Back to Staff Bios
Ellen Wieser
Music Faculty-
Canadian Soprano Ellen Wieser has been described by the Winnipeg Free Press as “... a breath of fresh air, with her delicate voice and peaceful countenance.” Her Miss Wordsworth in Albert Herring, was lauded by the Cincinnati Enquirer as “tremendous,” and Paula Citron of the Globe and Mail wrote that “she is someone to watch” in response to her Glimmerglass Opera debut as Diana in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld. Equally comfortable on recital, concert and operatic stages, Ms. Wieser has appeared as a soloist with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and the CCM Philharmonia Orchestra. She has appeared in operatic roles with the Palm Beach Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Chautauqua Opera, the Merola Opera Program, Opera NUOVA, and the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. Her roles have included Adina, Despina, Papagena, Marzelline, Miss Wordsworth, Amy in Adamo’s Little Women, Annina, and Diana in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld. Ms. Wieser’s concert work has included Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, and The Prayers of Kierkegaard, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Danielpour’s Sonnets to Orpheus, and J.S. Bach’s Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen. Ms. Wieser’s performances have been broadcast on CBC Radio Two’s In performance and on Arts Encounters Manitoba.
Previous teaching positions have included summer voice staff at Belvoir Terrace in Lenox, Massachusetts, instructor at the University of Manitoba’s School of Music Preparatory Division, and Keyboardist, Music Director, and Choral Director at St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Ellen holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Manitoba, School of Music, and a Masters of Music degree and Artist Diploma from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. A strong advocate for contemporary song literature, her Artist Diploma was dedicated to the research and performance of Canadian song literature. During this time, she also developed working relationships with a number of promising musicians, including pianist Baris Buyukyildirim, with whom she collaborates regularly, and several gifted American composers, out of which one opera ("Nessie" by Danielle Post) and one song cycle ("Children's Songs" by Danny Clay) emerged.
Future performances include the role of Julia Hancock in a premiere performance of the second act of Meriwether by New York City composer Jim Lahti (for more information, please visit www.meriwetheropera.org,) solo French song recitals for the Middlebury-Monterey French Language Academies at Green Mountain College in Vermont, and Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Massachusetts, a second appearance with the Baton Rouge Symphony for their 2010 Holiday Pops Concert, and a featured solo recital for the Bel Canto Recital Series at New Jersey City University in the Spring of 2011.
