The Canadian Opera Company announced that four new opera artists will join its Ensemble Studio training program for the 2020-21 season including soprano Midori Marsh, baritone Jonah Spungin, bass-baritone Alex Halliday, and pianist/intern coach Frances Thielmann.

Marsh has won the First Prize and the Audience Choice Award at the 2019 Ensemble Studio Competition. At the same competition, Halliday claimed the Second Prize.

Spungin was a finalist at the 2017 Ensemble Studio Competition and has since graduated from Calgary Opera’s Emerging Artist Program.

Thielmann most recently joined Opéra de Montréal’s Atelier lyrique as a coach and pianist for the 2019-20 season.

Nina Draganić, Director of the COC Academy, says that with four young artists the company recognized a perfectly timed development opportunity that will provide these four with the support and guidance required to elevate their performance as industry professionals.

Ensemble Studio artists perform in several community concerts each year. They also participate in the COC’s education and outreach programming, and form the main cast of the COC’s annual Opera for Young Audiences.