The line up for Centre Stage; the final auditions for the COC Ensemble Studio has been announced.  The seven singers are:

• Mezzo-soprano Zoe Band (Toronto)
• Soprano Eliza Johnson (Stratford, Ont.)
• Baritone Dimitri Katotakis (Toronto)
• Baritone Nathan Keoughan (Charlottetown)
• Tenor Aaron Sheppard (St. John’s, N.L.)
• Mezzo-soprano Michelle Siemens (Calgary)
• Tenor Charles Sy (Toronto)

I am pretty sure Sy is the only one of these I’ve seen in action and he’s impressed me a couple of times.  Also interesting that there’s only one soprano.  The Ensemble Studio is light on female singers generally right now so i thought they might be looking to up that a bit.

Centre Stage takes place at the Four Seasons Centre on November 25th.  The public part of the show starts with a cocktail reception at 5.30pm followed by the competition at 6.30pm.  Tickets are $100.  There’s also a gala black tie dinner afterwards for considerably more than a hundred bucks.