Canadian-Armenian bass-baritone Vartan Gabrielian is a rising young talent whose first season as a member of the Canadian Opera Ensemble Studio included The Hunter in Rusalka, Don Basilio (cover) in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and il Re in Aida, with the latter production cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This season, his second year with the company, will see him featured in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Mozart’s Requiem, and COC’s In Winter, all streaming this Fall.

Past engagements have included his professional Canadian debut with Opéra de Montréal performing the role of Sparafucile (Rigoletto) and appearing as Death in Against the Grain’s digital production of Holst’s Sāvitri. A graduate of the prestigious Curtis institute of Music, he performed the title role of Sweeney Todd with the Curtis Opera Theatre and debuted the roles of Leporello and Commendatore (Don Giovanni) in the Opera Philadelphia/Curtis Opera Theatre production.

Gabrielian is a recipient of awards from numerous organizations including the Metropolitan Opera National Council, Career Bridges Schuyler Foundation, Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation, Gerda Lissner Foundation, George London Foundation, and he was a Grand Finalist in the 2018 COC Ensemble competition.

A 2018 member of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program, Gabrielian covered the roles of Bonze (Madame Butterfly) and Leslie Groves (Doctor Atomic) in addition to featured apprentice scenes from Rigoletto and Grapes of Wrath. In prior seasons, he has been featured at the Chautauqua Institute in performances of Ariodante (King), La Bohème (Colline), Rigoletto (Sparafucile), Die Zauberflote (Sarastro) and more.