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The Canadian soprano, artist ansd teacher, Ana Toumine, is graduate of the University of British Columbia (UBC), she completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Opera Performance. She traveled with UBC Opera to perform her first role as Kuchtík in Rusalka at the Usti nad Labem Opera House in the Czech Republic. She then went on to complete a Post-Bacc Diploma in Performance from the University of Manitoba, where she studied with renowned coloratura soprano, Tracy Dahl. She completed her Master’s of Music degree in Opera and Voice performance at McGill University under the creative eye of Dominique Labelle.
In 2016, Ana Toumine made three role debuts: as the title role of George Frideric Handel's Alcina with Opera McGill, Mimí in La Bohème at Opera Nuova, Anna Glawari in The Merry Widow with the McGill Savoy Society, and recently starred as Rosalinde in Strauss' Die Fledermaus. This past year (2016), she was honored to be nominated as a semi-finalist for the Elizabeth Wirth Vocal Competition at the Schulich School of Music. Previously, she was a recipient of the North Dakota district Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Encouragement Award, as well as a 2015 Alberta Foundation of the Arts Training and Career Development Grant. That same year, she was selected to participate in Winnipeg’s ACI Mentorship program where she received opportunities to perform in recital with Little Opera Company, as well as shadow the role of Musetta in Manitoba Opera’s production of La Bohème. UShe made her debut in Opera Kelowna’s La Bohème as Mimí, in August 2017.
As a consistent “personal favourite” (Vancouver Arts Review), Ana Toumine is actively establishing herself as an accomplished singing-actress. As an indicator of her presence as a young artist, she was recently awarded the R. Murray Schafer Scholarship from IRCPA Toronto, named a 30 under 30 artist with the Alberta Council of Ukrainian Arts, the 2020 Flipside Opera Idol, the 2019 winner of the North Dakota-Manitoba District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and the 2019 second prize winner of the Vancouver Opera’s 1st inaugural VOX Gala competition. This season (2021-2022), she can be seen as a member of the Edmonton Opera Emerging Artists Studio, as well as a contributing fellow of the Association for Opera in Canada - LINK RBC Future Launch Emerging Artist Fellowship Program.
As the pandemic presented many cancellations, Ana Toumine can still be seen performing in the IRCPA Singing Stars Concert on Classical 96.3 FM, with Edmonton Opera in the 2021 Valentine’s Opera Gala with Global TV, and as a semi-finalist in the WMC Mclellan Competition for solo performance with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in February 2022. Sadly, her debut role of Bea in Three Decembers with Little Opera Company has been cancelled due to the pandemic.
In past years, Ana Toumine has distinguished herself as an artist in residence of the Open Space: Opera in the 21st Century program at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, the Canadian Vocal Arts Institute in Montréal, and Opera NUOVA. She has also received recognition from the Alberta Foundation of the Arts and been awarded a Training and Career Development Grant. She performed in recital in Winnipeg after being awarded the Orville J. Derraugh Memorial Scholarship, and in that same year was selected to participate in Winnipeg’s ACI Mentorship program (now Creative Manitoba). As a mentee, she received opportunities to perform in recital with Little Opera Company, as well as shadow the role of Musetta in Manitoba Opera’s production of La Bohème.
Ana Toumine’s 2019-2020 season began with a collaborative recital with friend and pianist Timothy Ledger through L’Oasis Musicale Concert Series in Montréal; numerous community engagement concerts with Edmonton Opera, Manitoba Opera, Flipside Opera, and Little Opera Company; and a return to her hometown of Edmonton, Alberta in a performance of Johannes Brahms’ Liebeslieder Walzer, Op. 52, as an alumna soloist in the Cantilon Choirs 20th Anniversary Concert. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, as all her fellow artists, she suffered cancellations and postponements, among which included her debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana with Toronto City Opera, and a featured chorus role in Manitoba Opera’s production of Georges Bizet's Carmen.
In addition to performance, Ana Toumine also translates her keen understanding of storytelling and human emotion as a freelance illustrator, character designer, and sculptor. Working primarily in figurine sculpture and illustration, as a visual artist, her art embodies childlike and whimsical expressions. She embraces the fragility of the human condition, using polymer clay as a primary medium for her figurines and traditional watercolor in illustration. She has been immersed in visual and performing art her entire life. Coming from multiple generations of professional artists, her curiosity to create was encouraged by the history of her family lineage. She created Tiny Tou Studios in 2017, a platform to create and sell her art pieces. These quickly became popular as personalized gifts, cards, and original paintings. She has recently made a change to work under her own name, as she pursues her art more seriously and begins to enter the publishing world. She is represented by Natasha Mihell at The Rights Factory.
Ana Toumine is as passionate about vocal instruction as she is about performing. She maintains a private voice studio for advanced students in opera and musical theatre, where she focuses on the students needs and individuality as performers. Ana is currently accepting students - all lessons are currently online. |
