Currently based in
Stratford, Ontario, vocal coach and collaborative
pianist Emily Hamper has led an active international
career for over fifteen years. Noted for her
musical sensitivity and attention to detail, she is
in high demand by many of Canada's most prominent
singers. In May 2011, Emily was awarded the
“Best Collaborative Pianist” prize at the
Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition
in Brandon, Manitoba: in November she accompanies
first prize winner mezzo-soprano Erica Iris Huang on
her national recital tour. As well as
preparing singers for professional engagements
worldwide, she has accompanied well over 1000
auditions in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and New
York. She has accompanied recitals for
numerous presenters, including CBC Toronto's Glenn
Gould Studio for the Music Around Us series, the San
Francisco Opera, Calgary Opera, and both the Indian
River and Orford Festivals. Her recital and
concert collaborations have been broadcast on CBC
Radio, Radio-Canada, Vermont Public Radio, and
Classical 96.3 FM in Toronto. She has also
performed in Prague, Kosice (Slovakia), and
Washington DC.
In 2012, Ms. Hamper will join Calgary Opera as
rehearsal pianist for their productions of Moby Dick
and La Bohème. Other companies for whom
she has worked in this capacity include Opera
Atelier (La Clemenza di Tito, Le Nozze di Figaro,
Die Entfuehrung aus dem Serail), Toronto Summer
Music Festival (Il barbiere di Siviglia, Ariadne auf
Naxos), Green Mountain Opera Festival (Madama
Butterfly, Le Nozze di Figaro), and L’Opéra
de Montréal (Agrippina). She has served
as assistant conductor with Opera Atelier and the
Banff Centre, where she also made her conducting
debut in an all-Mozart programme of opera
excerpts. Additional credits include assisting
in the production of several Canadian and world
premieres of operas, most notably the Canadian
premiere of Britten's Paul Bunyan. In a
teaching capacity, Ms. Hamper has inspired many
students at numerous institutions. Most
recently, she co-taught the “Best Voice Forward”
audition workshop with Kimberly Barber at Wilfrid
Laurier University, and has given masterclasses for
singers at Dalhousie and Acadia universities.
As Music Director for the opera courses at Wilfrid
Laurier University, in 2005, she led two sold-out
performances of opera excerpts and was invited to
return the following year. She held a position
as staff coach at the University of Toronto from
1997 - 2002, then spent several years in Montreal
coaching at Montreal Opera's Atelier Lyrique,
L'Université de Montréal, and the
Canadian Vocal Arts Institute under the leadership
of Joan Dornemann.
Emily was born in Vancouver B.C. She completed
her undergraduate musical training at UBC where she
studied piano with the late Robert Rogers. A
passion for vocal and chamber music led to
specialised studies in these areas with Rena Sharon
and Jane Coop. During this time she made her
solo début in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue
with the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra while also
establishing herself as a gifted accompanist.
An increased interest in opera led her to the Opera
Division at the University of Toronto, where she
apprenticed under James Fraser Craig and Stephen
Ralls. She was hired as a member of the music
staff immediately upon graduation. Emily is an
alumnae of the prestigious Merola Opera Program in
San Francisco: in 2002 she was awarded a Merola
Career Grant for private studies in Munich, Germany.
September, 2011
