Kyle Briscoe is blazing the trail as a queer interdisciplinary artist focusing on opera performance and his love of pop music. Kyle completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Manitoba and has began his studies at McGill University towards a Master’s of Music in Opera and Voice. At the Schulich School of Music, Kyle has performed a recital of Brahms songs as part of Michael McMahon’s song interpretation class, appeared in Opera McGill’s production of Sondheim at Segal and covered the role of Prince Ramiro in La Cenerentola. Kyle has released two singles this year, “Then and Now,” and “Cypress Tree” both feature on his debut EP “LESSONS” released this summer. Colleagues describe Kyle as a joy and light, praising him for his vocal tone and endearing vulnerability. Kyle was featured in the Winnipeg Free Press in “Survival Songs,” (August 2023) and was a guest on CBC’s Now or Never podcast (September 2023) where he was invited to discuss his unique career and share his music live on the air (There are many great singers in pop, but Briscoe’s precise voice, honed by hours of training at the U of M and other lessons — contrasts greatly from the breathy vocals that have dominated the charts in recent years - Alan Small, Winnipeg Free Press). Recent highlights include singing the role of Speaker in the Little Opera Company’s production of The Magic Flute (John Geer Adaptation), performing as a soloist in Dead of Winter’s Montiverdi’s Vespers, Don Basilio with Manitoba Underground Opera, and “What A Time - Live,” a behind the scenes look into the meaning and making of his first original song. Kyle has been awarded the Schulich Scholarship (2023), Berythe Brise Scholarship (2022, WMC), the Andrew Kuryk Memorial Scholarship (2021 & 2020), Second Prize in the Zita Bernstein Competition (2020), and the University of Manitoba Undergraduate Research Award (2019). Kyle has performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Manitoba Opera, Manitoba Underground Opera, Little Opera Company, Canzona, PolyCoro, Dead of Winter, Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, and the Winnipeg Singers. Kyle looks forward to performing the tenor solos from Handel’s Messiah with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra this December 15 & 26.
Few vocalists authentically cross genres at the highest levels and maintain professional careers in both areas - but LIZZY HOYT is one of them! Praised by Opera Canada for both her dramatic depth and keen comedic gifts, her recent performances include title role of Cinderella in Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Manitoba Opera, Brott Opera), Ruggiero in Handel’s Alcina (Manitoba Chamber Orchestra), Julia Child in Hoiby’s Bon Appétit (Little Opera Company), and Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (Manitoba Underground Opera). A nationally recognized Celtic songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, she won the TRADITIONAL SINGER OF THE YEAR Award at the 2023 Canadian Folk Music Awards for her album, The Parting Glass. Other awards and nominations include the QUEENS DIAMOND JUBILEE MEDAL, Canadian Folk Music Awards, Western Canadian Folk Music Awards, International Acoustic Music Awards and Independent Music Awards. In 2023, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra commissioned and performed a new song cycle for Lizzy by Canadian composer, Kevin Lau (The Ruins of Time) to highlight both her classical and folk singing. In addition to five independent albums, Lizzy has released multiple award-winning music video projects, and has given countless concert tours across Canada since transitioning to full-time in 2009. Facebook/Instagram/X/Youtube: @LizzyHoytMusic.
Canadian mezzo soprano, Meagan Reimer, returned to her home province of southern Manitoba in late 2020; a career casualty of the global pandemic after almost ten years performing as a classical vocalist in Toronto, southern Ontario, and Europe. Meagan holds a Bachelor of Music from Canadian Mennonite University, and Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Vocal Performance from the University of Manitoba Desautels Faculty of Music.
In the pre-COVID world, Meagan has been a featured soloist in a broad range of repertoire, her performances have been primarily as a classical soloist. Oratorio works have covered the music of composers such as Duruflé, Fauré, Händel, Mozart, Haydn, Allegri, a host of Bach cantatas, Saint-Saëns, and Pergolesi/Durante. Opera and operetta credits include the core repertoire of the lyric mezzo soprano with Toronto-based companies such as Opera by Request, Toronto Operetta Theatre, Voicebox Opera in Concert, Opera Sustenida, Tapestry Opera, Windsor Symphony Orchestra, York University and the Talisker Players.
Meagan was a finalist of the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra Clifford Poole Vocal Competition in Toronto, and a semi-finalist of the Doris MacLellan Competition in Winnipeg. She made her European musical debut in Berlin, Germany at the Knutson Studio presenting favourites of the French and Canadian art song repertoire.
Having previously appeared as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Lyric Opera Studio Weimar, in Germany, she was scheduled to return to Weimar to sing the title role in Rossini’s La Cenerentola before the pandemic. Meagan was an invitee to the Grandi Voci vocal competition at the Oper im Berg Festival in Salzburg, Austria, and after attending, subsequently spent time in Vienna in masterclass with Maestro Maurizio Scardovi.
In Manitoba, Meagan recently appeared with Winnipeg-based, Flipside Opera, for local opera pub performances, with Manitoba Underground Opera’s hilarious children’s opera tour of The Bremen Town Musicians as the rooster, Eddie Pensier. She often travels back to Toronto for collaborative projects, such as with the fast-rising indie company Opera Revue for their Father’s Day opera pub at the Emmet Ray Whisky Jazz Bar. Toronto’s Opera by Request June productionof Rossini’s rarely performed Otello garnered accolades where her performance “impressed as Desdemona” (John Gilks, Opera Ramblings) and she was praised for her “...secure pitch and focus, with precisely accurate colouratura” (Leslie Barcza, Barcza Blog). Upcoming performances include as a returning guest artist with Flipside Opera in Winnipeg, and as a guest artist and MC for southern Manitoba’s Genesis House Masquerade Fundrasing Gala: “Unmasking” Domestic Violence.
During regular work hours, Meagan can be found in your friendly neighbourhood law office, in the subdivisions and property development department, and coaching a modest private studio of courageous adult vocalists in southern Manitoba.
Praised for her "fierce artistry” and “poetic” pianism, “powerhouse” Winnipeg-based pianist and coach Lisa Rumpel is an active member of Manitoba’s arts scene. Lisa’s vibrant and varied freelance career has included performances with Flipside Opera & Art Song Collective, The Little Opera Company, Manitoba Underground Opera, Manitoba Opera, Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers, and community concert organizations such as Agassiz Chamber Music Festival, Living Room Live, Music at the Millennium, Nuit Blanche, Red Haus Live, Music & Mavens, and the Skywalk Concert Series. She has had the opportunity to work and perform with many of Manitoba’s leading operatic vocalists including Tracy Dahl, Monica Huisman, Lara Ciekiewicz, James McLennan, Andrianna Chuchman, Andrea Lett, and Lizzy Hoyt.
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Recent and upcoming performance highlights include "In Remembrance" with Lizzy Hoyt for the Edmonton Recital Society; "Dazzling Dexterity" with Canadian violinist Kerson Leong for the Women's Musical Club of Winnipeg; and "Looking Glass" for Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers.
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Since completing her Master of Music (Collaborative Piano) at the University of Manitoba in 2015 under the tutelage of Dr. Laura Loewen and Dr. Judy Kehler-Siebert, Lisa has built her reputation as a coach and pianist for musicians of all experience levels. As an alumna of the Franz Schubert Institute, Vancouver International Song Institute, and Opera NUOVA, Lisa has been privileged to work with renowned musicians from across the world with the support of the Winnipeg and Manitoba Arts Councils.
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Alongside her demanding performance schedule, Lisa works as an administrator and board member with Flipside Opera & Art Song Collective and The Little Opera Company, fulfilling her love of creating programming, connecting with performers, discovering repertoire, and finding ways to relate audiences to classical music. She is also a piano instructor at the Winnipeg Conservatory of Music, where she aims to cater to each individual’s unique learning needs and goals, in order to make music fun and accessible to all.