Sopranos Nikan Ingabire Kanate and Sarah Caulfield are the latest vocalists to receive an invitation to join the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio program for its 46th season in 2026/27. They will join five returning Ensemble Studio artists who will be entering their second year of the program — mezzo-soprano Ariana Maubach, tenor Angelo Moretti, bass-baritone Nick Murphy, soprano Emma Pennell, baritone Ben Wallace, and pianist/coaches Elisabeta Cojocaru and Kimly Wang.
Kanate and Caulfield were selected to perform among the seven finalists at the COC’s 12th annual Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition after a national audition tour. At the competition, Kanate won both First Prize and the Hatch Audience Choice Prize for her performance of the aria “Dupuis le jour” from Charpentier’s opera Louise. Sarah Calulfied made her debut at the Banff Centre in 2025 in their production of Poul Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale after a month-long residency.
“The COC is thrilled to welcome Nikan Ingabire Kanate and Sarah Caulfield to our program,” says Dorian Cox, Director of the Ensemble Studio in a statement.
“As two of the most unique and exciting voices we encountered throughout our cross-Canada tour, I am excited to see their growth during this next step in their professional careers. We are so proud of all our resident artists as they shape a bold new future for Canadian opera!”
A native of Ottawa, Nikan Ingabire Kanate comes from an Ivorian-Rwandese background. She completed her Bachelor of Music degree in performance at the University of Toronto, where she performed the role of a bridesmaid in Nino Rota’s Il cappello di paglia di Firenze in 2023. She toured with the National Youth Choir of Canada in 2022 and 2024. In 2024, she performed as the soprano soloist in in Carlos Alberto Pinto Fonseca’s Missa Afro Brasileira with the Nathaniel Dett Chorale at Koerner Hall. Since 2024, she has been studying towards her Master’s degree in the opera program at the Curtis Institute of Music. In fall 2024, she sang the roles of Ottavia and Fortune in Curtis Opera Theatre’s East Coast premiere of The Comet / Poppea by George Lewis and Claudio Monteverdi. In November 2025, she won the Stingray Music Audience Choice Award at the L’Opéra de Montréal talent gala, and in February 2026, will debut the title role in Kaija Saariaho’s La Passion de Simone.
Soprano Sarah Caulfield graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Master’s of Music degree in 2023. Her vocal credits include the title role of Rusalka, Frau Fluth (Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte,) Corinna (Il viaggio a Reims), Giulietta (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Casilda (The Gondoliers), Mrs. Norris (Mansfield Park), and the Madame in Shadow Catch, a Noh theatre-inspired chamber opera set in Vancouver’s Oppenheimer Park. She participated in the Bel Canto residency at the Lunenberg Academy of Music Performance in 2025, and performed as Suzy in La Rondine with Good Mess Opera. In the fall of 2025, she sang a program of arias with the Vancouver Island Symphony as the soloist for their Bella Italia concert series. She has performed with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Orchestra, Chilliwack Symphony Orchestra, and with the UBC Early Music Ensemble, among others. Sarah performed in the premiere of composer Dr. Matthew-John Knights’ “The Soundscape (1),” featuring text commissioned from the late R. Murray Schafer, and in composer Holly Winter’s Song of Hypatia.
The Ensemble Studio Program is designed to breach the gap between emerging artist and fully fledged professional. Participants receive a combination of intensive coaching and practical experience through the multi-year program. That includes performances and understudying mainstage roles in COC productions, as well as acting as ambassadors for the company in community performances.
They’ll receive an individualized career mentorship program that includes training from top industry coaches in vocal techniques, language, movement, and acting, and time spent one-on-one with visiting stars of the opera world — which has recently included tenor Matthew Polenzani and conductor Speranza Scappucci. The COC’s executive and artistic leadership work directly with Ensemble Studio members to help them develop their skill set prior to launching their careers internationally.
Bass Duncan Stenhouse and soprano Emily Rocha will graduate from the Ensemble Studio at the end of the 2025/2026 season. Stenhouse will perform in a special upcoming student performance of The Barber of Seville, and audiences will be able to hear Rocha in the upcoming COC production of Rigoletto as Countess Ceprano.
Current Ensemble Studio artists Maubach, Moretti, Murphy, Pennell, and Wallace will also appear in the COC’s productions of Rigoletto, The Barber of Seville, and Massenet’s Werther. They will also work with the Ensemble’s pianist/coaches Elisabeta Cojocaru and Kimly Wang during rehearsals for all productions.
Toronto audiences will also get a chance to hear Duncan Stenhouse and Emily Rocha in a farewell concert on May 12, 2026 as part of the Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre. Info here.
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