Twenty years ago, the lead roles in a Canadian Opera Company (COC) production would most likely have been played by singers from Europe or the United States. Not so in recent years. In this 1999 production of Don Giovanni, the roles of Zerlina, Masetto and Don Ottavio were played by Krisztina Szabó, Alain Coulombe and Michael Colvin respectively, all of whom are Canadian. Fine Canadian classical singers, however, are not a new development, says David Agler, a former music director of the Vancouver Opera. An American who has conducted major companies all over the world, Agler points out that "Canada has turned out way more than its share of not just good, but great singers." One need only think of such famous names as Lois Marshall, Jon Vickers, Maureen Forrester, Teresa Stratas and Edward Johnson, who was both a star tenor and longtime general manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. There were other fine Canadian singers as well, but (and here is the difference) their names were well known in foreign lands, where most of their work was done, but unfortunately, not at home.

Today, Szabó and Coulombe are among a growing number of young stars and potential stars who are drawing crowds and acclaim not just in the traditional opera capitals of the world but in cities across Canada.

And make no mistake, our opera singers are not understudies to their U.S. and European counterparts but are among the prima donnas – and primo dons – of the world. In fact, Canada is known in the music world as one of the great producers of opera singers. The lyric baritone Russell Braun continues to rack up accolades around the world, performing regularly at the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and major European houses. The mezzo-soprano Kimberly Barber has triumphed in Xerxes in Seattle and Toronto and filled in for the great Frederica von Stade at a recording session. James Westman, another young baritone, was a finalist in the prestigious Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 1999. Soprano Measha Brüggergosman stunned audiences with her performance in Canadian composer James Rolfe’s Beatrice Chancy before she had even finished her undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto. Meanwhile, Ben Heppner and Richard Margison are considered among the greatest tenors in the world.

In the 1999 COC production of Don Giovanni, Szabó was actually filling in for yet another local, Isabel Bayrakdarian, who was leaving to start rehearsals for her European debut as Emilia in Handel’s Flavio at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, Germany. You don’t even have to hear Bayrakdarian sing to understand why the 26-year-old soprano is already in demand. It’s there in the exuberant swings of her voice, the crescendos of laughter. Was she passionate about opera as a child? "Oh, heavens, no, no, no, no, no," she laughs, winding her long chestnut hair on top of her head. "I grew up in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, and the first thing that was bombed was the opera house." Like her sisters, Bayrakdarian grudgingly learned to play Bach and Chopin on the piano, but the family’s chief musical interest was the vocally challenging Armenian sacred music. It wasn’t until she arrived in Toronto, at the age of 15, that anyone suggested to Bayrakdarian that it would be criminal for her not to at least attempt opera singing. After years of being nagged, she decided that she had better investigate her potential, and while studying biomedical engineering, completing a joint university-industry thesis and chairing a fund-raising committee for her faculty, she took lessons with Jean MacPhail, a graduate of the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory of Music who is widely recognized for her abilities as both a soloist and a singing teacher. Bayrakdarian also bought a ticket to her first opera, a 1995 COC production of Ariadne auf Naxos, and discovered she "wanted to be up there, singing on that stage."

To hear Bayrakdarian tell it, what followed was a charming and totally unexpected surprise. "We figured maybe an international competition would be good exposure," she says. "So I entered the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions competition, competing at the district, regional and national levels. To my surprise, I went all the way to New York." Bayrakdarian had never sung with an orchestra before her appearance at the gala performance for competition finalists at the Met. "I had never been on an operatic stage," she laughs. "And I ended up winning."

There’s no doubt that Bayrakdarian’s voice is backed up by a strong work ethic and solid intelligence. But these qualities only partly explain how a young woman who didn’t see an opera until she was 21 could not only get a spot in the Met auditions, one of the most coveted opportunities in the music world, but actually win the competition. Like the many other talented young singers in Canada, she has benefited from a carefully constructed system of training and support.

A key element of this is the training programs sponsored by the various opera companies. The COC Ensemble, a hothouse for future stars, was founded in 1980 and supported by Imperial Oil in its early years. Every year, a few young singers are chosen for the two- to three-year program, which includes coaching, master classes with guest artists, major roles in small in-house productions and secondary roles in main-stage productions. Richard Bradshaw, general director of the COC, says that the ensemble’s program is now equal to any in the world.

DURING THE PERIOD when Bayrakdarian was competing in the Met auditions, she was invited to join the COC Ensemble. She had been considering applying to the Met’s training program; the COC invitation forced a difficult decision. The COC had given her a complete plan of development, including what roles she would sing over the next two years, recalls Bradshaw. She discussed her quandary with the COC. "We told her to make sure the Met was going to do something similar," says Bradshaw. "When she asked the Met people for a similar plan, they just laughed and said, ‘We don’t do that. We can’t make any guarantees.’"

In the end, Bayrakdarian chose the COC program. Three years later, she believes she made the right choice. "In Canada, we are not exposed to the harsh lights early on," she explains. "We are learning and getting our feet wet on familiar ground and then performing on international stages feeling prepared and confident. I think that’s why we produce so many wonderful singers."

Alain Coulombe is another potential star who hadn’t intended to be a singer. Coulombe was studying piano at Laval University in Quebec City and singing on the side for fun with a vocal jazz ensemble. "I took some voice lessons with the quartet," he says. "My teacher said, ‘My God, you should sing. You should try to see where you can go with it.’" Coulombe took the advice and, after completing an undergraduate and a master’s degree in voice at Laval, ended up as a bass in the Montreal Opera’s training ensemble, l’Atelier Lyrique. Since 1984, l’Atelier has trained about a dozen singers a year. "For the lucky people who can join an ensemble, it’s a great opportunity," says Coulombe. "You get to sing on the main stage and work with coaches and stars from all over the world."

One morning in 1996, while a member of l’Atelier, Coulombe was preparing for his role as an understudy for the part of Sparafucile in Rigoletto. His teacher, Robert Savoie, suggested he sit in on a session with the Montreal baritone Gaétan Laperrière, who was performing the role of Rigoletto in another production. "I was really shy, but I went," says Coulombe. "I was there, sitting on my chair, and Gaétan said, ‘Come and we will do the duet.’"

For Coulombe, it was a turning point. "We were three generations of singers: my teacher, who had been the baritone at Covent Garden; Gaétan, who was embarked on a successful international career; and me, just beginning. I felt so privileged. It went well, and the next day I went back and we worked together on a scene."

Coulombe has since turned to Laperrière for advice on everything from singing technique to finding an agent. "Our opera stars are so generous with their experience," he says.

But Coulombe also benefited from more humble encounters. In cooperation with the Montreal-based music education organization Les Jeunesses Musicales du Canada, l’Atelier sends its students out to communities in Eastern Canada to take opera to those who otherwise might not have an opportunity to see it. "It gives young singers the chance to get a lot of experience on the stage and an idea about what the professional life is like," he observes.

Later, Coulombe joined the COC Ensemble to gain experience in an English-speaking opera environment. When he was assigned the role of Colline in La Bohème, he had few qualms. "I’d already done it about 40 times on the stage, which gave me a lot of confidence."

L’Atelier’s touring program is only one of several in the country. For example, the Vancouver Opera, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, runs one of the largest school and community tour operations in North America. And smaller companies often provide some sort of educational program. The Edmonton Opera, for example, has established an apprenticeship program, and works to teach people about opera through a lecture series and by inviting high-school and elementary students to attend dress rehearsals.

The COC’s Esso Kids After School Opera Program and the Esso Kids March Break Opera Program, held at various locations around Toronto, are filled soon after registration begins. Working with the program director, composer Dean Burry, children in grades 3 to 7 develop their own opera. The subjects have included the Titanic, bugs, aliens – "whatever the kids have on the brain at the time," says the COC’s former education and outreach coordinator Trevor Rines. Guest artists are brought in to help the children with their singing and stage skills.

Subsidized by Imperial, the workshops are affordable for most people, and while Rines acknowledges that many parents sign up not because their children are particularly interested in opera but because it’s a worthwhile program at a good price, he says that many kids end up "getting sold on opera." Students from one year send their brothers, sisters and neighbours the next, says Rines. One entire family became regular volunteers as "supers," or nonsinging extras, on the COC stage. Rines likes to repeat a story he heard from one parent of a child who sprang, sopping wet, from the bathtub to the living room when he heard the opera Carmen starting on the television. (Surprisingly, perhaps, one-third of the students in these classes are boys.)

Few, if any, of the small performers may grow up to be professional singers, but many will develop a lifelong interest in opera and form the audiences of tomorrow.

"There is great value in helping children to appreciate opera," says Barbara Hejduk, president of the Imperial Oil Charitable Foundation. "It broadens their perspectives. And creating interest in opera, and indeed all areas of the arts, means that we’re helping to ensure that the arts will continue to develop in Canada. We’re all richer for that."

In fact, Imperial has been supporting opera since the 1920s, when it sponsored the Imperial Oil Hour of Fine Music, a radio program that brought a number of respected opera singers into the homes of Canadians. Its support of the Canadian Opera Company itself began nearly 50 years ago. Today, the focus of its giving is on young people and education, and to that end it supports various programs for children across the country, including those at the Vancouver, Edmonton and Manitoba Operas and Ottawa’s Opera Lyra, as well as Toronto’s Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus.

IN CANADA, we have witnessed the emergence not only of large opera companies but of smaller ones. "Opera is undergoing a tremendous boom," says Peter Dyson, a retired professor of English at the University of Toronto who writes for the British magazine Opera. In general, there’s a feeling that this once dowdy art form, famous for elderly singers lumbering about the stage, is now cool.

"I was amazed by how many young people come to opera," agrees Krisztina Szabó, who grew up in Mississauga, Ont., and admits that opera originally held little appeal for her. "I saw a couple of productions when I was in school. The singers didn’t express themselves well, and it wasn’t interesting." Although Szabó sang in the Toronto Children’s Chorus and her high-school choir, what she really wanted to do was join a rock group. "But people told me my voice was ‘too nice.’"

As part of her piano studies at university, Szabó signed up for choral singing, and her teacher suggested she try opera. To her surprise, it was a lot of fun – "It seemed like home."

Part of what’s bringing people to the opera, Szabó believes, is the attention that’s given to the entire production, not just the music. "The acting in opera is so much better these days."

"Thirty or 40 years ago, having a fantastic voice was all that mattered," agrees soprano Rayanne Dupuis, who now works mostly in France. "Today, there are a lot more factors you have to take into account. If you simply want to listen to a beautiful opera performed beautifully, you can buy a CD. If you choose to go to an opera, it means you want more than that. Today’s opera singers must be proficient actors as well."

Canadian companies are rising to the challenge of presenting operas that are strong theatrically as well as musically by mounting original productions and exploiting home-grown talent. Using big-name film directors such as Atom Egoyan, Robert Lepage and François Girard, and the acclaimed stage designer Michael Levine, to intrigue audiences, they are also gaining international attention along the way. Even in smaller companies, says baritone Brett Polegato, "The artistic directors are doing fabulous things."

The opera boom, combined with active support, means that singers such as Dupuis, who might otherwise never become professionals, can now find a spot.

Dupuis, who grew up in Northern Ontario, came to the COC Ensemble with impressive academic and performance credentials. "She was intelligent, musical and terrific onstage," recalls Bradshaw. But how could she stand out in a field crowded with talent? Through the COC, Dupuis focused her work on French and contemporary repertoire, which has given her a particular niche. Twenty years ago, it’s unlikely she would have had success, she says.

To training and public enthusiasm, Dupuis adds a third element that has contributed to success stories like hers – ongoing support. "Whenever I pop into the COC building, it’s like coming home," she says. "I feel as if I have a network of coaches I can draw on. I don’t feel like I’m floating out in space." Other Canadian singers make the same point.

One way Canadian companies show support is through their hiring practices. In the past, some companies seemed to favour foreign singers, says Nancy Hermiston, head of voice and opera at the University of British Columbia and a former member of both the COC and the Oper Nürnberg. "But now, even the larger companies are beginning to look at home first."

They’ll have to compete with Europe, however. Companies there not only appreciate Canadian voices, they "love our work ethic," laughs Dupuis. "We arrive, we know our stuff, we take criticism and we’re polite. Canadians have a wonderful reputation."

Ongoing support also comes from fellow singers, adds Dupuis. "Canadians stay in touch and help one another out with places to stay and names and phone numbers. You feel very much plugged in no matter where you are." While performing in Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher in Clermont-Ferrand, France, for example, Dupuis took a few days off in Paris, where she ran into her old classmate Russell Braun, who was playing Papageno in The Magic Flute. Over dinner, the two caught up on news, and then, since The Magic Flute was completely sold out, Braun invited Dupuis backstage to watch the opera. The mix of glamour and familiarity "was kind of surreal," she recalls.

At times when she recounts her international adventures, however, there’s a wistful tone to Dupuis’ voice. While opera is flourishing in Canada, the fact is there are more companies and more performances in Europe, and therefore Dupuis is currently spending half the year overseas, and that makes it difficult to get to Canadian auditions. On top of the distance, her focus makes it harder to find work at home. "The repertoire is more traditional in Canada than Europe, and I have a lot of whacky stuff on my résumé. I don’t think it’s realistic for me to expect to have my career in Canada alone."

Ironically, the very success of young Canadian singers means many of them still must spend long periods of time abroad, because even though the number of opera performances in Canada is increasing, there’s still not enough room here for all of them. "Every year, you hear one or two really wonderful singers," David Agler explains. "That comes just after last year’s wonderful singers, and you really worry about where they’re all going to go."

On finishing with the COC Ensemble in June, Alain Coulombe wrestled with the various options open to him. He could have tried to get a contract with one of the many small European companies, but then he wouldn’t have been available for the kinds of guest appearances that can make a career. The alternative was to hope that he could line up enough guest appearances to attract attention plus pay the rent. He chose the latter route – one requiring entrepreneurship, a good agent and constant travel.

Meanwhile, in Munich, one of the most successful singers of all is watching The Simpsons in German, recovering from his performance as Tristan in Tristan und Isolde at the Easter Festival in Salzburg. Ben Heppner’s performance was a success. "We were a good 20 to 25 minutes just on the applause," he says cheerfully.

But even for Heppner, and the other Canadian superstar, Richard Margison, the path to international acclaim has not been easy. "It took me a good 10 years to have an overnight success," Heppner chuckles. After graduating from the University of British Columbia’s School of Music in 1979, he won the CBC’s annual Talent Festival. That would be his last major triumph until he won the Metropolitan Opera competition in 1988. Between the two events, he attended the University of Toronto’s acclaimed opera school, joined the COC Ensemble, served as director of music at Rexdale Alliance Church in Toronto and did odd jobs, such as working for a moving company, to make ends meet.

Despite his huge success, Heppner’s life is by no means an easy one, with its demanding rehearsal, performance and travel schedule. But compared with younger, less well known singers, Heppner "has it good," says Peter Dyson.

Heppner understands the dangers for younger singers who don’t have his choices. Damage to health and voice inflicted by constant travel and longing for his family aren’t the only reasons he limits his schedule, he says. "It’s absolutely a necessity. If I’m on the road all the time, I lose my soul."

Still, young singers such as Dupuis, Szabó, Bayrakdarian and Coulombe are optimistic that with the COC planning to build a new opera house, various companies expanding their seasons and new experimental companies springing up across the country, there’ll be more and more opportunities at home. "It’s wonderful to sing in our country," says Coulombe. "We want to build a solid tradition, to bring people to see the wonderful side of this art form. And I think Canadians are really proud of what we’ve produced."

Photography by: Henry Grossman, Fabrice Picard/Klix, Ruth Kaplan, Michael Cooper