Willy Miles-Grenzberg Baritone Originally from southern Ontario, Willy is a graduate of the Wilfrid Laurier University vocal performance program, with guitar as a second study. In a professional career spanning thirty years he has performed with the top opera companies and choirs across Canada, as well as in cafes, restaurants and bars as a singer/song-writer. He has toured all over North America as vocalist and bass player with Silk Road Music, a Vancouver-based Chinese world music group and can be heard on their c.d. "Village Tales". Among recent performances: Vaughan Williams’ 5 Mystical Songs and Durufle’s Requiem with Douglas College Choral Society; Requiems by Mozart and Verdi, both with Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra; The Cappadocian in Salome and Count Ceprano in Rigoletto, both with Vancouver Opera; Benefit concerts for i)Tibetan earthquake victims ii)The Opera Project; several concerts with Silk Road Music for the Cultural Olympiad; solo w/guitar at Cuppa Joy, W. 4th Ave.

Arianna Sovernigo Soprano has sung the roles of Frasquita (Carmen), for Manitoba Opera and in another recent production of Carmen, her Micaela was described as "exquisitely sung, possessing a delicate, pure soprano..." Highlights from her repertoire include; the title roles in both Die Lustige Witwe and La Perichole, Gretel (Hansel und Gretel), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), and Pamina (Die Zauberflote). Equally comfortable on the concert stage, Miss Sovernigo was praised for being "passionate and warm in her rapport with the audience". She is a graduate of the Vancouver Academy of Music where she obtained her Bachelor’s of Music in opera performance. She also attended the University of Manitoba Opera Apprenticeship Program. She currently studies with renowned soprano Tracy Dahl.

Michael MacKinnon bass-baritone is delighted to return to Burnaby Lyric Opera. Based in Vancouver, he studies with voice teacher Peter Barcza. In the past few years he has performed several times with the Vancouver Opera chorus, most recently in Lillian Alling. He has given recitals for the Vancouver Women&rsquos; Musical Society and for the Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival in Scotland. He recently sang with the UBC Symphony as the bass soloist in Dvorak’s Stabat Mater and he is a two-time Western Canada District winner of the Met Auditions. His roles sung include: (for Burnaby Lyric Opera) Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte; (for Opera Nuova -in Edmonton) Don Pedro in Beatrice et Benedict and Frere Laurent in Romeo et Juliette; (for the Banff Arts Centre) Friedrich Bhaer in Little Women; (for UBC Opera) Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni; (and for Vancouver Opera in Schools) The Botanist in Jack Pine.

Vancouver-born baritone Jason Cook is an alumnus of the BC Boys Choir and UBC Opera Ensemble, and an accomplished graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Music in piano performance, he has had the privilege to travel the world and share the gift of music. Recipient of several awards including the Ben Heppner scholarship, Jason has completed his Bachelor of Music with a major in Voice Performance from the University of British Columbia. This young performer also enjoys the duties of musical director and coach, a role fulfilled in last season’s production of Footloose with the City of Delta. Jason has been involved in several operatic productions: Handel’s Amadigi, Mozart’s Die Zauberflote, Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Puccini’s La Boheme, Gilbert and Sullivan’s Gondoliers and a rare staging of Bach’s Johannes-Passion. Most recently, Jason has performed the roles of Alfio in Opera Appassionata’s staging of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Robin Oakapple in the NSLOS production of Ruddigore. Upon returning from his sixth and final international tour with the choir, Jason is preparing for his upcoming December roles as Figaro in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata.

Melanie Krueger Soprano is enjoying an extensive performance career. Coming engagements include the role of Anina in Vancouver Opera’s production of La Traviata, Lillian in the Banff Center’s production of Lillian Alling and a concert with the Victoria Symphony. Recent engagements have included the Valentine’s Gala and Vivaldi’s Gloria under the baton of Maestro Bramwel Tovey and the Vancouver Symphony. Other concert engagements have included Mozart’s Requiem (Newfoundland Symphony), Bach’s St. John Passion and Handel’s Messiah (Abbotsford Symphony), A Merry Evening of Opera (Bard on the Beach), A Traditional Christmas (Vancouver Symphony) and First Night in Vienna (Kamloops Symphony). Melanie’s professional operatic debut was in the Czech premier of Robert Ward’s The Crucible as Abigail Williams. Her performance earned her an invitation to perform the roles of Olympia (Tales of Hoffmann), Musetta (La Boheme),and the Vixen (The Cunning Little Vixen). Melanie sang the role of Clorinda in Rossini’s La Cenerentola with the Vancouver Opera touring ensemble. Melanie has been a frequent guest on CBC&rsquos Westcoast performance and CBC Newfoundland radio and television.

Jeremy Griffin Bass-Baritone is a second year masters student at UBC. He earned his BM in Vocal Performance from Portland State University. Past roles include Leporello in Don Giovanni (2010), Bishop Tache in Harry Sommers’ Louis Riel (2010), Betto in Gianni Schicchi (2009), Pistola in Falstaff (2009), Colline in La Boheme(2008) and Don Alfonso in Cosi Fan Tutte (2007). Last summer he performed Colline again, first in the Czech Republic through the UBC Opera Ensemble Summer Tour, then at the V.O.I.C. Experience summer program founded by Sherrill Milnes, and finally again with UBC cast at Bard on the Beach. He also performed with in the Mozart Theatre this summer as the Speaker in the Magic Flute. He is a student of Peter Barcza.

London, UK-born tenor Andrzej Jeziorski is a Diploma student at the Vancouver Academy of Music under David Meek. Recent roles have included Prince Charming in the DragonDiva Operatic Theatre production of Massenet’s Cendrillon, Albert in the Vancouver Academy production of Britten’s Albert Herring and Ferrando in the UBC Opera Ensemble production of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte, which was performed in the Czech Republic and Ontario. Andrzej is also a regular member of the Vancouver Opera chorus, having appeared in Lillian Alling, Norma and Eugene Onegin. His next Vancouver Opera appearance will be in La Traviata in April. He recently sang as a soloist in the Vancouver Bach Choir’s annual Sing-Along Messiah concert at the Orpheum Theatre.

Chloe Hurst Soprano is an active singer, pianist and teacher. From the age of three, she started her formal training in music and has now completed both her bachelor and master of music from The University of British Columbia in opera performance. Over the years, Chloe has performed in several concerts, musicals and operas across Canada and Europe. A few past roles include Maria, in Bernstein’s West Side Story, Gianetta, in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers, Adina in Donizetti’s L’elisir D’amore, Gretel, in Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel, and Arline in Balfe’s The Bohemian Girl. In concert, she has performed many operas in full and excerpt form, oratorio, and this past fall, Berlioz’s song cycle, Les Nuits D’ete, with The West Coast Symphony. Chloe also plays piano professionally for a variety of functions, such as at the Vancouver International Airport during the 2010 Olympics. She just returned from her debut in China where she was able to share both her singing and piano skills. Whilst performing, Chloe is a member of the theory faculty at The Vancouver Academy of Music in the preparatory and college divisions, and holds her own private studio for piano, voice and theory. Chloe feels most at home on stage and is excited to perform her first main stage role with the Burnaby Lyric Opera Company.