“Acclaimed by critics as “a voice to follow”, the Canadian-Cameroonian Suzanne Taffot is distinguished by her rich and colorful timbre, her ease on stage and her convincing interpretations.

In addition to having recently participated in the creation of the opera “La Flambeau” in the main role of Mademoiselle, composed by David Bontemps, Suzanne was a soloist, with the Orchestra La Sinfonia de Lanaudière under the direction of its conductor Stéphane Laforest in the recording of an album devoted to the melodies and arias of the famous composer GERSHWIN. She made her debut in February 2021 with the Opera de Québec as a soloist under the direction of Maestro Jean-Marie Zeitouni in a Gala concert.

In the summer of 2020, she made her debut, under the direction of the renowned Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Orchestre Metropolitain. Since then, following the success of this concert, Suzanne has been invited again by Maestro Yannick Nezet-Séguin for Fauré’s Requiem and Nataniel Dett’s Chariot Jubilee. She also had the honor of performing the Rachmaninoff vocalization op.34 under the direction of Maestro Nezet-Séguin at Wilfried Pelletier Hall and has seen her performance be qualified “excellent” by the critics.

In January 2020, she sang the roles of la Bergère et la Chouette in the opera L’Enfant et les sortilèges (Ravel) at the Opéra de Limoges. She also made her second appearance with the Kosice Philharmonic Orchestra in Slovakia, in addition to a tour of China with the Lyrichorégra 20 Theater. In March 2019, Suzanne Taffot achieved great success in the role of Mimi in La Bohème (Puccini) at the Théatre Gärtenerplaz in Munich, a role that she will performs again in July 2022 at the FestivalOpéra des Grandes Laurentides, accompanied by the Orchester symphonique de Laval under the baton of Maestro Alain Trudel.

She was also heard with the Ensemble Sinfonia de Montréal during the prestigious opera evening “From Moscow to Montreal” and also sang at the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques gala with the Montreal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Three-time winner of the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques, Suzanne Taffot has won around fifteen awards and scholarships, including the Québec-Bavaria lyric scholarship, the scholarship from the Fondation des Jeunesses Musicales of Canada and the Francis Poulenc L20 scholarship. Suzanne Taffot is the winner of several international competitions in Italy, France, and the Czech and Slovak as well as in the United States.

In November 2021, Suzanne will be a guest soloist at the gala highlighting emerging artists from Quebec with the Sinfonia Lanaudiere, under the direction of Maestro Stephane Laforest. In December 2021, Suzanne will complete the recording of her very first album devoted to arias and melodies composed by black composers or those sensitive to the question of diversity in the arts. In February 2022, Suzanne will participate in the recording of the opera Le Flambeau, under the Atma label, with the Orchestre Classique de Montréal, under the direction of maestro Boris Brott. She will play the role of Micaela with the Orchestre Classique de Montréal, under the direction of Maestro Boris Brott in the Opera Carmen in March 2022 and will make her debut in May 2022 in the Requiem of Brahms with the Ottawa Choral Society under the direction of Maestro Jean-Sébastien  Vallée.

Suzanne Taffot is graduated from the University of Montreal under the tutelage of renowned soprano Adrienne Savoie and experienced voice coach Louise Andrée Baril. She obtained her diploma with the score “Excellent” unanimously in her final Master’s degree at the University. She is also the founder of HERITT Attorneys, a firm committed to Equity and Diversity in the legal field. “

One of today’s most sought-after lyric baritones on the international stage, Canadian-Italian Brett Polegato has earned the highest praise from audiences and critics for his artistic sensibility: “his is a serious and seductive voice” says the Globe and Mail, while the New York Times has praised him for his “burnished, well-focused voice,” which he uses with “considerable intelligence and nuance.” He has performed at the world’s most prestigious venues including La Scala, the Opéra national de Paris, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, the Teatro Real, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Carnegie Hall.

Recent operatic highlights include his debuts at the Metropolitan Opera (Brétigny in Manon) and Wexford Festival Opera (Dr Talbot in the European premiere of William Bolcom’s Dinner at Eight); the title role in Eugene Onegin, and Marcello in La bohème (Grange Park Opera); his role debut as Amfortas in Parsifal (Festival de Lanaudière); Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro (Palm Beach Opera); Howie Albert in Champion (Opéra de Montréal); the title role in Don Giovanni (Vancouver Opera) and in Wozzeck (Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow); Zurga in The Pearl Fishers, Dandini in La Cenerentola, and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (Seattle Opera). In March 2022 he sang Richard Brown in the world premiere concert of Kevin Puts’s The Hours (Philadelphia Orchestra).

Equally at ease on the concert platform, his performances have included Zemlinsky’s Lyrische Symphonie (Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal), the world premiere of Jeffrey Ryan’s Afghanistan: Requiem for a Generation (Vancouver Symphony Orchestra), Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra), and Ravel’s L’heure espagnole (BBC Proms).

Brett Polegato’s recordings include Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony (Grammy Award winner, Best Classical Recording), his acclaimed solo disc To A Poet (CBC Records), Bach’s Coffee Cantata and Peasant Cantata (Analekta‒Fleurs de lys), Emmerich Kálmán’s Die Herzogin von Chicago (Decca), and Gluck’s Armide (Deutsche Grammophon Archiv Produktion).

The Ottawa Music Company was established as a collective of some of the city’s finest professionals. It was born in 2007 through its collaborations with various choral ensembles in Ottawa and since that time has appeared frequently with the Ottawa Choral Society and the Ottawa Bach Choir, and in presentations of the choirs of Christ Church Cathedral.

Jean-Sébastien Vallée is an internationally recognized conductor, scholar, and pedagogue. He is Artistic Director of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir; and Associate Professor of Music, Director of Choral Studies, and Coordinator of the Ensembles and Conducting Area at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University. This is his final season as Artistic Director of the Ottawa Choral Society. Prior to his return to Canada, he was Director of Choral Studies at California State University, Los Angeles, and was on the choral faculty of the University of Redlands.

In addition to his interest in choral, operatic, and orchestral music, Dr. Vallée is an advocate for contemporary music; he regularly premieres and commissions works by young composers. As a scholar, he has been invited to present his research at national and international conferences in North America, Europe and Asia.

Maestro Vallée’s work is broadcast internationally and can be heard on his albums Lux (ATMA, 2017), Requiem (ATMA, 2018 – requiems by Fauré and Duruflé), and Distance (ATMA, 2021).

Upcoming engagements include concerts at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, a tour with the National Youth Choir of Canada, concerts with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, and workshops as part of the World Expo on Choral Music in Lisbon, Portugal.

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