In our first in-person meeting of the season, we welcome a roundtable of Wagnerian singers who are in Toronto appearing in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Fidelio.

Tenor Clay Hilley sang Tristan at Bayreuth this Summer. He will be in Toronto as Fidelio in his debut with the Canadian Opera Company. Recently, Mr. Hilley sprang onto major European stages singing principal Wagner roles.

Mr. Hilley has been a guest of the Toronto Society several times now and has always been delightfully candid and insightful.

Bass Dimitry Ivashchenko is in the City this Fall singing Rocco in Fidelio at the COC.

Previously he has performed in Toronto as Hunding and Oroveso in Norma. He has sung Wagner bass roles roles such as Gurnemanz, Hunding, Daland, Pogner and Fafner. Mephistopheles, Sarastro, Commendatore, and Sparafucile also are part of his repertoire which, along with many other bass roles, he has performed widely in Europe.

Soprano Miina-Liisa Värelä is making her role debut as Leonore this Fall in the COC’s new production of Fidelio. Later this season, she joins another new production of Die Frau ohne Schatten in Dresden then returns to the Glyndebourne Festival Opera for Tristan und Isolde.

She has appeared in other Wagner productions such as Die Fliegende Hollander, Die Walkure and Lohengrin, as well as Strauss’ Electra. Her repertoire also includes Turandot, Tosca and Elektra. Ms Värelä is also a regular concert performer, and has sung in Seattle, Lausanne, and with several Scandinavian orchestras and on Finnish Radio. She is considered to be a major rising star in the dramatic soprano fach.

Our meeting takes place at the Arts and Letters Club, 14 Elm Street, in downtown Toronto. The meeting will start at 7:30 p.m. E.D.T.

Members have received an e-mail for links to join in – either in-person or via Zoom.

For non-member who wish to attend in-person, please use the following link:

For non-member who wish to attend via Zoom please use the following link: