Canadian soprano Allison Cecilia Arends is a versatile singer whose “voice is stunningly beautiful and [is used] with intelligence and great sensitivity” (Hnatyshyn Foundation). Active as an interpreter of opera, new music, and concert repertoire, she is noted for having “charmed listeners with her lyrical upper tones” and for her “empathetic acting” (Opera Canada).

Allison looks forward to a busy 2023/2024 Season singing Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with Opera York, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Opera By Request, and Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with the Toronto Concert Orchestra.  In concert, she will present recitals in Toronto and for the Neapolitan Connection and will join the Toronto Concert Choir and Orchestra as guest soloist for their Christmas concert. An active examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music, this will take her to various locations across the country She will adjudicate music festivals in Hamilton, Ottawa, and Belleville, Ontario; Moosomin and Weyburn, Saskatchewan; the B.C Provincial Music Festival; and the Voice Competition for the Etobicoke-Mississauga chapter of the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association.

Her 2022/2023 Season saw her performing for Minds of Music and the Neapolitan Connection, and in recital with mezzo-soprano Kathleen Promane, pianist Sandra Mogunsen, and pianist Clark Schaufele in St. Mary’s and Etobicoke, Ontario. She was pleased to adjudicate in person exams for the RCM in Vancouver, Edmonton, St. Catherine’s, and Mississauga, as well as music festivals in Victoria, Regina, Niagara Falls, Oshawa, and Pickering.

Despite performances being greatly curtailed due to the pandemic, Allison enjoyed streamed performances of Last Night of the Proms with Music Niagara Festival and a hybrid opera excerpts concert with tenor Paul Williamson for the Southern Ontario Lyric Opera. In person concerts included Handel’s Messiah with the Masterworks of Oakville, a Christmas concert with Incontra Choir, an opera gala with the Toronto Concert Orchestra, and community outreach events for Minds on Music. As an educator, her online pursuits included teaching a large studio of private students, leading a variety of educational workshops for her students, other studios and teachers’ associations around Ontario, and various Toronto choirs and secondary schools, and hosting online recitals. She continued to examine for the Royal Conservatory of Music online, as well as adjudicate online and in person music festivals in Saskatoon, the GTA, Belleville, Orillia, Durham, and for the Kitchener-Waterloo Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association.

Having performed across Canada, the United States, Germany, Austria, Italy, England, Israel, and China, Allison is in high demand as an interpreter of opera, oratorio, and new music. Allison toured with the Brahms Symphony Orchestra across China in a series of Viennese concerts, and was honoured to perform at Rideau Hall, as well as for International Dignitaries in Calgary and Toronto. In addition to her performing, Allison maintains a busy private music studio in Toronto, is a voice examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music, and regularly adjudicates music festivals from coast to coast. Having formerly taught for St. Michael’s and Timothy Eaton Memorial’s Choir Schools, Allison has conducted choral, vocal, and educational workshops and masterclasses for the Edna Manley Music College in Jamaica, University of Mississippi, British Columbia Provincial Music Festival, Grande Prairie Music Teachers’ Association, Regina Conservatory of Music, Ryerson Oakham House Choir, Opera Atelier, and the Royal Canadian College of Organists.

Allison is a graduate of Calgary Opera’s Emerging Artist Program, and completed a Masters of Music at the University of Toronto Opera School and a Bachelor of Music at the University of Victoria Voice Performance Program. Allison currently studies privately with W. Stephen Smith in Chicago, and has previously studied under the tutelage of Mary Morrison, Timothy Noble, Wendy Nielsen, Alexandra Browning, Selena James, and Diana Woolrich. She has completed summer studies at the Alliance Française, Goethe Institut, Britten-Pears Young Artist Program, Opera Workshop for Advanced Singers in St. Andrews, Highlands Opera Studio, Centre for Opera Studies in Italy, International Vocal Arts Institute in Israel, Queen of Puddings Music Theatre, Banff Centre, Franz Schubert-Institut in Austria, and Stuttgart Festival International Choir under the direction of Maestro Helmuth Rilling.

Allison’s awards include first place and audience choice in the Clifford Poole Voice Competition, being named a Laureate of the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques, second place in the Barry Alexander International Voice Competition, third place in the Spazio Musica International Competition, first place in the Gordon C. Wallis Vocal Competition, the Hnatyshyn Foundation Governor General’s Award for Classical Voice, a Senior Award through the B.C. Arts Council, an Encouragement Award through the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Holbrook Opera Tour Graduating Award, and scholarships from the Johann Strauss Foundation, the Aldeburgh Foundation, the Wagner Society, ARIAS (formerly COVC), and the Universities of Toronto and Victoria. She was also a participant and semi-finalist in the Joy in Singing masterclass series and competition in New York.