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The Canadian mezzo-soprano, Elizabeth Turnbull, had her undergraduate studies with Harold Wiens at the University of Alberta. She went on to study voice at the Nordwestdeutsche Musikakademie in Germany and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and opera at the University of Toronto. She has been a Vocal Fellow at both the Tanglewood and Ravinia Festivals, a North American finalist in the International Bernstein Song and Oratorio Competition and a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions.
Elizabeth Turnbull has been described as “totally convincing,” “a revelation,” and “ardent and expressive” by critics across Canada. She has many and varied credits including appearances with major orchestras and opera companies across North America and Europe. Her operatic and concert experience has ranged from traditional Baroque to contemporary modern pieces, and has included premieres of new operatic and song repertoire. Many of her Canadian operatic performances have been heard across the country on CBC’s ‘Saturday Afternoon at the Opera’. She appeared in 2009 in Eugene Onegin with Opera Lyra Ottawa, and in 2010, she performed as Emilia in Otello with the Dallas Opera, the Canadian premiere of Little Women with Calgary Opera, J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) with the Toronto Bach Consort, W.A. Mozart's Requiem with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and in the Verdi's Requiem with Edmonton’s Richard Eaton Singers, conducted by her University of Alberta colleague Leonard Ratzlaff. Hailed by critics as ‘a revelation’, her credits include also Lyubija in the European and Canadian tours of Svadba, and Zita in Gianni Schicchi (Calgary Opera). She has also been heard in Gustav Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (Toronto), George Frideric Handel's Messiah (National Arts Centre), and L.v. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (Winnipeg). Most recently, she was Ruth in Calgary Opera’s Pirates of Penzance , and Anna in Maria Stuarda for Edmonton Opera. She has recorded for Toronto Bach Consort and the Ukrainian Art Song Project.
In addition to being Director of Opera Workshop, Elizabeth Turnbull has been an instructor of voice at the Department of Music at the University of Alberta since the fall of 009. She is in demand as a vocal pedagogue at summer vocal programs, and has been a vocal clinician at numerous universities and schools for both solo and ensemble singing, as well as an adjudicator at music festivals across the country.
When not singing and teaching, Elizabeth Turnbull is an avid amateur equestrian, and enjoys pursuing the sport of dressage. |
