Biography - Alicia Woynarski, Mezzo-Soprano

Alicia Woynarski is a singer with a beautiful warm mezzo-soprano voice and compelling stage presence. “Pretty as a flower, this budding star sings with the power and confidence of a veteran” (Oceanside Star). Her expressive innate musicality has gained recognition by vocal pedagogues, fellow artists and receptive audiences alike. “[Director Tatiana] Vasilieva is glowing in her praise of this young mezzo-soprano and one can see why” (Parksville Qualicum Beach News).

Originally from Regina, Alicia completed a Bachelor of Music at University of Western Ontario and graduated from University of British Columbia with a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance. Operatic roles include Dorabella in Così Fan Tutte (AEDO, Accademia Europea Dell’Opera); Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro (Saskatoon Opera); the title role in Carmen (Vancouver Island Opera); Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and the Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte (European Academy of Music, Czech Republic); Tessa in The Gondoliers (Westben Theatre); Florence in Albert Herring (UWO); and Principessa in Suor Angelica (Opera NUOVA).

Other concert performances include guest artist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Regina Symphony Orchestra and Mercury Opera, Edmonton. [ More Info ]

Under the direction of Bruce Pullan with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Alicia has performed Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Handel’s Messiah. She has also been a guest soloist with the Regina Symphony for Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Charpentier’s Te Deum and Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man. Other concert repertoire includes Bach’s St. John’s Passion and Cantata, BWV 182; Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb; as well as Vivaldi’s Gloria. In a recent concert engagement, she performed Mozart’s Requiem and René Clausen’s A New Creation with the Swift Current Oratorio Choir and Regina Symphony (April 2011). Alicia is currently an artist engaged in a project with Mercury Opera Edmonton to make opera more accessible.

In addition to opera, Alicia enjoys the challenge and unique experience of working with contemporary composers. [ More Info ]

She has worked with award winning composer Jeff Smallman, currently the composer-in-residence for the Woodstock Fanshawe Singers. Smallman wrote a song cycle of Nocturnes for Alicia, set to the poetry of American poet Sara Teasdale. “Indescribable beauty arises when a performer and composer work together in collaborative artistry and interpretation,” Alicia explains. She premiered Smallman’s Nocturnes in London, Ontario, and later presented them to Vancouver audiences at UBC and at the Silk Purse Concert Series of Canadian music. At UBC, Alicia was asked to premiere a cycle of Three Ghost Songs for mezzo voice and harp by composer Matthew MacTavish. Her final year of her Master’s degree included a project with Canadian pianist Nikolai Maloff. She was invited to take part in his presentation of his doctoral thesis on “An Introduction to the Life and Works of Peruvian composer Enrique Iturriaga” at the University of British Columbia. Alicia graciously accepted the challenge and premiered Iturriaga’s Song Cycle of four Spanish songs set to poems of Javier Heraud.

Alicia is a recent recipient of a Saskatchewan Arts Board grant (2012 and 2010), a winner of the Vancouver Women’s Musical Society Competition and a winner of the Metropolitan Opera Western Canada District Auditions. [ More Info ]

Some other awards include the Mildred Johnson music scholarship for academic excellence at UBC, a Regina Musical Club Scholarship and the Regina Lions Scholarship. As a recipient of a Saskatchewan Arts Board grant, Alicia traveled to Houston, Texas, March 2011, to study with world renowned Mezzo-Soprano, Susanne Mentzer. This grant is awarded to artists who have attained critical recognition for their work as an emerging professional. In 2012, the Saskatchewan Arts Board provided funding for the program of AEDO which allowed Alicia to sing the role of Dorabella in Italy.

In May 2011, Alicia toured to schools across Saskatchewan with a new production, Mozart’s Odyssey—a compilation of Mozart opera excerpts adapted by Ann Hodges—through Saskatoon Opera’s school tour program. September 2012 consisted of a school tour through the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils of Dean Burry’s Isis and the Seven Scorpions with Saskatchewan’s newest opera company, A Little Opera on the Prairie.

Upcoming performances include a school tour of The Magic Flute with Saskatoon Opera. Alicia also looks forward to singing the role of Mercedes in Saskatoon Opera’s main stage production of Carmen. She will be returning to Portland this summer to sing the role of Hansel with Portland Summer Opera Workshop. Alicia is pleased to be part of the 40th Anniversary performance of the Swift Current Oratorio Choir.

@AliciaMezzo