The Elora Festival Summer Program in Ensemble and Solo Singing

July 5-9, 2022
Elora, Ontario

Sponsored by Tony Arrell, C.M. and Anne Arrell

Application Deadline: April 22, 2022, midnight ET

Vocal artists are invited to apply for the inaugural Elora Festival Summer Program in Ensemble and Solo Singing, from July 5 – 9, 2022.

This program has been developed for vocalists whose interests lie in art song, oratorio and ensemble singing.
Qualified singers will be invited to Elora to be coached by Elora Festival Summer Program in Ensemble and Solo Singing Faculty, perform in a Program concert and join the acclaimed Elora Singers and orchestra in singing Bach’s Mass in B Minor.
Together, singers will explore ways to communicate vocal repertoire more vividly, experience a broad range of vocal repertoire and examine all aspects of style, technique, communication, language, performance skills, and artistry.

Faculty

The Elora Festival Summer Program in Ensemble and Solo singing is led by Lawrence Wiliford, and will include masterclasses with Tyler Duncan and Timothy Wayne-Wright, and collaboration and rehearsals with Mark Vuorinen, Erika Switzer and members of The Elora Singers.

Dr. Mark Vuorinen, Artistic Director

Mark Vuorinen

Artistic Director
The Elora Festival & The Elora Singers

Mark Vuorinen is Artistic Director and Conductor of The Elora Singers and the Elora Festival and Waterloo Region's Grand Philharmonic Choir.  He is also Associate Professor and Chair of Music at Conrad Grebel University Colleve at the University of Waterloo and is the President of Choirs Ontario.

A recipient of many awards, Mark was the 2016 Laureate of the Ontario Arts Council’s Leslie Bell Prize, and received a 2016 National Choral Award from Choral Canada (Association of Canadian Choral Communities) for his research on Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. Mark holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Toronto and Master of Music degree from Yale University’s School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music.  Recent concert highlights include performances of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Britten’s War Requiem, Arvo Pärt’s Passio and Credo, Canadian premieres of Jonathon Dove’s There was a Child, and Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard, Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Ad Genua, Reena Esmail’s This Love Between Us and Barbara Croall’s Giishkaapkag (Where the Rock is Cut Through). 

Mark’s research interests include the study of contemporary choral literature from the Baltic States, and in particular, the music of Arvo Pärt.  Mark was an invited lecturer at the Arvo Pärt Project’s Sounding the Sacred conference in New York City in May 2017.  He is published in Circuit Musiques Contemporaines, the Research Memorandum Series of Chorus America, and Principles of Music Composing of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.

About Mark
Lawrence Wiliford Photo

Lawrence Wiliford

Tenor
Program Director

Lauded for his luminous projection, lyrical sensitivity, and brilliant coloratura, American-Canadian tenor Lawrence Wiliford is in high demand in concert, opera, and recital repertoire. 2019-20 season highlights included performances with the Seattle Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Eugene Symphony, and Back Bay Chorale. His performances during the 2018-19 season included engagements with Les Violons Du Roy, Chor Leoni Men’s Choir, the Phoenix Symphony, the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, and Luminous Voices. 

Mr. Wiliford has collaborated with conductors such as Jane Glover, Matthew Halls, Grant Llewellyn, Nicholas McGegan, John Nelson, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Trevor Pinnock, Helmuth Rilling, Nathalie Stutzmann, and Pinchas Zukerman. His diverse opera credits include Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, and Die Entführung aus dem Serail; Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Albert Herring and The Turn of the Screw; Lully’s Persée, and Rameau’s Pygmalion and La Guirlande. Mr. Wiliford has been involved in a number of world premiere performances featuring works by Benjamin Britten, Derek Holman, James Rolfe, John Greer, Marjan Mozetich, and Zachary Wadsworth among others.

His recorded projects appear on several labels and include a GRAMMY nominated and JUNO award-winning recording of music by Vaughan Williams with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Peter Oundjian (Chandos); J.S. Bach’s Johannes-Passion under the direction of Alex Weimann (ATMA Classique); a program of late works for tenor and harp by Benjamin Britten (ATMA Classique), and sacred songs by Edmund Rubbra, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst (Stone Records). Wiliford is also a featured soloist on the 2020 JUNO nominated recording of Zachary Wadsworth’s oratorio When There is Peace by Chor Leoni Men’s Choir.

About Lawrence
Erika Switzer

Erika Switzer

Collaborative Pianist
Coach

Erika Switzer is an accomplished collaborative pianist who performs regularly in major concert settings around the world, including at New York’s Weill Hall (Carnegie), Geffen Hall, Frick Collection, and Bargemusic, at the Kennedy Center, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Spoleto Festival (Charleston, SC). Her performances have been called “precise and lucid” by the New York Times, and Renaud Machart of Le Monde described her as “one of the best collaborative pianists I have ever heard; her sound is deep, her interpretation intelligent, refined, and captivating.”

From 2000-2007, Erica performed and studied in Germany, an experience that profoundly inspired and shaped her work. During that time, she appeared at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and in the Munich Winners & Masters series and won numerous awards, including best pianist prizes at the Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf, and Wigmore Hall International Song Competitions.

Erica has long been a leader in envisioning and promoting the future of art song performance. In 2009, in collaboration with soprano Martha Guth, she founded the organization Sparks & Wiry Cries, which curates opportunities for song creators and performers, commissions new works, presents the songSLAM festival in New York City, and publishes The Art Song Magazine. She is also devoted to new music, and has recently premiered new compositions in the 5 Boroughs Music Festival Songbook II; at the Brooklyn Art Song Society; and at Vancouver’s Music on Main.

Erica collaborates with a range of top singers and instrumentalists. A frequent collaborator is baritone Tyler Duncan, and as a duo, Switzer and Duncan have performed in major concert halls and music festivals around the world. She is also an active teacher, serving on the music faculty at Bard College and the Vocal Arts Program of the Bard Conservatory of Music. Switzer holds a doctorate from The Juilliard School, and lives in New York’s Hudson Valley.

About Erika
Tyler Duncan

Tyler Duncan

Baritone
Masterclass Clinician

Sought-after baritone Tyler Duncan appears regularly on major concert stages around the world. Recent critics have called his performances “eloquent,” “charismatic,” and “stunning,” and praised his “refined, burnished voice” and “impeccable phrasing.” Duncan has recently (aka before the pandemic) appeared in concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and at the Wigmore Hall.

Also an accomplished opera performer, Tyler has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera as Prince Yamadori in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly under Karel Chichon, among many Met Opera roles. Other recent roles include Morales in Bizet’s Carmen under Seiji Ozawa, and appearances in the Spoleto Festival as Mr. Friendly in the 18th-century ballad opera Flora and the Speaker in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Duncan is also passionate about new opera; recent roles include Raymond in Nic Gotham’s Nigredo Hotel with City Opera Vancouver, and in the world premiere of Jonathan Berger’s Leonardo at New York’s 92nd Street Y.

In the realm of Baroque music, Tyler's versatility and skill have him in high demand, especially performing the works of Bach.  He has been regularly seen with Les violons du Roy, in Quebec City, Tafelmusik (Toronto), Early Music Vancouver, Music of the Baroque (Chicago), Boston Early Music Festival, and the Oregon Bach Festival.

He also performs as a duo with pianist Erika Switzer, celebrating songs from the Romantic period as well as the work of living composers. Together the pair have premiered dozens of new compositions and have just released their debut album English Songs à la française for Bridge Records.

Tyler’s other recordings include the Juno Award winning Vaughan-Williams Serenade to Music with Peter Ounjian and the Toronto Symphony; the title role in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis with Boston Early Music Festival; and a DVD of Handel’s Messiah with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. His singing has been recognized internationally with numerous awards, including Grammy and Juno nominations and prizes from the Naumburg, London’s Wigmore Hall, and Munich’s ARD competitions.

Now a faculty member at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge MA, Mr. Duncan finds joy in helping the next generation of singers find their true voice.  Originally from British Columbia, Canada, he resides in New York’s beautiful Hudson Valley.  You might find him frequenting many a roadside farmstand seeking the perfect, freshly picked Macintosh apple.

About Tyler
Timothy Wayne-Wright 2021 - 2 - © Mark Hamilton

Timothy Wayne-Wright

Artist Manager & Educator
Former member of The King's Singers

Tim’s musical journey started at the age of six when he became a boy chorister at Chelmsford Cathedral in UK. After a short while singing the daily services and being surrounded by such magnificent sacred and secular music, he was hooked!   

As a countertenor, Tim began studying for his music degree at Goldsmith’s College, University of London in 2001, after which he was fortunate enough to be offered a Vocal Scholarship to study for a Postgraduate Diploma at Trinity College of Music. During this time, Tim became a Choral Scholar at The Royal Naval College Chapel in Greenwich, alongside regular work with many of the UK’s finest choral ensembles, including Stile Antico and Ex Cathedra Consort.

In 2006, he successfully auditioned for the prestigious position of Alto Lay Clerk at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. After just two years here, Tim was invited to audition for The King’s Singers and was part of this wonderful ensemble for ten happy years. Highlights included many tours to the Asia-Pacific territories and also South America, with memorable performances in some of the world’s greatest venues - Royal Albert Hall, The Musikverein and the Sydney Opera House, to name but a few. He was also fortunate enough to teach over 500 masterclasses, workshops and summer schools as a member of The King’s Singers, imparting ensemble skills and techniques to choirs all over the world.

In March 2021, Tim emigrated to New Zealand with his Kiwi wife and two children. He is absolutely thrilled to be here and delighted to be coaching so many wonderful choirs across the country.

About Timothy

The five-day intensive course includes:

  • masterclasses
  • rehearsals
  • private coaching and mentoring
  • opportunities to observe festival rehearsals
  • a public recital with other program participants
  • performance with The Elora Singers, Festival Orchestra and soloists Hélène Brunet, Krisztina Szabó, Andrew Haji and Tyler Duncan in Bach’s Mass in B minor.

Eligibility

Applicants should have advanced vocal training from a recognized post-secondary music program (undergraduate or graduate program or the equivalent in training/performance experience).
There is no age limit.

Additional Information

Travel and Accommodation: Participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation.

Participation Fee: There is no application fee. We're thrilled to announce that the fee for participation has been reduced from $750 to $150. Heartfelt thanks to Tony and Anne Arrell for this wonderful gift!

 

We are grateful to our program sponsors Tony Arrell, C.M., and Anne Arrell. Their support will allow us to provide bursaries to successful candidates, reducing the cost of participation significantly.

How To Apply:

Please complete the application form by answering some questions and uploading the following information:

1. Résumé (CV), including a general repertoire list and ensemble singing experience.
2. Audio/Video links: Two contrasting selections (link to YouTube, Vimeo, SoundCloud, Dropbox, etc).
3. One letter of recommendation from a music professional(s).
APPLY NOW!

Please direct all questions to:

Laura Adlers, Executive Director: laura.adlers@elorasingers.ca
Deadline: All application material must be received by midnight on April 22, 2022.
Results will be announced and every applicant will be notified by May 1, 2022.