Rhian Merritt is a young soprano from Upper Tantallon, Nova Scotia. Rhian has studied voice at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts under the direction of Paula Phillips and now has continued her education at Acadia University (Wolfville, Nova Scotia). At Acadia, Rhian has just completed her third year in a Bachelor of Music where she is focusing in Vocal Performance with teachers Dr. Christianne Rushton and Dr. Jennifer Farrell.
Rhian has competed many times as a soloist in competitions such as the Nova Scotia Registered Music Teachers’ Association’s Scholarship Competition where she placed first in the Senior Class (2018). She has also competed in the Kiwanis Music Festival where she competed provincially in 2017 and will again in 2019. As well as solo singing, Rhian has been a member of several different Canadian choirs. In 2016, 2017, and 2018 Rhian represented Nova Scotia in the National Youth Choir of Canada. She also participated in the Nova Scotia Youth Choir and Xara Choral Theatre. In 2017 and 2018, Rhian was a performer in Xara Choral Theatre’s touring show ‘Fatty Legs’ that tells the true story of Olemaun Pokiak / Margaret Pokiak Fenton’s experiences before, during, and after attending residential school as a young Indigenous girl.
This summer Rhian is delighted to be performing in the Halifax Summer Opera Festival in both Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffman. She is excited to learn from her peers and mentors and grow from this program in new and maybe unexpected ways! After completed her undergraduate degree, Rhian hopes to continue her studies in a Master’s degree and use her voice as a tool for healing, entertainment, reconciliation, unity, and empowerment.
