HSOW Artist Bios A to L | M to Z
David Manford
Don Ottavio 2006, Tamino 2007
Shropshire-born tenor David Manford is now in his final year at the Birmingham Conservatoire. He has performed as a finalist in the 2004 Cecil Drew Oratorio prize, the 2005 English Song prize, and in the 2005 and 2006 Lieder Prize, where he was highly commended. He has sung the solo tenor role in sacred and oratario works by Handel, Haydn, Bach, Charpentier, Purcell, Mozart, Schubert and Rossini. His opera roles include the Schoolmaster in Janacek’s Cunning Little Vixen, Linfea in Cavalli’s La Callisto, Cecil in the premier performance of Robin Grant’s Dee and Mopsa in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen. Most recently he performed the roles of Lord Petersham, Young Whitehead, Dr Wilkinson and Beau Brummel in Malcolm Williamson’s English Eccentrics. David has sung the role of Ottavio at the Birmingham Conservatoire (2002) and in Italy at the 2003 Royal Academy Summer Workshop. David’s appearance as Don Ottavio at the 2006 Halifax Summer Opera Workshop marks his North American debut.
Dana Pardy
Dorabella 2005
Soprano Dana Pardy is Janna Pardy's older sister, although she's enjoying playing a younger sister in Cosi! Dana has degrees from Mount Allison and UBC, and currently lives outside Halifax. Roles performed include Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana with Maritime Concert Opera, Lucy in The Threepenny Opera with Chester Playhouse, and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and Giulietta in Tales of Hoffman with the Vancouver Academy of Music
Janna Pardy
Fiordiligi 2005
Soprano Janna Pardy was born in Newfoundland, and has music degrees from Mount Allison University, the Vancouver Academy of Music and Western Washington University. Among the roles she has performed are Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Nella in Gianni Schicchi, Meg in Adamo's Little Women and, most recently, the title role in Floyd's Susannah with Opera NUOVA in Edmonton and Musetta in La boheme with Maritime Concert Opera in Lunenburg, NS. She looks forward to singing Violetta in La Traviata in 2007 at the Lunenburg Summer Opera Festival in Nova Scotia.
Neil Robertson
Commendatore 2006, Sarastro 2007
Bass Neil Robertson is an Associate Professor of Humanities at the University of King’s College. He came to singing later in life and has studied voice under Gregory Servant and Sylvia Macdonald. As a guest performer, he sang the role of the Peasant in Orf’s Die Klüge and the role of Osmin in the Opera Nova Scotia production of Mozart at the Opera.
Kyle Rostad
Leporello 2006
Hailing from Camrose, Alberta, Kyle Rostad is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario currently studying with Todd Wieczorek. Mr. Rostad has been a stalwart of the UWOpera program at Western for many years, where he has participated in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Die Zauberflöte, Bernstein’s Candide and most recently as Mr Gedge in Britten’s Albert Herring and Kromov in Lehar’s The Merry Widow. Other recent credits include Kaspar in Aylmer Community Theatre’s production of Amahl and the Night Visitors and the roles of Andres, Cochenille, Pittichinaccio and Franz in Opera NUOVA’s production of Les Contes D’Hoffman.
Todd Trebour
Leporello 2006
is a member of Houston Grand Opera's Opera-to-Go, HGO's touring operatic ensemble, with whom he has performed the title role in The Velveteen Rabbit, as well as the Prince in both Cinderella in Spain and Princess and the Pea. In the upcoming season, Todd will be premiering the role of the Peacock in HGO's newly-commissioned Strega Nona, as well as the Emperor in The Emperor's New Clothes.He is a frequent performer with Opera in the Heights, where his roles have included the Marchese d'Obiogny (La Traviata) and Frank (Die Fledermaus). He also sang the Vicar (Albert Herring, Rice Opera Theatre), Antonio (Le nozze di Figaro, Lake Chelan Bach Festival) and the Notary (Don Pasquale, Mid-Columbia Symphony). A student of physical and comic acting, Todd has studied commedia dell'arte with internationally-reknowned Maestro Antonio Fava. As a concert soloist, he has performed with the Mid-Columbia Symphony, Rice Symphony Orchestra, and the Whitman Symphony Orchestra. Todd received his Bachelor of Arts in Music performance from Whitman College and his Master of Music in Voice from Rice University.
Olga Tylman
Donna Elvira 2006
Olga Tylman, soprano, has just completed her Masters in Voice Performance and Literature at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and holds a B.A. in Music from the University of British Columbia, Canada. She was a recipient of the top performance scholarship at U.W.O., where she studied with baritone Theodore Baerg and performed the role of Fiordiligi (Cosi fan Tutte) with U.W.O. Opera. She was the 2005 winner of the Ontario Provincal Music Festival, and represented the province at the 2005 National Music Festival in Kamloops, B.C. Recent studies have included a workshop with tenor Ian Partridge in England. Active as a church soloist and chorister, Miss Tylman has enjoyed positions at numerous churches in Vancouver, London, England, and London, Ontario. She is moving this month to Toronto, and hopes to continue performing a variety of opera, art song, and sacred repertoire. Upcoming engagements include soprano soloist in Mozart's Requiem with St. Paul's Cathedral Choir, London, Ontario. She is excited to have discovered the East Coast through this workshop, and hopes very much for future opportunities to perform for Halifax audiences.
Ellen Vesterdal
Dorabella 2005
A Westerner, Ellen began her career in Vancouver with her comedic portrayal of Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus and, later, as the protective Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors. Since moving to Toronto, Ellen has appeared with Opera Anonymous, Toronto Operetta Theatre, Opera in Concert, and Summer Opera Lyric Theatre. Favourite roles include Phobia (The Mushroom Pizza), Lola (Cavalleria Rusticana), Adalgisa (Norma), Second Lady (The Magic Flute), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel) , Siebel (Faust), Cherubino (The Marriage of Figaro) and the title role in Carmen.
GaRRy Williams
Guglielmo 2005, Monostatos 2007
German-Canadian theatre artist and baritone GaRRy Williams has degrees in Music from Mount Allison in NB and the Freie Universitaet, Berlin, His operatic credits include Ben in Menotti's The Telephone, David in Barber's A Hand of Bridge, Maceath in The Threepenny Oper, Jack the Ripper in Berg's Lulu and Schaunard in La boheme. GaRRy is currently Artistic Director of Halifax’s DaPoPo Theatre, and recently directed Patience for the Nova Scotia Gilbert and Sullivan Society.
Arthur Wright
Masetto 2006, Papageno 2007
Baritone Arthur Wright is currently pursuing a BMus under the tutelage of Torin Chiles at the University of Western Ontario. The majority of his performance experience comes from working with community theatre groups in the Toronto area, as well as at the University of Western Ontario. Some past credits include Don Quixote in Man of la Mancha, Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, Captain Walker in Tommy, and Cascada in The Merry Widow. In September he will be performing the role of Frank-n-furter in The Rocky Horror Show. He has enjoyed being a member of this fabulous cast and will look back with fond memories on his first real opera experience..