giovanni), Anna Maurant (Kurt Weill’s Street Scene), Dido (Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas), The Governess (Britten’s Turn of the Screw) and Female Chorus (Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia), with companies such as The Canadian Opera Company, Opera Atelier, Pacific Opera Victoria, Vancouver Opera, The Cleveland Opera, Opera in Concert and the Nürnberg International Chamber Music Festival.
Ms. Whicher was nominated for a Juno Award for “Singing Somers Theatre” (Centrediscs) as well as two Dora Mavor Moore Awards, and praised for her Naxos recording of Castor et Pollux. Her critically acclaimed portrayal of Mérope in Lully’s PERSEE can be seen on the EuroArts/Naxos DVD and she is featured on the Juno-Award winning CDs Mozart’s Magic Fantasy, Beethoven Lives Upstairs and Daydreams and Lullabies. Recent recordings include Lullabies and Carols for Christmas, with harpist Judy Loman for Naxos, and The Art Songs of Mykola Lysenko, The Art Songs ofYakov Stepovyi, and The Galicians, all for the Ukrainian Art Song Project. She has been heard on CBC, NPR and the Bayerischer Rundfunk.
A former member of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, Ms. Whicher studied at the Banff School of Fine Arts, the Britten-Pears School of Music (Aldeburgh, England), the Steans Institute (Ravinia Festival, USA), and was a recipient of the George London Award, Sullivan Foundation Grants, and a Canada Council Career Development Grant. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto, where she was a student of the renowned Canadian soprano, Lois Marshall. Monica Whicher is on the Voice Faculty of the University of Toronto and the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music.