University of Toronto‘s music program is adding internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and composer Ana Sokolović to their March 2021 events line-up.

Serving on a three-day program as the Stratton Visitor for UofT’s Faculty of Music, DiDonato will be concentrating on contemporary songs and opera arias with students from the graduate and undergraduate Historical Performance, Opera and Voice programs.

As a multi-Grammy award winner and 2018 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera, DiDonato has been an international powerhouse in operas by Handel and Mozart, and through her own discography. Her most recent notable roles include Agrippina at both  Metropolitan Opera and Royal Opera House, and Didon in Les Troyens at Vienna State Opera.

DiDonato will be coaching UofT students on March 8 and 9 in a Zoom broadcasted masterclass that includes Q&As and student performances of arias such as “Werther! Qui m’aurait dit la place” from Werther.

Sokolović will give a lecture called ‘Folklore Imaginaire’ on March 16. Named a 2020-21 Roger D. Moore Distinguished Visitor in Composition, her lecture is available to the public as part of the Composer’s Forum at UofT.

Sokolović is a back to back JUNO award winning composer for Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes in 2019 and Evta in 2020. Her operas have been performed around the world at the Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera and more. The Serbian composer currently resides in Québec where, for the next three seasons, she will be the composer-in-residence with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.

Sokolović also teaches composition at Université de Montréal.

Students in the UofT Music programs will be provided a Zoom link closer to the date of the DiDonato masterclass, while the Sokolović link is available online.

More information for the DiDonato and Sokolović masterclasses can be found here music.utoronto.ca.

By Alya Stationwala for operacanada.ca.

Photo: Joyce DiDonato, © Simon Pauly; Ana Sokolović, © Ana Sokolović.