Royce Vavrek is a Canada-born, Brooklyn-based librettist and lyricist who has been called “the indie Hofmannsthal” (The New Yorker) a “Metastasio of the downtown opera scene” (The Washington Post), “an exemplary creator of operatic prose” (The New York Times), and “one of the most celebrated and sought after librettists in the world” (CBC Radio). His opera “Angel’s Bone” with composer Du Yun was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

With composer Missy Mazzoli he wrote “Song from the Uproar,” premiered by Beth Morrison Projects in 2012, and subsequently seen in multiple presentations around the country. Their second opera, an adaptation of Lars von Trier’s “Breaking the Waves,” premiered at Opera Philadelphia, co-commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects, and directed by James Darrah to critical acclaim in September of 2016. The work won the 2017 Music Critics Association of North America award for Best New Opera and was nominated for Best World Premiere at the 2017 International Opera Awards. A new production premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival in the summer of 2019, produced by Scottish Opera and Opera Ventures, helmed by Tony Award-winning director Tom Morris and earned star Sydney Mancasola a coveted Herald Angel Award for her performance. Their next opera, an adaptation of Karen Russell’s short story “Proving Up,” was commissioned and presented by Washington National Opera, Opera Omaha and The Miller Theatre in 2018, was a finalist for the MCANA Best New Opera Award of that year. They are currently developing a grand opera for Opera Philadelphia and the Norwegian National Opera based on an original story by two-time Governor General’s Award-winning playwright Jordan Tannahill, as well as an adaptation of George Saunders’ Booker Prize-winning novel “Lincoln in the Bardo” for The Metropolitan Opera.

Teaming up with Swedish composer Mikael Karlsson, Royce wrote the story and text for two dance projects, “Crypto,” choreographed by Guillaume Côté for Côté Dance and “Evidence of It All,” choreographed by Drew Jacoby for SFDanceworks, featuring narration by the Academy Award-nominated actress Rosamund Pike. They are currently developing two grand operas: an adaptation of Lars von Trier’s “Melancholia” to premiere at the Royal Swedish Opera in 2023, and “Fanny and Alexander,” working alongside creative partner Ingmar Bergman, Jr. to musicalize his late father’s classic film for La Monnaie de Munt in 2024, in a production to be directed by Ivo van Hove. Both operas are to feature renowned mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, for whom Mikael and Royce wrote the song cycle “So We Will Vanish,” premiered by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra in 2021 to critical acclaim.

His collaboration with composer David T. Little led Heidi Waleson of the Wall Street Journal to proclaim them “one of the most exciting composer-librettist teams working in opera today.” In April of 2016 they premiered their first grand opera, “JFK,” at Fort Worth Opera, a co-commission with American Lyric Theater and Opéra de Montréal that was called “ravishing” (Opera News), earning a ten-star review in Opera Now Magazine. This followed the success of their first opera, “Dog Days,” which received its world premiere in September of 2012 at Peak Performances @ Montclair, in a production co-produced by Beth Morrison Projects and directed by American maverick Robert Woodruff. The work was celebrated as the Classical Music Event of the year by Time Out New York and a standout opera of recent decades by The New York Times. They are currently developing an original work for the Metropolitan Opera through the Met/LCT commissioning program.

Royce has also worked extensively with composer Paola Prestini, first on the song cycle "Yoani," inspired by the blog posts of Yoani Sanchez, and then on "The Hubble Cantata," a virtual reality oratorio produced by VisionIntoArt/National Sawdust in association with Beth Morrison Projects. They recently presented the workshop premiere of “Silent Light,” an opera based on the Cannes Jury Prize-winning film by Carlos Reygadas at the Banff Centre for Creativity, a collaboration with the director Thaddeus Strassberger, and are currently working on a new opera inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea.” They are also developing "Film Stills," a project for mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti that dramatizes four of Cindy Sherman's iconic photographs through musical monologues composed by Paola, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly and Ellen Reid, and directed by R.B. Schlather. Royce and Paola's collaboration can be further heard on the AIDS Quilt Songbook: Sing for Hope recording, where their song "Union," as sung by Isabel Leonard, is featured.

In 2014 Royce premiered “27,” his first collaboration with composer Ricky Ian Gordon, at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Created for renowned mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, the work brought to life Gertrude Stein’s famous salon at 27 rue de Fleurus in Paris. Mark Ray Rinaldi of the Denver Post wrote that the opera “tells a great American story, about Gertrude Stein, as well as opera in the 21st century.” The opera was subsequently presented by Pittsburgh Opera, MasterVoices at New York City Center, Michigan Opera Theater, Opéra de Montréal and Opera Las Vegas. In 2017 their adaptation of Gail Rock’s Christmas classic “The House Without a Christmas Tree” for Houston Grand Opera was premiered to critical acclaim.

Other recent and upcoming projects include “Strip Mall” with Matt Marks for the Los Angeles Philharmonic; “Epistle Mass” with Julian Wachner for Trinity Wall Street, “Midwestern Gothic” with Josh Schmidt for Signature Theatre, Virginia; “Naamah’s Ark” with Marisa Michelson for MasterVoices; “O Columbia” with Gregory Spears for HGOco; “Knoxville: Summer of 2015” with Ellen Reid for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and National Sawdust; “The Wild Beast of the Bungalow” with Rachel Peters for Oberlin Conservatory; “Jacqueline” with Luna Pearl Woolf for Tapestry New Opera; “Adoration” (based on the film by Atom Egoyan) with Mary Kouyoumdjian for Beth Morrison Projects; “The Cremation of Sam McGee” with Matthew Ricketts, supported by a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts; and “Agnes” with Daníel Bjarnason for the Icelandic Opera.

Royce is co-Artistic Director of The Coterie, an opera-theater company founded with Tony-nominee Lauren Worsham. He holds a BFA in Filmmaking and Creative Writing from Concordia University’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema in Montreal and an MFA from the Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program at New York University. He is an alum of American Lyric Theater’s Composer Librettist Development Program.

Spencer Kryzanowski is a passionate crossover artist working as a conductor, music director, répétiteur, and vocal coach in both musical theatre and opera.

Spencer is the assistant conductor and pianist for Edmonton Opera; a staff member in the University of Toronto Opera department; resident music director for Good Mess Opera Theatre; and resident music director for Pop Goes the Opera in Edmonton, Alberta. On top of these regular positions, Spencer maintains a busy freelance schedule.

As a conductor and music director, Spencer has worked on numerous opera and musical theatre productions across Canada. His recent opera credits include Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle (Edmonton Opera), Strauss Jr's Die Fledermaus (Edmonton Opera), Puccini's Il tabarro (Pop Goes the Opera), Massenet's Cendrillon (UofT Opera), Hank and Gremlin (Good Mess Opera), and La bohème (Mercury Opera). Spencer's recent musical theatre credits include Newsies, Mean Girls: The Musical, and Beauty and the Beast with Bravo Academy.

Spencer's recent répétiteur credits include Guerrero's El huésped del sevillano with Toronto Operetta Theatre, Nino Rota's Il cappello di paglia di Firenze, and a comedic triple-bill of Hindemith's Hin und zurück, Offenbach's Monsieur Choufleuri, and Douglas Moore's Gallantry. Other credits include Humperdink's Hänsel und Gretel with Berlin Opera Academy; Copland's The Tender Land; Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia; Puccini’s Suor Angelica & Gianni Schicchi; and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Spencer had the pleasure of workshopping Melancholia, an opera based on the Lars von Trier film, by Mikael Karlsson and Royce Vavrek in 2023 for the Royal Swedish Opera. Additionally, Spencer assisted as a répétiteur and vocal coach in a workshop of Indians on Vacation by Ian Cusson and Royce Vavrek in 2024 as part of a collaboration with Against the Grain Theatre and Edmonton Opera.

Spencer has participated in a number of prestigious training programs in Canada and Europe including the Opera in the 21st Century program at the Banff Centre, St. Andrew's Opera Workshop, Berlin Opera Academy, and Opera NUOVA.

Spencer completed his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta and a Diploma in Operatic Performance (Répétiteur) at the University of Toronto.

Spencer is based in Toronto, Canada.

Lauded as "flat out brilliant" by Opera News, Canadian bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch is a leading interpreter of Mozart roles, most notably Don Giovanni, Almaviva, and Figaro, which he has performed at New York City Opera, Teatro Colón, Los Angeles Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Moscow Philharmonic, Opera Warsaw, Vancouver Opera, Dallas Opera, New Orleans Opera, Portland Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Hawaii Opera, Manitoba Opera, and Lyric Opera Kansas City. Okulitch has also equally excelled in creating leading roles in contemporary opera, most notably the roles of Ennis del Mar in Charles Wuorinen’s Brokeback Mountain at Teatro Real in Madrid and New York City Opera; Mark Rutland in Nico Muhly’s Marnie at English National Opera; Seth Brundle in Howard Shore's The Fly at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and at Los Angeles Opera; Willy Wonka in Peter Ash's The Golden Ticket at Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Atlanta Opera; LBJ in JFK with Fort Worth Opera and Opera de Montreal; and Herman Broder in Ben Moore’s Enemies, A Love Story at Palm Beach Opera.

Recent performances include Shaklovity in Simon McBurney’s new production of Khovanshchina at Salzburg Osterfestspiele under Esa-Pekka Salonen, The Protector in Written on Skin with which he recently made his house debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin and Royal Danish Opera, his debut as The Captain in Luca Guadagnino’s new production of The Death of Klinghoffer at the 88° Festival del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, led by Lawrence Renes, his Glyndeborne Festival Opera debut as Ratcliffe in Billy Budd, Don Alfonso in Cosi fan Tutte with the Canadian Opera Company In concert, Daniel Okulitch sang Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with Malmö Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Bleuse, Rachmaninov’s Spring cantata with Orquesta y Coro de la Communidad de Madrid conducted by Music Director Marzena Diakun, and with Cincinnati May Festival in Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem under Stephanie Childress.

Okulitch’s career first garnered national attention in the role of Schaunard in the original cast of Baz Luhrmann's Tony Award-winning Broadway production of La bohème. Other career highlights include his Teatro alla Scala debut as Theseus in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream; his Teatro alla Scala debut in the role of Swallow in Peter Grimes which he also performed at Washington National Opera; performances as General Groves in a new production of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic at Santa Fe Opera; Creonte in Médée with Opera Genève; his return to Vancouver Opera as Joseph De Rocher in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking; and his role debut as Leporello in Don Giovanni at Opéra de Montréal.

Other recent engagements have included the title role in Handel's Saul with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the title role in Don Giovanni with Manitoba Opera, his debut with the San Diego Symphony as baritone soloist in Puccini's Messa di Gloria, Dead Man Walking (Joseph de Rocher) at Calgary Opera and Fort Worth Opera, the Canadian premiere of Joey Talbot’s Everest (Beck Weathers), Kevin Puts' Silent Night with Opéra de Montréal (Lieutenant Horstmayer), Menotti's The Last Savage (Abdul) with Santa Fe Opera, Carlisle Floyd's Susannah (Olin Blitch) with Boheme Opera, and Mark Adamo's Little Women (Frederich Bhaer) with Fort Worth Opera and Calgary Opera. In concert, he has been heard with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago's Grant Park Festival, Portland Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and MasterVoices in works ranging from Beethoven's 9th to Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem and Bach's St. John's Passion.

Okulitch can be heard on the original cast recording of Baz Luhrmann's production of La bohème, Chausson's Le Roi Arthus with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Pasatieri's Frau Margot, and David DiChiera's Cyrano de Bergerac. His first solo recording, The New American Art Song, featuring the songs of Ricky Ian Gordon, Jake Heggie, Lowell Liebermann and Glen Roven, was released on GPR Records in March of 2011 and is available online at GPR Records and Amazon. He was praised by Gramophone for his “luxuriantly rich and well controlled” voice.

Okulitch is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes, including first prize from the George London Foundation, the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation, and the Sullivan Foundation, and second prize from the Licia Albanese / Puccini Foundation Competition. He was a previous regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Grand Council Auditions and additionally has received grants from the Singers Development Fund and from the Canada Council for Professional Musicians, as well as received the Andrew White Memorial Award and a Corbett Award. Daniel Okulitch received an artist diploma in opera from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and received his Bachelors and Masters of Arts degrees in voice and opera from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

Hailing from Winnipeg, Elena is a versatile soprano residing in Toronto, Ontario. Growing up in a musical family, Elena has loved being on stage since childhood, whether it be in orchestra, dance, musicals, or solo day at school. She holds a Bachelor of Music (Vocal Performance) from the University of Manitoba, where she studied with Tracy Dahl, and an Artist Diploma Voice at the Glenn Gould School (Royal Conservatory of Music), where she studied with Adrianne Pieczonka and Peter Tiefenbach.

In 2023/2024, Elena was a proud member of the Rebanks Family Fellowship, enjoying numerous performance opportunities around the GTA. In 2025/2026, she is excited to partner with Opera On The Avalon in St. John's, Newfoundland, as part of their Emerging Artist Program.

Deemed "someone to watch" (LudwigVanToronto), Elena is a brave and committed performer who enjoys a wide variety of styles. As a frequent competitor in the classical scene, Elena's competition highlights include receiving the Grand Prize at the Corcoran Concerto Competition at the Glenn Gould School, being awarded the Kurt Weill Foundation Prize in the Lotte Lenya Competition, placing first in the North Dakota/Manitoba District in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, and claiming first place in the CFMTA National Vocal Competition.

Recent credits include a company debut at the Canadian Opera Company in Christopher Alden's Rigoletto, role debuts as Blanche de la Force in The Royal Conservatory of Music's Les Dialogues des Carmélites and Janine in The Handmaid's Tale (Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity), as well as the roles of Sibella in A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (Drayton Entertainment) and Rapunzel in Into the Woods (Koerner Hall). Elena frequently performs at the Victoria Playhouse Petrolia in Petrolia, Ontario and recently made her Mirvish debut in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.

She was honoured to perform the North American première of Bernard Foccroulle’s The Journal of Hélène Berr, make her Maison Symphonique debut (Montréal) with Maestro Francis Choinière and l'Orchestre FILMharmonique in Disney's Frozen in Concert, and perform as a guest artist with the Royal Conservatory of Music’s ARC Ensemble. Additionally, she recently joined City Opera Vancouver for the Canadian premiere of Beecher’s Sophia’s Forest, in the titular role. As part of her partnership with Opera on the Avalon, Elena is excited to record a personally commissioned piece by Canadian composer Ian Cusson, as well as cover the role of Euridice in Pacific Opera Victoria's production of Orphée et Euridice. Coming up, Elena is excited to cover the role of Despina at the Canadian Opera Company, make her company debut with Tapestry Opera, and make her debuts with the Winnipeg, Regina and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestras.

Lara Secord-Haid, soprano, has been praised for her “rich and expressive overall quality” and “charismatic” performances by international publications. Her operatic repertoire includes, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Sophie in Werther, Frasquita in Carmen, The Governess in The Turn of the Screw, Cendrillon in Cendrillon, and Marzelline in Fidelio. She has performed with Manitoba Opera, Nashville Opera, Opera on the Avalon, and New York Lyric Opera, as well as internationally in Germany, Mexico, Korea, China, Russia, and Austria.

A lover of contemporary music, Lara has premiered and performed works by composers including Osvaldo Golijov, Peter Maxwell Davies, John Cage, Alessandro Iglesias Rossi, Harrison Birtwistle, Ricky Ian Gordon, Paola Presitini, Nicole, Lizée, Daniel Janke, and Sid Robinovitch. She recently premiered Robinovitch’s Shir Hashirim and Canciones Sefardíes with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, projects that grew from a series of Sephardic songs Robinovitch arranged specifically for her.

Lara is also a producer and co-founded Musik für Musik Opera Artist collective in Berlin. She is currently a participant in the 2026 Beth Morrison Projects Artist Producer Academy. She holds a Master of Music from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory.