Heather Jewson, Mezzo Soprano

Pacific Opera Victoria
Flora in La traviata
October, 2009

Canadian mezzo-soprano Heather Jewson is participating in Pacific Opera Victoria's Fall 2009 Resident Artist Program and will be making her POV mainstage debut in as Flora in La traviata.

Heather Jewson is making definitive performances throughout North America in her young career. Since graduating with a Masters in Music from the University of Toronto's Opera Division in 2007, Heather has made her Carnegie Hall Debut in the prestigious Lyndon Woodside Solo Competition and her Aspen Summer Music Festival debut as Tisbe in La Cenerentola, a role in which she was praised for creating a truly funny character. In summer 2009 Ms. Jewson returned to the Aspen Summer Music Festival to sing the title role in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia with acclaimed conductor Jane Glover.

In Fall 2009 she debuts with the Jeunesses Musicales du Canada in the role of Nicklausse (The Tales of Hoffmann). Her upcoming concert performances include Bach's Matthäuspassion, and Handel's Messiah.

Ms. Jewson's recent opera credits include; Jessica in John Estacio's opera Frobisher for its premiere at the Banff Centre Centre for the Performing Arts; Lucretia, in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia, Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus (J. Strauss), Frau Reich in Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor (Otto Nicolai), and Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro (W.A, Mozart), all with the University of Toronto's Opera Division. She has also made appearances in the roles of Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier with the Sheffield Symphony Orchestra (UK), and the Sorceress in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with Preston Opera.

On the concert stage, Heather's Oratorio credits include Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Stratford Concert Choir, Handel's Messiah with the Pax Christi Choral and The Mississauga Choral society; Bach's Cantata 137 and Cantata 110 at the Toronto International Bach Festival under the baton of Maestro Helmuth Rilling, and Bruckner's Te Deum with the University of Toronto Symphony. She has also appeared as a recitalist with the Aldeburgh Connection and The Stratford Chamber Music Society.

In addition to a Masters of Music from the University of Toronto, Heather also holds a Postgraduate Diploma from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England, where she was a Major Scholar of the prestigious Peter Moores Foundation.

September, 2009