Jonelle Sills, Soprano

Canadian Soprano Jonelle Sills (pr. Ya-Nell) is one of the most exciting young sopranos of her generation. A JUNO Award nominee with The Canadian Art Song Project for Known to Dreamers: Black Voices in Canadian Art Song for Classical Album of the Year, she has also been named one of CBC Music’s 30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30.

Jonelle has made acclaimed debuts with leading companies, including the Canadian Opera Company as Mimi in La bohème, a performance that was lauded as being a “beautifully sensitive Mimi with careful control and colour” (The Globe and Mail). Other notable roles include Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus) and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) with Edmonton Opera, Micaëla (Carmen) and Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) with Vancouver Opera, and Anna Glawari (The Merry Widow) with Toronto Operetta Theatre. She has also appeared in recital with the Viano Quartet at the Prince Edward County Chamber Festival. Her company debut with Toronto’s Against The Grain Theatre in Vivier’s Kopernikus earned her a 2019 Dora Award as a member of the ensemble.

Timothy Cheung, Piano

Born in Hong Kong, Timothy Cheung is a pianist and vocal coach based in Toronto. A graduate of multiple prestigious young artist programs—the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, the Merola Opera Program, and Music Academy of the West—he has gone on to work extensively in Canada and the United States. At Palm Beach Opera, he served as the Principal Coach and the Head Coach of the Benenson Young Artist Program. At Teatro Nuovo in New York, formerly Bel Canto at Caramoor, he works in a hybrid role of music staff and administrator. He has been the music director for many outreach programs at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. He has also worked as a music staff member for Houston Grand Opera. Mr. Cheung holds a Master of Music in Collaborative Piano and a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Western Ontario.