Ensemble Studio Competition Winners Revealed

Soprano Nikan Ingabire Kanate of Ottawa won First Prize and the Audience Choice Prize at the Canadian Opera Company’s 12th annual Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition on October 23, 2025 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Marci Ien hosted the spectacular evening that marked the grand finale of a national search for Canada’s top young opera singers, all vying for cash prizes and the chance of a coveted invitation to join the company’s prestigious Ensemble Studio training program.

The annual competition was livestreamed for the fourth year in a row, providing an unparalleled platform for the young artists to share their craft with audiences from coast to coast to coast. Audiences watching from home were also able to pre-register to join in the live vote for the night’s Audience Choice Prize, generously sponsored by Hatch.

Kanate won First Prize, a $12,500 award generously sponsored by the Estate of Donald Lawrence Biderman, and the Hatch Audience Choice Prize of $3,000.

Aria performed: “Depuis le jour” from Louise by Charpentier

Nikan Ingabire Kanate is an Ivorian-Rwandese soprano from Ottawa pursuing her Master of Music in Opera degree at the Curtis Institute of Music with Julia Faulkner, after earning a Bachelor of Music at the University of Toronto under Nathalie Paulin. She was the soprano soloist in Carlos Alberto Pinto Fonseca’s Missa Afro Brasileira at Koerner Hall with the Nathaniel Dett Chorale. With the Curtis Opera Theatre, she portrayed Fortuna and Ottavia in George Lewis’ The Comet/Poppea, and next February she debuts the title role in Kaija Saariaho’s La Passion de Simone.

Mezzo-soprano Camila Montefusco of Montreal won the Second Prize of $8,000, generously sponsored by Wendy J. Thompson.

Aria performed: “Parto, parto” from La clemenza di Tito by Mozart

Camila Montefusco is a storyteller at heart. Described as possessing “an instrument of remarkable power and endurance” (Revue L'Opéra Québec), the Brazilian-born mezzo-soprano is a current resident artist with l’Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal. Recent role debuts include Offred (The Handmaid’s Tale), Madame Flora (The Medium), Annio (La clemenza di Tito), and Maman (L’enfant et les sortilèges). Whether on the opera stage or in recital, her work is rooted in the belief that art can connect, heal, and inspire change in a world that hungers for it.

Baritone Søren Pedersen of San Diego, California took the Erin Wall Prize of $5,000, generously sponsored by Peter Neelands.

Aria performed: “Largo al factotum” from The Barber of Seville by Rossini

Canadian-American baritone Søren Pedersen graduated with a Master of Music in Voice Performance degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) where he is currently pursuing his Artist Diploma. Last fall, Pedersen debuted as Schaunard with San Diego Opera and won the District Level of the Laffont Competition. At CCM, he’s performed Tarquinius, Dr. Rappaccini, and Demetrius. Additionally, while at Wolf Trap this summer, he performed Morales and covered Marquis de la Force.

“There’s something magical about seeing the future of opera take shape before your eyes,” says COC General Director David Ferguson. “The Ensemble Studio Competition brings together some of Canada’s most gifted young voices—artists whose talent and passion remind us why this art form endures. To all of this year’s finalists: congratulations. The path ahead is bright, and we can’t wait to see where your voices will carry you.”

The evening’s seven finalists were selected from 117 online applicants and nearly 60 in-person auditions held in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, and Toronto. On October 23, each finalist performed two arias, accompanied by the COC Orchestra led by COC Music Director Johannes Debus–one in a closed round before the judges alone, and a final performance for both judging panel and a live public audience.

This year’s competition jury was made up of:

COC Director, Ensemble Studio Dorian Cox
COC Director, Artistic Operations & Planning Roberto Mauro;
COC Head of Music, Ensemble Studio Liz Upchurch;
famed Hollywood and Broadway vocal coach Elaine Overholt;
and Managing Director of Dean Artists Management Morgan Reid
The Ensemble Studio Competition serves as a final opportunity for COC artistic leadership to hear singers in the multi-stage audition process for the COC’s Ensemble Studio, with final members for the 2025/2026 season to be announced at a later date. Artists invited to The Ensemble Studio will join an innovative program that, since its founding in 1980, has launched the careers of nearly 240 Canadian singers, opera coaches, stage directors, and conductors, including such critically acclaimed artists as Ben Heppner, Gordon Bintner, Ambur Braid, Emily D’Angelo, Simone McIntosh, Matthew Cairns, Claire de Sévigné, Wallis Giunta, and Krisztina Szabó.