Our Soloists
Adam Schmidt - Tenor
Adam Schmidt is a tenor based in Surrey, BC. His repertoire spans from the early renaissance to modern music still in development, and is particularly known for his English and German Oratorio. Recent notable performances include St. John Passions with Victoria Baroque, and the Aura Chamber Choir, and Messiahs with Rosa Barocca, and the Malaspina Choir. He began his academic career as a software engineer, but after performing in his first opera with Pacific Opera Victoria (Otello, 2015) he realized that if he was going to be paid to sing, the least he could do was get some professional training! He began studying at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, and has been working in the arts ever since. Adam holds a BMus in Voice Performance from McGill, where he studied with John Mac Master, and twin diplomas in Voice Performance and in Vocal Pedagogy from the Victoria Conservatory, where he studied with Nancy Argenta and Ingrid Attrot. Adam maintains a small studio of students and has given masterclasses in both the United States and Canada.
Willy Miles-Grenzberg, Baritone
Willy Miles-Grenzberg (Baritone) has performed with the top opera companies, orchestras and choirs across Canada, as well as in churches, cafes, etc. as singer/song-writer/guitarist. He appears regularly with Vancouver Opera in both chorus and solo roles. He has performed as soloist in many of the great oratorios with Vancouver Bach Choir, The Handel Society, The Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra and The New Westminster Symphony. He has also performed with the Canadian Opera Co., Tapestry New Opera Works, The Elmer Iseler Singers, The Hamilton Bach-Elgar Choir, The Scarborough Symphony and the Amadeus Choir, among others.
Engagements with Vancouver Opera include appearing as The Marchese d'Obigny in La Traviata, the Customs House Sargent in La Boheme, and the Motorcycle Cop and Prison Guard 1 in Dead Man Walking. With the Vancouver Bach Choir he was baritone soloist in Carmina Burana and Stravinsky's Les Noces. He premiered Rita Ueda's The Old Man And The Sea with the Turning Point Ensemble, and a new production of her opera Debris with Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra. He performed the world premiere of Mark Armanini's Wang Wei Poems with the AU Ensemble in Amsterdam.
Willy is also an avid guitarist and song-writer, with a vast repertoire of folk, pop and jazz standards, along with a catalogue of over seventy original songs. He has also toured extensively in Canada and the U.S. as vocalist and bass-guitarist with Silk Road Music, a Vancouver-based Chinese “world music” ensemble, and is a featured vocalist on their c.d. “Village Tales”.
Szu-Wen Wang - Soprano
Praised for her “incandescent intonation and carefully crafter phrasing” by Opera
Canada magazine, soprano Szu-Wen Wang has performed with Vancouver Opera,
Vancouver City Opera, Vancouver Island Opera, North Shore Light Opera, DragonDiva
Operatic Theatre, Opera Appassionata, Vancouver Pro Musica, PCMA, and Postmodern
Camerata. A versatile musician, Szu-Wen has appeared in many oratorio performances,
chamber music concerts, and song recitals.
Szu-Wen holds a Bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance from Taipei National
University of the Arts, a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Vocal
Performance from the University of Texas at Austin. She has been both an apprentice
artist and Artist in Residence with Amarillo Opera in Texas. Currently a member of The
Postmodern Camerata Society and the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association, Szu-Wen
is also a passionate educator as she enjoys helping students achieving their goals.
Lauren Solomon - Mezzo-soprano
Character Mezzo-soprano, Lauren Solomon, is a graduate of the UBC Opera Program where she performed roles such as: ‘Mme. De la Haltière‘ in Cendrillon and ‘Mrs. Herring’ in Albert Herring. Laurenhas gone on to perform the roles of ‘Sister Mathilde’ in Dialogue of the Carmilites (Opera Nuova), Principessa’ in Suor Angelica/ Zita in Gianni Schicci(Vancouver Academy Opera Studio), ‘Marcellina’, in Le Nozze di Figaro (Dragon Diva Opera), ‘Witch’ in Hansel and Gretel as well as ‘Dritte Dame’ in Die Zauberflöte (ViVace). In 2017, Lauren made her debut with Vancouver Opera in Turandot (chorus) and sang the role of ‘Berta’ in Burnaby Lyric Opera’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia. In 2019 she sang the role of Zita in Gianni Schicci with Opera Mariposa. Most recently Lauren performed with Gallery 7 in the Sound of Music as ‘Sister Berthe’ (March 2019). When not performing, Lauren is an elementary music and voice teacher and is passionate about spreading the joy of music to children. Lauren is thrilled to be singing the role of Alto soloist in the Messiah this winter with the Handel Society.