Favourite Opera: LE NOZZE DI FIGARO

Pianist and vocal coach Liz Upchurch is one of the most sought after pianists in Canada and Europe.  She is also in her seventh season as Director of the Ensemble Studio at the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, where she has helped train young Canadian opera singers such as Michael Colvin, Kristina Szabo and Robert Gleadow.  As a vocal coach, she has worked in major opera houses including the Glyndebourne Festival, Opera North and English National Opera Contemporary Studio.

Born and educated in Britain, Upchurch is a graduate prize-winning soloist of the Royal Academy of Music.  She has performed and broadcast chamber music and song recitals extensively throughout Europe and North America.

Upchurch first started working in Canada at the Banff Centre for the Arts in the Twentieth Century Opera and Song Programme.  Her interest in modern music has led her to premiere many new major works of opera and chamber music in Canada and Great Britain.  Her recent endeavours include working on Harrison Birtwhistle’s LAST SUPPER at the Glyndebourne Festival, and casting and preparing a new recording of Harry Somers’s opera SERINETTE.