Messiah
Pre-concert talk at 7:10pm
Leslie Ann Bradley, soprano
Jennifer Enns, alto
Lawrence Wiliford, tenor
Nicholas Borg, baritone
Tickets: $45 | $40
Please note that Youth pricing is not available for Messiah.
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Leslie Ann Bradley (Soprano)
Canadian soprano Leslie Ann Bradley “brings the stage to life whenever she sets foot into the spotlight” (Toronto Star). A versatile and dramatic performer, she has recently appeared in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Symphony Nova Scotia and the Calgary Philharmonic, Brahms’ Requiem with the Calgary Philharmonic and l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and Handel’s Messiah with the Florida Orchestra. Her recent highlights also include Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Victoria Symphony and a celebrated performance of Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42 at Carnegie Hall with the Guelph Chamber Choir. Upcoming engagements include Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Orchestra Toronto.
Leslie Ann’s extensive concert and operatic career has taken her to major stages across North America. She has been a frequent guest of l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Vancouver Symphony, performing a broad repertoire that ranges from Beethoven and Mozart to the title roles in The Merry Widow and Countess Maritza. Her operatic credits include Micaëla in Carmen and Desdemona in Otello, with notable appearances at Opéra de Montréal, Vancouver Opera, and Pacific Opera Victoria. She is also a champion of art song, having premiered numerous contemporary works and recently presenting a diverse recital program at the Gustin House in Saskatoon.
A highly decorated artist, she is a recipient of the Prix du chant Pierre Bernac from the Académie International de musique Maurice Ravel and the Tecumseh Sherman Rogers Graduating Award from the University of Toronto. She has won top prizes in the Czech and Slovak International Competition and the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques. Leslie Ann holds a Master’s Degree and an Opera Diploma from the University of Toronto and is an alumna of Tanglewood and the Orford Festival.
Lawrence Wiliford (Tenor)
Lauded for his luminous projection, lyrical sensitivity, and brilliant coloratura, American-Canadian tenor Lawrence Wiliford is in high demand across the concert, opera, and recital stages of North America. Recent season highlights include Mozart’s Requiem with the Eugene Symphony, the Coronation Mass with Les Violons du Roy and the Back Bay Chorale, and the Mass in C Minor at the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park. He has also recently performed Handel’s Messiah with the Phoenix Symphony and Bach’s St. John Passion with Luminous Voices.
Lawrence’s extensive concert career encompasses engagements with the Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, and Toronto Symphony Orchestra, as well as premier early music groups like Tafelmusik and Philharmonia Baroque. He has collaborated with such esteemed conductors as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jane Glover, and Masaaki Suzuki. His diverse opera credits range from the works of Lully and Rameau to Mozart’s Don Giovanni and the operas of Benjamin Britten. A champion of contemporary music, he has participated in numerous world premieres and is the co-artistic director of the Canadian Art Song Project.
His acclaimed discography includes a GRAMMY® nominated and JUNO award-winning recording of Vaughan Williams with the Toronto Symphony, as well as a 2020 JUNO-nominated recording of Zachary Wadsworth’s When There is Peace. A graduate of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio, Lawrence holds degrees from St. Olaf College, the University of Toronto, and Toronto Metropolitan University. He is an alumnus of the Tanglewood Music Center and the Britten-Pears Young Artist Program, and was a founding member of the renowned male vocal ensemble Cantus.
Nicholas Borg (Bass Baritone)
Nicholas Borg has been praised as “an engaging visual and vocal actor” (Opera Canada) with a “warm, sonorous baritone” (Stage Door Toronto). He has performed with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Yukon Arts Centre, and the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, Masterworks of Oakville, RESOUND Choir.
In opera, Nicholas has performed Dandini in La Cenerentola for Manitoba Opera, and Alexander Graham Bell in the Parks Canada production of Dean Burry/Lorna MacDonald’s The Bells of Baddeck, as well as Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte and Marchese in La traviata for Brott Opera. In 2019-20 Nicholas was a member of the Yulanda M. Faris Young Artist Program at Vancouver Opera, where he performed the roles of Barone Douphol in La traviata and Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia. Nicholas has been a chorus member of the Canadian Opera Company and a soloist for the Toronto Operetta Theatre, Voicebox: Opera in Concert, MYOpera, the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Toronto, the Grand Philharmonic Choir, and the Windsor Symphony Orchestra.
As an arts administrator, Nicholas is the Administrative Director for Toronto City Opera, and was Managing Director of the Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto, and Administrative Assistant with the University of Toronto Opera for the 2018-2019 season. He is also the General Manager for Muse 9 Productions: a small artist collective whose productions promote the stories and creativity of women through interdisciplinary music theatre. Nicholas holds a Masters of Music from the University of Toronto and a Bachelors of Music from McGill University.