Nancy
Hermiston, Director
 Canadian-born
lyric coloratura Nancy Hermiston established
herself as one of Europe's most versatile
and exciting vocal artists. Her European
debut in 1983 led to her permanent engagement
at the prestigious Nürnberg Opera Company
with which she has maintained an association
up to the present time. She has also starred
with Opera Companies in Innsbruck, Düsseldorf
and Mainz as well as North American companies
such as the Canadian Opera Company, Edmonton
Opera, Manitoba Opera, Vancouver Opera,
Houston Grand Opera, Cincinnati Opera,
Boston Opera
and many more. Her New York debut took
place at Carnegie Hall with Marilyn Horne
and Mario
Bernardi.
Parallel to her singing career, Miss Hermiston
began her career as a stage director, in
1978, holding various appointments as voice
teacher, stage director, and Co-ordinator
with the University of Toronto's Opera and
Performance Divisions. In 1995 she joined
the UBC School of Music as the Head of the
Voice and Opera Divisions. Her Opera Ensemble,
created in 1995, has performed in Europe
five times and has begun an association with
the Opera House in Usti nad Labem, Czech
Republic, for regular summer performances
there.They have also toured British.Columbia,
Saskatchewan and Ontario and collaborated
with the Vancouver Opera, the Vancouver Symphony
and different community groups.
Her directing
credits include Mozart's Die
Zauberflöte, Cosi
Fan Tutte, Le
Nozze di Figaro, Gärtnerin aus Liebe and L'Oca
del Cairo, Nicolai's The
Merry Wives of Windsor,
Puccini's La
Boheme and Gianni
Schicchi,
Humperdinck's Hansel
and Gretel, Offenbach's
Monsieur
Choufleuri, Vaughan-Williams Riders
to the Sea, Hindemith's Hin
und Zurück,
and Menotti's The
Medium and the
Telephone and Robert Ward's The
Crucible. From 1994
- 1997 she was a member of the stage directing
staff of the International Opera Workshop
in the city of Opava, Czech Republic where
she directed La
Boheme, Die
Zauberflöte,
and Cosi
Fan Tutte. In Mar. 2001 she directed
Robert Ward's opera The
Crucible, which she
repeated in Sept. 2001 with the Opera House
in Usti nad Labem, making the Premiere performance
of this opera in the Czech Republic. She
returned there in May 2002 to direct a new
production of Massenet's Manon, and this
summer will direct Mozart's Die
Zauberflöte as well as remount Manon. In Nov. 2001 she
directed Die
Fledermaus for the Vancouver
Opera and appeared in their 2002-2003 Season
as the Marquise of Berkenfield, in Donizetti's La
Fille du Regiment as well as directing
Opera Saskatchewan's production of Rossini's
Il Barbiere
di Siviglia in Regina in Feb.
2003 and La
Cenerentola in Feb. 2004. In
May 2004 she directed La
Traviata for the
Vancouver Opera and La
Boheme in June 2004
in Usti nad Labem. This summer she will direct
a production of Cosi
fan Tutte for the theatre
in Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic.
In 1989 she
founded the first women's opera guild in
Germany. Her Nürnberg Guild
has given the Opera House gifts totaling
over 1,000,000 DM. Her Guild also sponsors
young artists from the Nürnberg area.
She has continued as President of the Guild
to the present time.
Miss Hermiston
is also a favorite guest for masterclasses
throughout Canada and in
her second home, Nürnberg, Germany.
She has also given Masterclasses in the cities
of Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Beijing
and Prague.
Norbert
Baxa, Conductor  Norbert Baxa, the gifted young Czech conductor,
is currently the General Music Director at
the Usti nad Labem City Theatre in the Czech
Republic. Mr. Baxa was appointed there in
1999, and at the age of 24, was the youngest
music director ever appointed in a major
Czech house.
Mr. Baxa began
his training at the prestigious Bratislava
Conservatory as a singer and conductor,
and continued his studies at the Music Academy
in Prague. He worked as a guest singer for
the Prague Chamber Choir and as a vocal coach
and accompanist for singers. He graduated
in 1998 and was awarded the “Red Diploma”,
the Academy’s top honour.
In 1996, Mr.
Baxa founded the progressive Chamber music
group CLUB 20, dedicating their
performances to composers of the 20th Century.
His extensive repertoire covers the operatic
and ballet genres, with a special interest
in the music of Czech and Slovak conductors
such as Smetana, Janacek and Martinu. In
2001, he conducted the European premier of
Robert Ward’s The
Crucible with a combined
Canadian and Czech cast. Mr. Baxa us a frequent
guest conductor throughout the Czech Republic
and Germany, and has appeared in Hungary,
Spain and Japan.
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