GGS Alumni Spotlight: Jonelle Sills and the Three Rs of Opera

Jonelle performing Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and Carlos Simon’s Portrait of a Queen in her 2020 debut with the National Arts Centre Orchestra

You may have seen Glenn Gould School alumna Jonelle Sills (ADP ’18, soprano) in recent live performances of the Brahms Requiem with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Or perhaps you heard her as Mimì in Against the Grain Theatre’s award-winning production of La Bohème, which was first livestreamed by the CBC in 2019, then rebroadcast in 2020 for opera- starved music lovers during the pandemic.

We sat down with Jonelle to discuss her experience as an emerging artist as live performances begin to re-emerge.

Arias: Canadian Voices of Opera, Portraits by V. Tony Hauser

Q: Can you recall your earliest exposure to opera and/or classical music, or remember what initially drew you towards opera as an art form? From there, how did you decide to pursue operatic singing as a career?

Jonelle Sills: My earliest memory of being impacted by opera was when I was a high school student. I went on a field trip to the Four Seasons Centre to see the Canadian Opera Company's production of La Bohème. There was a specific moment when Rodolfo introduced Mimì to his friends in Act II and said: "Perché...perché son io il poeta, essa la poesia..." (For...for I am a poet; and she is poetry itself). After that performance, I wrote that text all over my binders, I was so moved by how something could be so beautiful.

Following this experience, there were many stepping stones that have led me to where I am. I was a member of Bach Children’s Chorus which was my first experience with classical music. As I prepared to go to York University for classical voice, I studied with Barbara Fris. When I started at York I had the opportunity to study with Stephanie Bogle and work with Catherine Robbin, Lissette Canton, Norma Burrowes, Raisa Nakhmanovich and many more faculty members. Stephanie Bogle is also a faculty member at GGS, and encouraged me in my first year at York to work towards attending GGS to complete my ADP for Voice and Opera performance.

Even as a student I wouldn’t say that I knew that I wanted to pursue a career, but I just knew that I wanted to become a better singer. I wanted to be in communities that challenged me and allowed me to be a better singer. I feel that focusing on growing in my craft has allowed me to ground myself and grow my career.

Jonelle rehearsing in Koerner Hall
for the 2018 GGS production of
Die Fledermaus as Rosalinde.

Q: Who or what do you most enjoy listening to these days?

Jonelle Sills: I have such a mixed bag of favourites, but currently I am listening to a lot of Maverick City Music, James Blake, Kanye West, Beethoven and Mascagni.

Q: You are currently a member of the Yulanda M. Faris Young Artists Program at Vancouver Opera – what has this experience been like for you during the pandemic, and how have you been balancing your time between Vancouver and Toronto?

Jonelle Sills: It has been the best experience and I am so grateful to all of the staff at Vancouver Opera. It truly was and is a gift to work so closely with such talented staff and colleagues. Although the season was reimagined, we were lucky that they still invested in their young artists. It was definitely different, singing with masks and socially distanced staging. The team was very supportive as we navigated through these learning curves of presenting art during a global pandemic. Going to Vancouver was a gift, and I am counting down the days until I return.

Q: As a modern performer, how do you conceptualize the future of opera?

Jonelle Sills: My hope for the future of opera would be that it is willing to take more risks. I hope that opera in Canada will take baby steps to try new things. I see this risk-taking in my smaller companies but would love to see larger organizations take more.

Q: As a recent GGS alumna (ADP '18), what would your advice be for graduating students? What can they be doing now to set themselves up for success?

Jonelle Sills: My best advice to current GGS students may seem simple but it’s so important – work hard and be kind to everyone you get the opportunity to work with. As a student at GGS, we are super lucky to work with staff and guest faculty that are currently working in the arts. While I was at GGS, I was able to build relationships with working professionals. My transition from graduating from GGS to “the real world” was far easier because of the relationships that I made as a student.

Jonelle is featured as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D Minor with Stewart Goodyear, the Penderecki String Quartet and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir on Wednesday, February 9, 2022 in Koerner Hall. Tickets for this performance are available from the Koerner Hall box office – for both the in-person concert and the online stream, which will be available for seven days on RoyalConservatory.Live.

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