|
Jody Wieler, soprano
Based in St. Catharines but hailing originally from Sarnia, Ms. Wieler leads an active musical life.
During her music studies at Brock University (B. Mus. Hon. 1997), she studied voice, conducting, choral music and early music histories. She is the soprano soloist and assistant choir director at St. George’s Anglican Church in St. Catharines. Since 1992, she has been an integral part of the award-winning Niagara Vocal Ensemble (Harris Loewen, director), a twelve-voice women’s group which performs regularly throughout the Niagara peninsula, Stratford and greater Toronto area; she also performed on their recording Voices of Niagara (1996), which features many Niagara-related composers including Robert Hunter Bell, Ronald Tremain, John Butler and Leila Lustig. The group recorded another Niagara-themed collection of Christmas music this past May. Jody has also sung under the direction of Robert Cooper, as a member of Chorus Niagara. She continues studies with Tom Schilling of New York City, with whom she is preparing her first opera roles.
1999 brought her a successful audition with the Opera Ontario Chorus, with which she performs on a regular basis. To date, she has appeared in Faust, Eugene Onegin, Die Lustige Witwe, Elisir D’amore, La nozze di Figaro, Les Pêcheurs des perles, Lakmé (English-speaking Canadian Premiere), La fille du regiment and Carmen.. As a member of their Ambassador Choir, she enjoys going to Hamilton-area schools promoting opera and performing for young students. She was 2004’s honoured recipient of the Christine Stanton Memorial Scholarship through Opera Ontario, awarded to promising singers. She has performed at such prestigious functions as the Kitchener Opera Ball and the re-opening of the Hamilton Art Gallery in conjunction with Opera Ontario. Recent concert appearances include being soloist with Brock University’s choirs, Niagara Vocal Ensemble, James Street Night of Art, the early music group Hildegals (Holly Gwynne-Timothy, director) and The Messiah with Choralis Camerata and the International Symphony Orchestra (Sarnia/Port Huron).
Jody enjoys singing all classical music, giving regular performances with select colleagues from Niagara, including benefit concerts for Women’s Place St. Catharines, St. Barnabas’ Church and Hospice Niagara. She also enjoys singing and discovering modern classical repertoire. She maintains a private voice studio from her home where she enjoys teaching children and adults alike, working toward increasing their love of music. Other diversions include teaching an Italian Opera appreciation course for Brock University’s Continuing Education programme, adjudicating music festivalsand making art glass beads.
|
