Ambassadors 2021

Michal Aloni (Scuola Giovanni Grasso 2019) is an Israeli mezzo-soprano and an aspiring stage director, based in Montreal.
With immense love for early music and trouser-roles, Michal has performed roles such as Ottavia and Mercurio in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Diana in La Calisto, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Ramiro in La Finta Giardiniera, and the title role in Sarti’s Giulio Sabino.
Other roles include Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, Dorothée in Cendrillon, and Moabite Woman in R. Becket’s Ruth.
Performing in many choral and solo concerts around the world, Michal has acted as an ambassador with her deep passion for Israeli classical repertoire and Jewish liturgical music.
Stage direction credits include Assistant Director with UWOOPERA workshop, (The Turn of the Screw and The Mikado, D. Michael Cavanagh) and serving as Stage Director for the Annual Gala concert.
Current projects include the development of a digital mini-series exploring different characters in opera through performed interviews. Michal holds a MMus from the University of Western Ontario, and a BMus from The Jerusalem Academy of Music.
Awards include UWO, JAMD, the Buchholtz and Gruss foundations, the Jennie Panitch Beckow memorial fund and the London Opera Guild, as well as prize winner at the 2019 LMSF competition and the 2019 Maritsa Brookes concerto Competition.

Sarah Bissonnette (Scuola Giovanni Grasso 2018) recently performed in Opéra de Québec’s Valentine’s Day gala conducted by Jean-Marie Zeitouni. Earlier this season, she portrayed Hannah After under maestro Geneviève Leclair in the Quebec premiere of As One (Kaminsky).
A versatile mezzo-soprano, Sarah sang the Exorcist in the world premiere of Ghost Opera (Krausas), Giovanna (Rigoletto) at Calgary Opera, Isabella (The Italian Girl in Algiers) at the Rossini Opera Festival in Lunenburg, NS.
Credits also include the title role in Ariodante, Romeo (I Capuleti ei Montecchi), Mercédes (Carmen), Giunone (La Calisto), and, as a soloist, works by Bach, Buxtehude, Debussy, Händel, and Respighi.
After winning both the First Prize and Audience Choice Award at Vancouver Opera’s VOX competition 2019, Sarah was featured in the CBC article “30 hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30.”
In 2019, she sang under maestro Johannes Debus as a finalist in the Canadian Opera Company’s prestigious Center Stage Competition. The year prior, she was awarded the Opéra Bouffe du Québec’s First Prize.
Sarah grew up in Boucherville, QC. She’s an alumna of Calgary Opera’s Emerging Artist program, McGill’s Schulich School of Music, and the University of Toronto.