Soprano Alyssa Durnie and Mezzo-Soprano Barbara King come together on the stage with Pianist Grace King to perform an afternoon concert filled with Famous Opera Arias and Duets. With a shared love and passion for Opera, Alyssa and Barbara are thrilled to present selections from Cosi fan tutte, Carmen, Le Nozze di Figaro, Hansel and Gretel and more. Whether it is your first time to the Opera or your 99th, we hope you recognize a tune or two! You may see both singers next in Calgary Concert Opera’s production of Roberto Devereux this upcoming September.
ALYSSA DURNIE, Soprano, is grateful to make her home on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta. Ms. Durnie is the co-founder of Calgary’s newest opera company; Three Sisters Young Artists. She holds an Opera Diploma from the University of Toronto under the tutelage of Soprano Wendy Nielsen, and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Lethbridge. Ms. Durnie has performed many operatic roles across Canada including Mother in Hansel and Gretel with the Three Sisters Young Artists, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni where she was praised by Opera Canada to have “a superb, released ring to her tone”, Clomiri in the Toronto’s premiere of Handel’s Imeneo, and as Diane in Orphée aux Enfers under the baton of Canadian Baritone, Russell Braun at the University of Toronto. Since moving back to Calgary in 2018, Ms. Durnie has performed with numerous companies including Calgary Opera, Three Sisters Young Artists, ProArts at Noon, Mountain View Summer Festival, Classical Revolution, Calgary Concert Opera, Cowtown Opera and in collaboration with Corps Bara Dance Company. She has also been the recipient of multiple awards including First Place for Voice at the Federation of Canadian Music Festival’s National Music Festival in 2016, and the Rose Bowl Recipient at the Lethbridge Kiwanis Festival 2015 & 2016. Ms. Durnie is thrilled to be returning to the ProArts Concert Series and to sing for a live audience once again. Facebook: @alyssadurniesoprano
BARBARA KING, Mezzo-Soprano From winning the Québec Provincial Gymnastics Championship on Floor to thrilling audiences with her “exquisite vocal command of a three octave range” and the possession of a “warm, agile mezzo-soprano voice”, Canadian mezzo soprano Barbara King is no stranger to the stage and is also the co-founder Calgary Concert Opera Company (CCOC) with her husband and Divas Opera with soprano Kathleen Morrison.
Barbara began 2022 making her debut as a guest soloist in two concerts with Straight Up Opera and recently performed in a series of concerts including The King Eddy Classical, Summer on 17th Ave, and Bella Italia with Divas Opera. In 2021, Ms. King was invited to sing in two Music in the Air concerts with the Alberta Symphony Orchestra, and organized and performed in the Opening Act for Derek Demiere’s production of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire. Divas Opera and CCOC returned to the stage where Ms. King helped produce and perform in Encore! Divas Opera Live!, Favourite Opera Arias & Duets, CCOC’s 10 Year Anniversary Concert and ended the year performing in ‘A Divas Opera Christmas’ presented by Rise Up Weekends!.
Previous performance highlights include singing the titles roles of Carmen (Carmen) and Dritte Dame (The Magic Flute) with Opera Kelowna, Flora (La Traviata) with Manitoba Opera, Olga (The Merry Widow), and The Confidante (Elektra) with Edmonton Opera, Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) and Dalila (Samson et Dalila) with Opera by Request and as a principle soloist with Rocky Mountain Symphony Orchestra and Calgary Civic Symphony.
Upcoming performance and collaboration includes singing the role of Sara, Duchess of Nottingham in Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux with CCOC in Calgary and Opera by Request in Toronto and as a guest soloist in ‘A Divas Christmas’ with Calgary Civic Symphony.
