Faculty

Instructors for the Program

Meet the Team

ISMI co-founders and long-time friends, Betty Allison and Melanie Cancade, have been collaborating on musical projects since their first meeting at the University of Victoria nearly 20 years ago. From recitals to international competitions to recordings, the pair have worked as a piano/voice duo, first as students and then as professionals.

Despite their separate career paths, they consistently put aside time to make music together as much as possible, especially when they return home to Vancouver Island for family visits. Now, Betty and Melanie wish to share their years of education and experience through a collaborative, holistic approach to creating music with young musicians in the place they call home.

Betty Allison

Teaching artist and soprano, Dr. Betty Allison is a professor of voice at Dalhousie University where she is Head of Voice, runs the DalOpera program and teaches applied voice. A graduate of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble, major credits include the world premiere of Mary’s Wedding with Pacific Opera Victoria, the title role in Floyd’s Susannah with Florentine Opera, Alice in Verdi’s Falstaff with L’Opèra Thèâtre de Metz Mètropole, and Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with Edmonton Opera.

Betty has performed a varied repertoire, demonstrating her natural ability and talent, from the Countess (Le Nozze di Figaro) and Tatiana (Eugene Onegin), to Vixen (Cunning Little Vixen) and Elizabeth I (Glorina). She is equally comfortable on the concert stage, with her rich and florid interpretation of pieces such as Mahler’s Symphony VIII, Brahms’ Requiem, and Gubaidulia’s Galgenlieder À 3.

Recently, Betty completed her doctorate at the University of Toronto. Her research focused on the connection between a singer’s voice and their overall wellness and resilience. Specifically, she examined the non-musical stressors and coping strategies that elite singers use to maintain their voices and careers.

Betty is excited to finally be starting this program in her hometown with her long time pianist Melanie Cancade.

®SaniClarkPhotography

Melanie Cancade

British Columbian pianist, Melanie Cancade, is currently one of Southwestern Ontario's most sought after collaborative pianists, appearing in concert extensively throughout the region with both aspiring and established singers. Since 2010, she has been coaching vocalists at Western University in London, Ontario; specifically, Melanie’s focus includes, but is not limited to, cultivating interpretive and analytical skills for poetry, song, and style, curating recitals, facilitating self-directed learning strategies, and offering professional and personal support. On top of all of this, she maintains a busy performing schedule—for instance, most recently, she has appeared with London Symphonia and The London Music Machine.

After completing her Bachelor’s of Music at the University of Victoria, Melanie received her Master’s in Piano Accompaniment from McGill University under the guidance of Michael McMahon. Beyond Montreal, she has been invited to further her studies at programs such as the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, The Centre for Opera Studies in Italy, Vancouver International Song Institute, and the Franz Schubert Institut in Austria.

Playing to Canadian, American, Italian, and Austrian audiences with features on CBC Radio and Bravo Television, Melanie has also performed locally with Pacific Opera Victoria’s touring productions of “La Cenerentola” and “Carmen”, as well as acting as rehearsal pianist for their Young Artist Program.

Michael Rose

Michael Rose, pianist, has performed in concert with many of Canada's finest artists and has enjoyed a long association with several of Canada's leading arts organizations, including Opera in Concert, Toronto Operetta Theatre, and Forte – Toronto Gay Men's Chorus. Prior to that, he worked for Edmonton Opera, Alberta College, The Banff Centre, and St. Louis Opera Theatre.

Although the bulk of his time is devoted to performing and teaching, writing and composition have always been part of Michael’s artistic process. His third full-length music theater work, the comedy A Northern Lights Dream, received its world premier in February of 2022 in Halifax, performed by students at the Fountain School for the Arts, Dalhousie University. Its professional premiere, performed by Toronto Operetta Theatre at Toronto’s St. Lawrence Center, was enthusiastically received in April of 2022.

TBA

Coming soon!

TBA

Coming Soon!

Past Faculty & Guests

Tina Chang

An active musician in Vancouver, Tina has performed across Canada, the US, and Europe. In addition to performing, Tina works as a vocal coach and has been on the music staff of Vancouver Opera since 2009. Academically, Tina is Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia and on faculty at the Vancouver Academy of Music. She has been a guest artist at Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts mentoring composers in writing idiomatically for the piano and the voice. She has also been on staff at Dalhousie University in Halifax where she coached voice and instrumental students as well as taught keyboard skills to piano and non-piano majors alike. She enjoys teaching, and maintains a private piano studio in Vancouver.

Giuseppe Pietraroia

Giuseppe Pietraroia is Associate Conductor for both the Victoria Symphony and Pacific Opera. As a guest conductor he has been engaged by l’Orchestre Métropolitain, Orchestra London, Vancouver Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Hamilton Philharmonic, Okanagan Symphony, Regina Symphony, Kingston Symphony and Thunder Bay Symphony. His extensive opera engagements with Pacific Opera include productions of Il Barbiere Di Siviglia, La Traviata, La Boheme, Lucia di Lammermoor, Norma, Rigoletto, Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly, La Cenerentola, Tosca, and Let’s Make an Opera/The Little Sweep. In addition, he has conducted productions for l’Opéra de Montréal, l’Opéra de Québec, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Edmonton Opera, Opera New Brunswick, Calgary Opera’s Emerging Artist Program, and l’Institut Canadien d’Art Vocal.

®KevinLightPhoto

Rebecca Hass

Rebecca Hass (Nitaawe giizhigok/ singing sky woman) is a performer, arts administrator, writer and creative living coach who has been a grateful visitor on Lekwungen territory since 2005. A mixed blood woman (Metis, French, German, British) she is currently the Director of Engagement Programs and Partnerships for Pacific Opera and the winner of the Nada Ristich Change Maker Ruby from Opera Canada for 2022.

A graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University with an Honours Bachelor in Music and Voice Performance, she has enjoyed an over 30-year career as a mezzo soprano performing across Canada with almost every opera company and orchestra as a soloist and lead performer. She has also created several cabarets, one woman shows and toured them to various communities (Wine, Women and Song, Wanna Sing a Showtune) and appeared in the Toronto production of The Phantom of the Opera as a swing.

A radio broadcaster and documentary maker for CBC, she is currently the creator, host and producer of the podcast What’s Up with Opera. Rebecca is currently creating a multi-media theatrical piece “Manaadjia” - which means “to take care of our people in order to conserve them for a long time”. Her vision and practice on the land is evolving as a window to the ancestors and a reawakening of our connection to place.