Hailing from rural Nova Scotia, tenor Marcel d’Entremont and pianist Dakota Scott-Digout together recently won the Wirth Vocal Competition, considered the top music prize of academic institutions across Canada (2018), and are described as having “virtuoso technique and requisite poise” (Joesph So, Ludwig van Toronto). They are joined by in-demand Canadian soprano Tracy Cantin, praised for her “agility, power and dazzling coloratura” Chicago Sun-Times), not to mention her ” interpretive intelligence and stage presence to boot” (Chicago  Tribune).  

 

Tracy Cantin

Praised for her “full, gleaming sound” that is “powerful, articulate, and modulated at will” (Chicago Tribune), soprano Tracy Cantin has been enjoying an exciting career performing on some of the biggest stages in North America, including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Santa Fe Opera. Jumping to the forefront of the Canadian music scene, Ms Cantin recently made a surprise mainstage debut at the Canadian Opera Company as the title character in Donizetti’s demanding Anna Bolena, replacing super-star soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, which garnered her rave reviews. She then went on to make her UK debut with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra as the soprano soloist in Bernstein’s Songfest, a program which she is scheduled to repeat with the Seattle Symphony later this season. 

Past performances include Micaëla from Bizet’s Carmen (Calgary Opera), Donna Elvira from Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Pacific Opera Victoria), Chrysothemis from Strauss’ Elektra (Edmonton Opera, Canadian Opera Company), the title role from Donizetti’s Anna Bolena (Lyric Opera of Chicago, Canadian Opera Company), and Brünnhilde’s epic Immolation Scene from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung (Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony of Costa Rica). An avid concert performer, Cantin has been heard as the soprano soloist in Verdi’s Requiem, Bernstein’s Songfest, Handel’s Messiah, Schubert’s Mass in Ab, and Mozart’s Requiem. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 introduced her to Australian audiences, singing alongside Bryn Terfel with Sir Andrew Davis conducting the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Cantin has recently made critically acclaimed debuts with the Ravinia Festival, Grant Park Festival, Oregon Symphony, Illinois Philharmonic, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. 

The Prince Edward Island native is a graduate of the world-renowned Ryan Opera Center of Lyric Opera of Chicago, an alumna of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program as well as the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, and has been the grateful recipient of prestigious awards from the Luminarts Foundation of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera National Council, the Sullivan Foundation, the Sylva Gelber Foundation, the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation and the Licia-Albanese Puccini Foundation. She was the first prize winner in Canada’s Lois Marshall Memorial Competition and holds degrees from McGill University, the University of Western Ontario, and the University of Alberta.

 

Marcel d’Entremont

“I should cite tenor Marcel d’Entremont as a first among equals for his commanding voice and near perfect  diction.” 

Paula Citron, November 3rd, 2022 –https://www.ludwig-van.com/toronto/2022/11/03/scrutiny-toronto-mendelssohn-choir-justice-namesakes-final oratorio/ 

 

“Le ténor Marcel d’Entremont (Tamino) est un vrai talent, de jeu et de chant.” 

“Tenor Marcel d’Entremont (Tamino) is a true talent, both vocally and on stage.” 

Michel Joanny-Furtin, February 2nd, 2019, Ludwig van Montreal – https://www.ludwig-van.com/montreal/2019/02/02/critique-5/ 

 

“As Edgardo, tenor Marcel d’Entremont gave the most polished and stylistic performance of the evening.” Matthew Timmermans, February 1st, 2018, Opera Canada – https://operacanada.ca/review-lucia-di-lammermoor-opera-mcgill/ 

Tenor Marcel d’Entremont is becoming recognized across Canada for both his powerful voice and sincere stage  presence. A former first prize winner of the Atlantic Young Artist Competition, Marcel also placed first in the  vocal division of the National Music Festival of Canada where he also claimed the Grand Award for overall best  performer. In November of 2018, he was named the winner of the Wirth Vocal Prize at McGill University, which  resulted in solo recitals at La Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur in Montréal and the Richard Bradshaw Theatre  of the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto. 

Marcel has a keen interest in many styles of singing and was a featured soloist for six years with the Royal Nova  Scotia International Tattoo, performing alongside musicians from around the world for audiences in the tens of  thousands. His East Coast roots inspired his collaboration with 8 composers from Atlantic Canada for Atlantic  Arias, a projected fund by the Canada Council for the Arts to combine Maritime folk and popular music with  classical art song. Marcel was personally invited to perform at the inauguration ceremony of The Honourable  Arthur J. LeBlanc, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. He is a current Equilibrium Young Artist, which involves  performances and masterclasses with soprano Barbara Hannigan, and has been a resident artist at the Lunenburg  Academy of Music Performance, the National Arts Center of Canada’s Young Artist Program, the Art of Song  Institute with the Toronto Summer Music, and was a Yulanda M. Farris Young Artist with the Vancouver Opera. 

Marcel’s opera role performances include Rodolfo in La bohème with Opera Saskatoon, two tours with Jeunesses  Musicales du Canada as the title role in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette as well as Alfredo in La Traviata, Edgardo in  Lucia di Lammermoor and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with Opera McGill, and Il Podesta in La Finta Giardiniera 

and Luiz in The Gondoliers with Opera Nova Scotia. He also performed with Tapestry Opera in their 2022  production Tapestry Briefs: Les Short Qui Chantent, a series of mini opera scenes created by Canadian composers  and librettists. In concert, he has been the tenor soloist in Elijah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and  Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and performed Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings with the PEI  Symphony Orchestra. He also appeared as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Orchestre classique de  Montréal. In 2016 Marcel made his international opera debut as Don Ottavio with Opéra de Rouen in Rouen,  France and at the Château de Versailles as a laureate of the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques. Marcel also performed  the role of Rodolfo over 20 times in a cross-Canada tour of La bohème with Against the Grain Theatre. This  production was the first live broadcast of a professional opera in Canada and was nominated for a Canadian  Screen Award in the category of Best Performing Arts Program. Most recently, Marcel’s curated recital program A  World Transformed which tells the tragic story of Matthew Shepard through vocal and piano music as well as  spoken word, was presented by Echo Chamber Toronto, in a fully staged and choreographed production. In 2020,  Marcel was named one of the Top 30 Under 30 classical musicians in Canada by CBC Music.

 

Dakota Scott-Digout

“Scott-Digout was the perfect collaborative pianist, showing his dazzling technique but never taking the spotlight from the singer.” 

Joseph So, December 1st, 2019, Ludwig van Toronto – https://www.ludwig-van.com/toronto/2019/12/01/scrutiny-prize-song-marcel-dentremont-wirth-vocal prize-winners-recital/ 

 

Dakota Scott-Digout is quickly establishing himself as one of Canada’s brightest up-and-coming pianists. Heard in recitals across Canada as both a collaborator and a soloist, he has especially gained praise for his performances of chamber music and art song. Recently, he was heard in a full-length recital on CBC Music during Saturday Afternoon at the Opera alongside Canadian tenor and frequent collaborator Marcel d’Entremont. Dakota is an in-demand and passionate educator in Toronto, where he maintains a full studio of piano students in addition to serving on the artistic team of the Toronto Children’s Chorus. He is a highly sought as a vocal coach and is the pianist for undergraduate vocal classes at the University of Toronto. 

Dakota holds degrees in piano performance from Université de Montréal and Mount Allison University. Currently, he is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Toronto where he was named the 2020 winner of the Gwendolyn Koldofsky Prize in Accompanying, awarded to the top collaborative pianist. He has further refined his skills at the Orford Music Academy and the Barachois Summer Music Festival, and he was an Art of Song Fellow as part of the Toronto Summer Music Festival in the summer of 2021. His principal teachers have included Stephen Runge, Jimmy Brière, and Steven Philcox. Particularly passionate about French vocal repertoire, Dakota’s research interests are centred around early twentieth century performance practice and the mélodies of Gabriel Fauré.

 

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