April 25, 2024 – 7:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (Toronto/New York Time Zone)

Guests: Adrianne Pieczonka and Jason Howard
On: Developing tomorrow’s opera singers

This meeting will be held in-person at the Arts and Letters Club, 14 Elm St. And it will also be available via Zoom (members will be sent a link for the Zoom option, non-members can see the information below.)

This evening will be an opportunity to meet and speak with two fine singers who have recently taken up full-time positions with the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

Both of our guests were accomplished international performers of opera including Wagnerian operas.

Their involvement in educating today’s talented young singers for a career as professional opera singers is sure to be fascinating as we go behind the scenes to find out how it all works.

Both our guests are well-known for being open and candid about their own careers and will surely be the same about their current endeavours. 

Adrianne Pieczonka

In 2019, Ms. Pieczonka was appointed the first Vocal Chair at the Glenn Gould School where she gives regular masterclasses and oversees the vocal department and their opera productions.

Her first professional stage debut was with the COC in 1988 as the female prisoner in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Since then, Adrianne has graced stages around the world. Early in her career she moved to Europe and was a member of the Vienna Volksoper later becoming a member of the Vienna State Opera where she sang Eva in Meistersinger, amongst many other roles. In the mid-1990’s a move to London brought roles at Glyndebourne and the Royal Opera.

Adrianne moved back to Toronto where she was awarded a Dora Award for her outstanding portrayal of Sieglinde in the 2004 production of Die Walküre. She debuted at the Met in 2004 where she also performed Sieglinde. Pieczonka made her Bayreuth Festival debut in 2006, singing Sieglinde and was hailed by Die Zeit as “The Sieglinde of our time.” She returned to Bayreuth to sing Senta in The Flying Dutchman in 2012.

Her career has included performing with the world’s leading opera companies and all the leading conductors.

Jason Howard

Born in Wales, Mr. Howard has been singing all his life. After training in London, in 1989 he made his debut as Don Giovanni at Scottish Opera. From there he went on to sing at leading houses throughout Europe and the Americas.

In France, he appeared as Wotan in Strasbourg in 2007 and he has also sung the leading role in Flying Dutchman including with the COC.

Mr. Howard has performed with major opera companies and conductors in Europe and the Americas.

In addition to his opera career, Jason has performed in musical theatre at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Lincoln Centre and Portland Opera.

A vocal instructor since the beginning of his career, Mr. Howard has taught and given Masterclasses for many opera companies and musical institutions. This interest continues with his present position as a faculty member at the Glenn Gould School. Mr. Howard continues to perform in projects that engage him.

This meeting will be in-person, but will also be made available via Zoom.

Members have been sent a link to join our Zoom meeting. Non-members are more than welcome and can join us online using the following form to register for a link: