John Mac Master

Style: Opera; Classical; Musical Theatre

Title: Associate Professor, Schulich School of Music, McGill University, Canada

Bio: Canadian tenor John Mac Master has performed the most demanding roles of the dramatic tenor repertoire the world over: Cavaradossi (Tosca), Canio (Pagliacci), Otello, Manrico (Trovatore), Calaf (Turandot), Peter Grimes, Florestan (Fidelio), Tristan, Erik (Fliegende Holländer) and Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos) have been his calling cards at the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra Nationale de Paris, Vienna Volksoper; for the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam, in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Dresden, Barcelona, Melbourne, Singapore, Seoul, Beijing; for San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Opera Australia, all over the United States, and with every major symphony orchestra and opera company in Canada. He has performed with many of the greatest conductors of our time: Sir Colin Davis, Bernard Haitink, Sir Charles Mackerras, Richard Hickox, James Levine, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Daniel Harding, Mario Bernardi, Bramwell Tovey, Valery Gergiev, Robert Spano and so many others. On the concert stage, he has been engaged for Beethoven Symphony No 9, Verdi Requiem, Orff Carmina Burana, Mahler Symphony No 8 and Das Lied von der Erde on countless occasions, but also for Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass, Schoenberg Gurrelieder, and Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius. Associate Professor of Voice in the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montréal, Canada, Mac Master brings a wide and varied experience to his teaching. He began singing Acadian folksongs in the French language elementary schools he attended in Moncton, New Brunswick, and later would lead rock bands, a rock choir, and become a cantor and church musician in Roman Catholic parishes in Montreal, Toronto and New York. Choral music was and remains a passion: Iwan Edward’s St. Lawrence Choir, Wayne Riddell’s Tudor Singers (both in Montréal) and five years as a professional chorister in Lotfi Mansouri’s Canadian Opera Company in Toronto were all foundational. Onstage he also sang leading roles in musical theatre at Winnipeg’s Rainbow Stage, the Niagara-On-The-Lake’s Shaw Festival and in over 800 performances as Piangi in Phantom of the Opera in Toronto and on Broadway. His recordings include Beethoven Fidelio and Symphony No. 9 with the London Symphony Orchestra; von Weber’s Euryanthe with the Polish Radio Orchestra; Love for Three Oranges on Chandos; the world première recording of Langgarrd’s Antikrist (Danachord) and Handel’s Berenice on the Newport Classic label. Appointed Assistant Professor in The Schulich School of Music at McGill University in 2016, and promoted to Associate Professor in 2023, he taught previously at Western University in London ON, and is committed to sharing his knowledge and love for this great art with a new generation of performers and scholars. A graduate of Loyola College CEGEP, Concordia and McGill Universities (all in Montréal) his appointment to the Schulich School of Music marked a welcome return to Montréal, this city he loves, and where he has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with L’Orchestre Métropolitain and L’Opéra de Montréal. While he continues to perform (Beethoven 9 and Carmina Burana in 2023), he now happily devotes the greater part his time to his students, research, and service to McGill. Mac Master began his western art music voice studies with Jo-Anne Bentley at McGill University, and worked with countless other voice teachers, coaches, and conductors over the years in refining his singing. He is particularly grateful to the late Shirlee Emmons. But the crucial refinements were accomplished with William Riley in New York, to whom John continues to acknowledge his debt – as a singer, teacher, and mentor! John Mac Master received the Larry McCance Award for service to Canadian Actors’ Equity Association, and was awarded the Voice Education Research Awareness Award (VERA) by The Voice Foundation in Philadelphia in May 2024.

Voice Type: Tenor

Music Styles Taught: Opera; Classical; Musical Theatre

Availability: I am available as a performer; I am currently accepting private students; I am available as a clinician or presenter; I accept students through a college or university program

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