Mahler’s Song of the Earth With Rafael Payare ^2024-2025

Rafael Payare’s prodigious musicianship, technical brilliance and charismatic presence on the podium have made him one of the world’s most sought-after conductors. A graduate of the celebrated El Sistema music education program in Venezuela, Mr. Payare began his formal conducting studies in 2004 with José Antonio Abreu. Since winning the prestigious Malko International Competition for Young Conductors in Denmark in 2012, Maestro Payare’s career has advanced rapidly. Since 2015, he has served as Principal Conductor of the Castleton Festival, founded by his mentor the late Lorin Maazel. He was Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Ulster Orchestra from 2014 to 2019 and in 2019, took up the position of Music Director of the San Diego Symphony. In recent years, Rafael Payare has conducted many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including those of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Zurich, Berlin, Vienna, London, Munich, Chicago and Paris. He has also made important opera debuts at the Glyndebourne Festival, Stockholm’s Royal Swedish Opera, the Royal Danish Opera, and most recently at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. In the 2022-2023 season, Payare became the ninth Music Director in the history of the OSM.

To consult:
rafaelpayare.com
Long biography

Mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung has appeared with the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and Vienna Philharmonic. She has also performed at the festivals of Ravinia, Tanglewood, Saito Kinen, Edinburgh, and Lucerne.  

A multi-GRAMMY Award-winning recording artist, Ms. DeYoung’s impressive discography includes Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, and Götterdämmerung with Jaap van Zweden and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (Naxos), Les Troyens with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO Live!), and various Mahler works with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Her most recent recording, the Metropolitan Opera’s Verdi’s Requiem: The Met Remembers 9/11, was nominated for a 2023 GRAMMY Award in the category Best Choral Performance.  

Austrian tenor Nikolai Schukoff stands as one of the leading tenors of his generation. Major engagements in recent seasons include Jim Mahoney in Mahagonny in Amsterdam, Die Passagierin at Teatro Real Madrid, his return to the MET in Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, his role debut as Tristan (Tristan und Isolde) in Toulouse, Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos) and the title role in Parsifal at the Liceu in Barcelona, Tambourmajor (Wozzeck) in Toulouse, Siegmund (Walküre) at the Opéra de Marseille, and Herodes (Salome) at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki and State Opera of Berlin. In concert, Nikolai Schukoff’ repertoire includes, among others, Schönberg’s Gurrelieder, Mahler’s Symphony no. 8 and Das Lied von der Erde, Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex, and Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9. Nikolai Schukoff studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He credits his appearance as Parsifal, replacing Placido Domingo at the Munich State Opera in 2007, as the impetus for his international breakthrough.  

Named Radio-Canada Classique 2023–2024 Breakthrough Artist (“Révélation”), Elisabeth St-Gelais holds a master’s degree from the Schulich School of Music of McGill University (Voice and Opera program). Hailing from the Innu community of Pessamit in the Saguenay Region, she lends great importance to sharing Innu culture as part of her artistic mission. In 2022, she took first place at the prestigious Wirth Vocal Prize Competition and won First Prize in the 19- to 30-year-old category at the 2022 CANIMEX Canadian Music Competition. In 2023, Elisabeth was awarded the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal’s Prix d’Europe, as well as First Prize and Audience Choice Award at the Canadian Opera Company’s Centre Stage Competition, held in Toronto. In 2024, she was selected regionally for the Met Laffont Opera Competition, winning an “Encouragement Award.” Elisabeth has served on the Conseil québécois de la musique’s board of directors since April 2023, as part of her active engagement in Montreal’s musical community.   

Emma Pennell is a two-spirit operatic soprano and poet with Mi’kmaw roots from Ktaqmkuk (the Indigenous peoples of Newfoundland), hailing from South River in rural Northern Ontario. Emma recently took home 2nd prize in the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio Centre Stage Competition. They hold a Bachelor with Honours in Voice Performance and a minor in Indigenous Studies from Western University. Emma currently studies at the Glenn Gould School in the Artist Diploma Program under the tutelage of Stephanie Bogle at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

An unwavering Indigenous activist, Emma is committed to carving spaces for Indigenous voices in the arts. They co-authored the Indigenous Policy Paper for the Ontario Universities Student Alliance and founded the Faculty of Music Indigenous Leadership Initiative at the Don Wright Faculty of Music.

Emma has performed in various roles, including Alice Ford in Falstaff, Mère Marie in the Dialogue des Carmélites, Kitty in Ian Cusson’s Indians on Vacation at The Banff Centre for the Arts, Lia in Debussy’s L’Enfant Prodigue, Cinderella’s Mother in Into The Woods in Koerner Hall and Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte at the Royal Conservatory of Music. Emma also solo debuted at Koerner Hall alongside Tanya Tegaq for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in October 2025. They we be joining the COC Ensemble Studio for the 2025-2026 season.