Mia Lennox-Williams, Mezzo-Soprano

Pacific Opera Victoria
Baba the Turk in The Rake's Progress
November, 2009

In 2006 Mia Lennox-Williams debuted for Pacific Opera Victoria as Bianca in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia conducted by Timothy Vernon. She returned in October 2007 to sing the trouser role of Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo.

Mezzo-soprano Mia Lennox-Williams has established herself as an exciting young artist to watch with “…powerfully impressive pipes…flashy flamboyance and beguiling tone indicating huge potential for the future.” Her career has already included performances in Canada, Europe and the United States.

Her 2007-2008 season included performances of Mahler's Symphony No. VIII with Brott Summer Music in Hamilton, Messiah in Kingston, Peterborough and Hamilton, the role of Idamante in Idomeneo for Pacific Opera Victoria, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel with Opera Ontario and Gwendolen in the premiere of Davies and Benson's Earnest, The Importance of Being for Toronto Operetta Theatre.

In the spring of 2007, Ms. Lennox-Williams was awarded a Canada Council grant that facilitated a three month role study project in London, England. Building on her natural affinity for the Strauss trouser roles, she mentored the roles of Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier and der Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos with Yvonne Minton and Martin Isepp.

Engagements for 2006-2007 included performances at the Toronto International Bach Festival with Helmuth Rilling, Mahler's 8th Symphony in Hamilton, the role of Tisbe in La Cenerentola for Calgary Opera and Bach's Magnificat with Orchestra London.

Mia Lennox-Williams has established herself as a young artist of note in Canada, Europe and the United States. As a member of l'Atelier Lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal, she sang the role of Dryad and covered the role of der Komponist in l'Opéra de Montréal's production of Ariadne auf Naxos. She toured the Maritimes and Québec as die Hexe in Hänsel und Gretel for Atelier Lyrique and also appeared as the Sorceress in the Montréal production of Dido and Aeneas.

The bilingual mezzo was a semi-finalist in the Concours Musical de Montréal and appeared in recital at La Chapelle Historique du Bon-Pasteur in Montréal as a winner of the Debut Young Artists Competition. In Halifax, she was Dame Quickly in Falstaff under the baton of Raffi Armenian for the Nova Scotia Opera Association and appeared as guest soloist for the Nova Scotia Opera Valentine's Gala.

Ms. Lennox-Williams was a winner of the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques competition in Toronto and subsequently was chosen to participate in the Centre National d'Insertion Professionelle d'Artistes Lyriques (CNIPAL) as one of 13 singers selected internationally. While in Europe, she sang the role of die Mutter in Hänsel und Gretel at the Bayreuth Staatsoper with the Deutsch-Französischen Forum Junger Kunst. She was also featured at CNIPAL'S “Fete de la Musique” at l'Opéra de Marseilles singing Maddelena, and Dame Quickly in a staged concert of opera excerpts. With L'Orchestre d'Aix en Provence she appeared as alto soloist in Mozart's Krönungsmesse. In the U.S., she attended the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts as an Art Song Fellow and was the Soprano II soloist in Bach's Magnificat under the baton of Maestro Seiji Ozawa.

Engagements have included de Falla's El Amor Brujo and Carmen excerpts with the Oakville Symphony, concerts at the Glenn Gould Studio with the Talisker Players and a premiere of Alexander Rapoport's Northscapes, a work written for mezzo-soprano and string quartet. She also appeared with l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal in a concert series designed for young audiences singing excerpts from Die Zauberflöte and Hänsel und Gretel.

A native of Newmarket, Ontario, now residing in Hamilton, she received her Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Toronto and won the Canadian Women's Art Association Luella McCleary Award at her graduation, an award that is given annually to an outstanding female graduate. She holds a Diploma in Operatic Performance from the University of Toronto's Opera Division, where she performed such roles as Mrs. Peachum in Weill's Threepenny Opera, Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus, Camilla in Il Giovedi Grasso and in excerpts from Der Rosenkavalier, Le Nozze di Figaro, La Cenerentola, and Così fan tutte.

October, 2009