THE CELLAR SINGERS
Featured guests
featured guests
Soloists
Amy Dodington, Soprano
With a voice "like crystal clear water" that possesses exceptional sincerity and warmth, Amy Dodington (Hon. B.Sc; B.Mus) is a Toronto-based freelance soloist, recitalist, private music teacher and member of the Elmer Iseler Singers. Her moving performances in Bach, Handel and v Oratories and her eclectic solo recitals have earned her a loyal, enthusiastic following throughout Ontario and beyond. Amy's operatic appearances include Cavalli, Gilbert and Sullivan and Offenbach. She has received awards from the Canadian Music Competition and the Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects, shared a stage with Placido Domingo and performed under Maestro Helmuth Rilling in the home church of J.S. Bach in Leipzig, Germany. She has appeared with Toronto's Esprit Orchestra, Parry Sound's Whispering River Orchestra and sung with Soundstreams Choir 21. In addition to her love for traditional concert repertoire, Amy has a passion for parlour songs from the early 20th Century which she brings to life in her recitals and on her CD, "Roses of Yore". Having grown up in Muskoka, Amy is always pleased to sing with The Cellar Singers, the choir that first exposed her to the joys of choral music.
Graham Robinson, Baritone
Graham Robinson is a bass-baritone hailing from Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Receiving his Bachelors of Music in Voice at the University of Victoria, Graham was a much sought after soloist during his time in B.C.
Now based in Toronto, he has been featured with the Elmer Iseler Singers, Tafelmusik, La Chapelle de Québec, the Elora Festival Singers, and the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, as well as many others.
Graham is a devoted supporter and patron of aesthetics who strongly believes that creativity will take us anywhere we want to go. “Putting one’s soul into any discipline is art. It is in those times one learns to fly,” says Graham. When not making music Graham further extends his passion for the arts community through film and videography.
featured guests
Jennifer Taverner, Soprano
Soprano Jennifer Taverner has been described as "resplendent and captivating" (Ottawa Life) and is in high demand as a soloist with orchestras and opera companies across Canada. In the 2017/18 season, she debuts with Pacific Opera Victoria as Armida in Handel's Rinaldo, and with Tapestra Opera as Lily in the premiere of Bandits in the Valley. Her 2016/17 season began with an engagement at the Canadian Opera Company covering the role of Ginerva in Handel's Ariodante. Other recent engagements include Vivier's Kapernikus with Against the Grain at the Banff Centre, Nadina in The Chocolate Soldier (Toronto Operetta Theatre), Mozart's Requiem (Bach Elgar Choir), Honegger's King David (Menno Singers) and Messiah Thirteen Strings Orchestra).
Jennifer's 2015/16 season highlights included performing as Adele in Die Fledermaus, Kathie in The Student Prince, Rose in Street Scene and Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte. In 2016, she was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in the finals of the New York Oratorio Society Competition and was awarded the Lyndon Woodside Encouragement Award.
Ms. Taverner attended the prestigious Tanglewood Music Center and her performances there included George Kurtag's Scenes From a Novel, Iphigenie en Tauride with mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Stravinsky's Les Noces, led by Maestro Charles Dutoit. She is a grant recipient from the Canada Council for the Arts and has been named a laureate of Les Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques. She earned her Bachelor of Music at Wilfred Laurier University and completed the Artist Diploma program at the Royal Conservatory's Glenn Gould School.
Jennifer Enns Modolo, Alto
Jennifer Enns Modolo is a mezzo-soprano who is making a name for herself in Canada and abroad. In 2005 she made her debut in England in the Snape Proms a s part of the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme and toured Spain and France with Consort Caritatis.
She has sung with numerous groups in Ontario, including the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Kitchener-Waterloo Philharmonic Choir, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Elora Festival Singers, Toronto Classical Singers and at the Grand River Baroque Festival. Her repertoire ranges from Renaissance to modern music, including Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven and Respighi. In addition, she has premiered and performed works of several Canadian composers including Bramwell Tovey, Imani Raminsch and Michael Purves-Smith.
On the Opera stage she has sung the title role in Rossini's La Cenerento;a with the Orford Arts Centre and a country maiden in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Ontario. Other roles include the Third Lady in Mozart's The Magic Flute and Jennie hildebrand in Weill's Street Scene. Her discography includes Handel's Rinaldo for Naxos, on which she sings the role of Eustazio.
Charles Davidson, Tenor
Hailed for "refined tone, luxurious timbre and superb technique" (Opera Going Toronto),
Charles Davidson trained foremost at the Guildford School of Acting (UK) many moons ago. A former member of Tafelmusik chamber Choir (2 Juno nominations) and Elora Festival Singers, Charles appears as a soloist with various ensembles around the GTA. Engagements this season include concerts with Les Violons du Roy/La Chapelle du Quebec and a special "Show Tunes for 200" celebration at Metropolitan United Church, Toronto on May 26. Favourite roles include Tony in West Side Story, Frank Jr. in Catch Me if You Can and the title chracters in Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical. For updates, find his FB fan page ('Charles Davidson, Tenor'). It's always a treat to be back in Orillia with The Cellar Singers, Mitchell and the amazing Mariposa Market!
Andrew Tees, Bass
Andrew Tees has sung to great acclaim across Canada, the U.S. and Europe. On the operatic stage, he has performed for companies such as the Canadian Opera Company, Pacific Opera Victoria, Cleveland Opera, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Edmonton Opera, Manitoba Opera, Vancouver Opera, Opera Ontario and Opera York, singing such roles as Germont inTraviata, Escamillo in Carmen, Figaro in bothe the Le Nazze di Figaro and The Barber of Seville, Marcello in La Boheme, Gianni Schicchi and Tarquinius in Rape of Lucretia, Don Giovanni and Scarpia in Tosca. Passionate about oratorio, Andrew has had the pleasure of singing with many choirs and orchestras across the country. He has received praise for his interpretation on Verdi's Requiem. Orff's CarminaBurana, Handel's Messiah, Saul and Solomon, Brahms' Requiem, Mendelssohn's St. Paul, Durufle's Requiem, Faure's Requiem. He has sung several works of Haydn: The Creation, The Seasons, Mass in a Time of War and The Lord Nelson Mass. Andrew has performed the haunting Five Mystical Songs as well as the Fantasia on Christmas Carols, both by Vaughn Williams. He has performed as soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Mass in C. He has also sung the Jen Gilles' Requiem and Howard Goodal's Eternal Light Requiem. A natural at pops repertoire, Andrew has sung with the Toronto Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra and Hamilton Philhar monic, to name but a few.
