Group: Les contes d'Hoffmann

Andrea Johnston is excited to return to the Halifax Summer Opera Festival. On her last visit, she displayed her evil side as “Mrs. McLean” in Susannah.  Andrea is a native of Moncton N.B.  She received a Bachelor of Music majoring in Voice from Mount Allison University. After taking some time away from the stage to raise a family, Andrea returned to performing a few years ago. Recent roles include “Hebe” in H.M.S Parliament (Tryptych Opera) and Choir Member in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Collective Theatrics).  Recent choral work has included singing with the Indian River Festival Chorus and the Fundy Sound Choir.

Mezzo soprano Megan Hayward graduated with honours in performance from the University of Windsor. She began lessons many years ago with Doreen Uren-Simmons back in her hometown of Orillia, Ontario and enjoyed performing in local musicals from the age of 15. This is her 4^th time singing with HSOF having played Mercedes in Carmen, La Notte and Didone in L’Egisto, and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Now a Haligonian she is excited for another summer performing with HSOF and looks forward to many more.

Canadian soprano, Olivia Spahn-Vieira is thrilled to be making her operatic debut as Giulietta,
in the Halifax Summer Opera Festival’s production of Les Contes D’Hof mann.

With a strong musical theatre background, Olivia started performing at age 10, and, since then,
has gone on to sing in more than twenty productions; most recently, as a featured soloist in Wavestage
Theatre Company’s June 2019 production of Godspell.

Olivia currently studies at the University of Toronto, under Peter Barnes, and will be
beginning the third year of her undergraduate degree in September. Prior to her University studies, she
trained at the Royal Conservatory of Music, in Toronto, under Insook Chung.

She attended high school at Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts. Her years in the highly
intensive Musical Theatre program brought her invaluable experience, performing on Breakfast
Television, CBC, and Show Choir Canada, as well as many events across Toronto, with the Wexford
Gleeks. Olivia frequently stepped into the role of the “swing” at Wexford, learning music, text, and
staging quickly and accurately, and ready to take on any role at a moment’s notice.

Olivia is very proud of the progress she has made, and continues to make, as a growing young
singer, and is extremely grateful for the support of her family, friends, and mentors.

She aspires to do crossover work throughout her career, and, every time she sings, to make a
statement that her audience can identify and connect with.

Coloratura soprano Loren Graziano is a student of Nathalie Paulin at the University of Toronto,
where she is currently pursuing her Master of Music in Voice Performance, and, in 2018, graduated
with a Bachelor of Music. Loren has been featured on stage and in recital across Toronto, including
Opera Atelier’s 2019 production of Mozart’s Idomeneo (Chorus), the University of Toronto Opera’s
production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Chorus), Gershwin’s Of Thee I Sing (Chorus), and as a soloist
in the University of Toronto Vocalis series. This May, she performed her solo recital, Birds of the Blue
and Creatures of the Dust, in Walter Hall at U of T, which featured programmed works by Louis
Beydts, Camille Saint-Saëns, Hugo Wolf, and more. She has also been involved in choral and
ensemble work, including U of T’s early music ensemble Schola Cantorum lead by Daniel Taylor, the
MacMillian Singers conducted by Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt, and the Opera Undergrad Ensemble. Loren
has had the pleasure of being apart of several prestigious summer programs, such as St. Andrews by
the Sea, the Cornish-American Song Institute, Opera NUOVA, Oberlin in Italy, COSI: Centre for Opera
Studies in Italy Apprentice Program, and the Orford Music Summer Academy. This summer, Loren
will be performing at the Halifax Summer Opera Festival as Olympia in Offenbach’s Les Contes
d’Hoffmann.