The Canadian Opera Company has announced that sopranos Nikan Ingabire Kanate and Sarah Caulfield will join its Ensemble Studio beginning with the 2026–27 season.

Both sopranos were finalists in the Canadian Opera Company’s 12th annual Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition following a national audition tour.

Kanate received First Prize and the Hatch Audience Choice Prize for her performance of “Depuis le jour” from Charpentier’s Louise, while Caulfield recently debuted at the Banff Centre in Poul Ruders’ “The Handmaid’s Tale” and has appeared in concert with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Richmond Orchestra.

The two join returning Ensemble Studio artists mezzo-soprano Ariana Maubach, tenor Angelo Moretti, bass-baritone Nick Murphy, soprano Emma Pennell, baritone Ben Wallace, and pianist/coaches Elisabeta Cojocaru and Kimly Wang, who enter their second year in the program.

The company also noted that two artists will graduate from the Ensemble Studio at the conclusion of the 2025–26 season. Bass Duncan Stenhouse will appear in a student performance of “The Barber of Seville,” and soprano Emily Rocha will perform the role of Countess Ceprano in “Rigoletto.” Stenhouse and Rocha will give a farewell concert on May 12, 2026, as part of the Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre. That event is presented by TD Bank Group.

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