Erica Iris Huang

Mezzo-soprano Erica Iris Huang, BMus, Op Dip (WLU); Op Dip (Toronto), emerged into Toronto's music scene with credits to "a gorgeous big voice, seamless from top to bottom, dramatic, and highly expressive." (Howard Dyck)    She made her 2004 operatic debut as TITUBA in Ward's The Crucible and has performed the roles of MRS. HERRING (Albert Herring), DIDO (Dido and Aeneas), FIDALMA (Il Matrimonio Segreto), CONCEPCIÓN (L'heure espagnole), LISETTA (Il Mondo Della Luna), CARMEN (Carmen), THE OLD WOMAN (Candide), KOMPONIST (Ariadne auf Naxos), MISTRESS QUICKLY (Falstaff), and DORABELLA (Così fan tutte).  Praised for her stage presence of warmth and character, Erica has captivated audiences with her sensitivity and vocal timbres, which lend their hands in the new music repertory.  She was featured in Igor Correia's "Three Great Songs of Range" which won the 2008 Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian music, ³gave the best singing of the evening as the sympathetic Aunt Adelaïde² in Charles Wilson's Kamouraska with Opera In Concert in 2009 (Ken Winters of The Globe and Mail), and made her New Music Concerts debut in 2010 with the premiere of Paul Steenhuisen's Supplice and Demand, performed with an "intense beautiful opacity" (Robert Everett-Green of The Globe And Mail).   Winner of the 2011 Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition and the City of Brandon Prize (awarded to the best performance of the Canadian commissioned work by Michael Oesterle), Erica and pianist Emily Hamper fulfilled their 2011 E-Gré Tour with thirteen concerts across Canada, graciously funded by Canada Council for the Arts.   Erica has made numerous performances with the Aldeburgh Connection, from their Discovery Series, two years at the Bayfield Festival, and the Sunday Concert Series.  Come September 2012, she takes on the mezzo roles in Naomi's Road, written by Ramona Luengen with the Vancouver Opera School Touring Ensemble.