Maureen Batt

“young, lovely, and captivating soprano” ~ Opera Canada (Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni)

“enthusiastically at home on stage…endlessly energetic and animated interpretation” ~ Chronicle Herald, Halifax (Serpina in Pergolesi’s The Maid Mistress)

“Batt brought a warm and very pleasing voice to her performance.” ~ Opera Canada (Helen in Monica Pearce’s Aunt Helen)

Maureen Batt (she/her) is celebrated for her “rich, warm sound and masterful acting” (Opera Canada). She is a singer, artistic director, producer, recording artist, and educator. In performance and curation, Maureen focuses on celebrating contemporary repertoire by collaborating with composers to commission, première, and re-perform their works. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Music Centre and the chair of CMC Atlantic regional council.

Her discography with her label Leaf Music includes 2-time ECMA-winning Lighthouse (with Grej), a journey of grief told through a love story, fusing classical and electronic genres; JUNO-nominated Breathing in the Shadows featuring works by Saman Shahi, with Tara Scott, piano; Aunt Helen, a one-act opera by Monica Pearce about Dr. Helen Creighton, with Simon Docking, piano; Mirror, Mirror, a one-act opera by Anna Pidgorna about the Grimm fairy tale Snow White, with Erin Bardua, soprano; and Lady of the Lake with song cycles by Franz Schubert and Fiona Ryan based on Sir Walter Scott’s texts, with Simon Docking, piano; Durme, Durme: Four Ladino Folk Songs, a song cycle by Elisha Denburg, with Tara Scott, piano. Two recent EP releases with Essential Opera are operas by Monica Pearce: Etiquette, about Dorothy Parker’s 1927 review of Emily Post’s book Etiquette, and December, a queer holiday romcom. Her most recent release is Essential Opera’s debut full-length album Some of My Stories: The Operas of Monica Pearce.

Maureen is the co-artistic director of Essential Opera – Founded in 2010 with Erin Bardua. Essential Opera’s mission includes presenting opera from the tried and tested, to the brand new. Essential Opera’s history includes 5 commissions, digital broadcasts, EPs, and short opera films.

In 2015, Maureen founded Crossing Borders, a contemporary Western art music series which has toured the United States, Canada, and Colombia. Art song is a featured genre on this recital series, but programs also often include opera, musical theatre, and electronics. To date Crossing Borders has produced 18 world premières.

Maureen has created many Canadian opera roles, including Caroline (Caroline’s Sweeper) and Lucile (Memories Beyond the Grave) by Michael Donovan; Helen (Aunt Helen), Dorothy Parker (Etiquette), Bride (Cake), and Top Priority Air Customer Service representative and security guard (December) by Monica Pearce; Anna (Regina) and Keri Ferrell (Hipster Grifter) by Elisha Denburg; Cindy (Heather: Cindy + Mindy =BFFS 4EVER) and Hannah (Hannah & Paige and the Zombie Pirates) by Christopher Thornborrow; Sister Mary Francis (Time of Trouble) by Elizabeth Raum, and Lorelie Henderson (Stockholm Syndrome) by Fiona Ryan.

She has been engaged by the Open Waters Festival, Vocalypse Productions, Orchestra Toronto, Classics by the Bay, Windsor Symphony Orchestra, VoiceBox, Toronto Operetta Theatre, Maritime Concert Opera, Opera Nova Scotia, New Hamburg Live!, Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound, Whale Song Theatre, The Toy Piano Composers, performed as part of Neptune Theatre’s bonus features with her trio Diva Station, and has performed throughout Canada, and in the United States, Italy, and Colombia.

Selected opera credits from standard Western classical repertoire include Musetta, La Bohème (Puccini); Valencienne, The Merry Widow (Léhar); Susanna, Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart); Zerlina, Don Giovanni (Mozart); Despina, Così fan tutte (Mozart); Serpina, The Maid Mistress (Pergolesi); Belinda, Dido and Aeneas (Purcell); Lauretta, Gianni Schicchi (Puccini); Polly, The Threepenny Opera/Die Dreigroschenoper (Weill); Morgana, Alcina (Händel); Nina, Chérubin (Massenet). Her selected concert and oratorio credits include Händel’s Messiah and Esther, Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore and Exsultate Jubilate, Bach’s BWV 187 Es wartet alles auf dich, BWV 4 Christ lag in Todesbanden, and BWV 245 St. John Passion.

Maureen has had the distinguished honour of being invited to perform as a guest soloist for Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan during their visit to Ottawa, marking 80 years of diplomatic ties between Canada and Japan. Also, with the St. James Choir in Toronto, she sang for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Among the list of conductors and directors Maureen has worked with are Andrew Ager, Derek Bate, Larry Beckwith, Michael Capon, Laura Caswell, Robert Cooper, Philippe Djokic, Gary Ewer, Richard Hornsby, Steven Jarvi, Walter Kemp, Kevin, Mallon, Peter Merrick, David Overton, David Passmore, Leigh Rivenbark, Ilkay Silk, Guillermo Silva-Marin, and Vicki St. Pierre. As part of the BlackCreek Music Festival Chorus, Maureen had the honour of singing under the batons of Marvin Hamlisch, Eugene Kohn, and Lorin Maazel.

Maureen has a Master of Music from the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Music from Dalhousie University, and a Bachelor of Arts from St. Thomas University (French and Spanish).  Select professional training programs include: Wholeness in Motion (Wisconsin, US), Centre for Operatic Studies (Sulmona, Italy), Contemporary Performance Studies, VISI (Vancouver, BC), Tapestry New Opera 101 Songbook (Toronto, ON), Opera from Scratch (Halifax, NS), St. Andrews Opera Workshop (St. Andrews, NB), Daniel Ferro Vocal Program (Greve, Tuscany, Italy), Casalmaggiore International Festival (Casalmaggiore, Italy), Halifax Summer Opera Festival (Halifax, NS).

As an educator, Maureen invites people to explore their singing through the lens of wholeness, embodied play, curiosity, and compassion. Maureen was a regular on faculty at the Halifax Summer Opera Festival as voice coach. Maureen teaches voice, offers voice and movement workshops (playshops) online and in Nova Scotia, and is a frequent music festival adjudicator and guest clinician.

In her various leadership positions, she is an advocate of accessibility and inclusion.

Please contact Maureen for an event-specific bio at any time.