Maria Jung
Music Director

Maria Hwa Yeong Jung is an active vocal collaborative pianist from Burnaby. Maria has worked at University of Toronto Faculty of Music as a vocal coach and staff accompanist, and accompanied the renowned Oriana Women’s Chorus and Acquired Taste Choir with conductor Mitchell Pady. She also worked as a music director and repetiteur for the Summer Opera Lyric Theater for the productions of Handel’s Cesare, and Marschner’s Der Vampyr. Maria is a graduate of University of Toronto, where she earned her Master’s degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy, and Bachelor’s degree in Music Education under the tutelage of Lydia Wong and Dr. James Parker. Recently graduated from New England Conservatory of Music, she studied with Dr. Cameron Stowe and John Moriarty in the Collaborative Piano Graduate Diploma program. 

She has performed with Music friends recital society as a collaborative artist, worked closely with Opera Mariposa for their production of Puccini’s Gianni Scchichi and debuted as a music director for their opera scenes concert. She is a faculty member at VSO school of music, a vocal coach at Vancouver Academy of Music for their college department and a staff pianist at Shadbolt Center for the Arts Dance department. 

Robin Hahn, Soprano
Stage Director, Miss Pinkerton Cast 1

Melissa Ratcliff, Mezzo-Soprano
Miss Todd – Cast 1, Producer

Hailed as “brilliant” (Opera Canada) and “honey-voiced” (Review Vancouver), Mezzo-Soprano Melissa studied music at the University of Alberta before moving to Vancouver. Recent appearances include Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte with Opera Mariposa, Eboli in Don Carlo, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Klytaemnestra in Elektra and Rossweisse in Die Walküre with Heroic Opera,  Second Lady in Magic Flute with Crescendo Operatic Society, Lady Jane in Patience and Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus with the North Shore Light Opera Society, Griselda in Alma with East Van Opera, Lt. Commander Joanne Galloway in A Few Good Men and Judge Group in Miracle on 34th Street with Theatre in the Country, and Cio Cio San’s Aunt in Madama Butterfly with Burnaby Lyric Opera. Melissa has performed regularly with the Vancouver Bach Choir, Burnaby Lyric Opera, Opera Opulenza, Chilliwack Opera and others.

Moriah Wax, Mezzo-Soprano
Miss Todd – Cast 2

Moriah Wax is originally from Los Angeles, CA.  She holds an MMUS in Opera Performance from The University of British Columbia and a BMUS in Vocal Arts from The University of Southern California. She has performed with groups such as Vancouver Opera, USC Thornton Opera, UBC Opera, The Lee Strasberg Theater in Hollywood, Musiktheater Bavaria, Operafestival di Roma, G&S Society of UBC, North Shore Light Opera Society, Heroic Opera, and Westben Arts Festival Theatre.  Previous roles include Ruth (Pirates of Penzance), Chancellor (Iolanthe), Knusperhexe (Hansel und Gretel), Jack’s Mother (Into The Woods), Waltraute (Die Walkure), Fillipyevna (Eugene Onegin), Mother (The Consul), Hippolyta (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Cornelia (Giulio Cesare), Agricola (Eine Nacht in Venedig), Lady Toodle (The English Cat), Florence Pike (Albert Herring), and Mad Margaret (Ruddigore).

Sevan Kochkarian, Soprano
Laetitia, Cast 1

Sevan is a lyric coloratura soprano from Vancouver BC. Sevan began her musical journey at the age of 8 when she was enrolled in piano lessons and joined the Vancouver Children’s Choir. At the age of 11 she started her private voice lessons and started dance classes at Precision Dance Academy. In her teenage years she studied at Vancouver Academy of Music with an Emphasis in Opera before heading to McGill University getting her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Opera and Voice performance. Sevan has been seen performing all over Canada and Europe. Some of her roles include Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Morgana in Alcina, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Mabel in Pirates of Penzances, Adina in L’elisir d’amore, Rita in Rita, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Paquette in Candide and many more. Opera Canada has written two reviews on her hailing her voice: “Beautiful and sings with a huge range of emotions” and claiming to have played her characters with “Sensitivity, and nuance and a true feeling of desire”. Sevan also studied at the Vancouver Acting School + Railtown Actors Studio for 5 years and is with Premiere Talent Agency doing TV and Film work. In addition to Opera, Sevan also has a huge passion for Musical Theatre and has performed in countless productions across the country. Her roles include Eponine in Les Misérables, Natalie Goodman in Next to Normal, Ariel Moore in Footloose, The Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods, Mayzie La Bird in Seussical, and more.

Nancy Hasiuk Lay, Soprano
Laetitia, Cast 2

Lyric-Coloratura Nancy Hasiuk-Lay, is frequently hailed for her sparkling and crystalline vocal tone balancing her animated, yet sensitive performances.  Nancy’s stage highlights include Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Cinderella in Into the Woods, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi,  Valencienne in The Merry Widow, Josephine in HMS Pinafore.  Solo recital and concert works include CPE Bach’s Magnificat, Schubert’s Mass in G Major and Handel’s Messiah.  Nancy was a featured soloist with Opera Mariposa, Fraser Valley Stage, North Shore Light Opera Society, Nancy is a passionate recitalist with repertoire ranging from Opera to Musical Theatre.  She is also an accomplished dancer, trained in both Classical Ballet and Ukrainian Dance.

Cameron Killick, Baritone
Bob, Cast 1

With a voice hailed by Opera Canada as ‘stunning’, ‘powerful’ and ‘sonorous’, baritone Cameron Killick has established himself among the forefront of Vancouver’s resident classical singers. He began studying music at the age of 16, attending Douglas College and later transferring to the University of British Columbia where he graduated with a degree in Opera Performance in 2014. He has worked with many of the arts organizations in town including Vancouver Opera, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, City Opera Vancouver, the Post-modern Camerata and the Vancouver Cantata Singers. Recent performance credits include baritone soloist in Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana’ with Laudate Singers and the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, Rodrigo in Verdi’s ‘Don Carlo’ and Banquo in Verdi’s ‘Macbeth’ with Heroic Opera, and Guglielmo from Mozart’s ‘Cosi fan Tutte’ as well as Germont from Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ with Opera Mariposa. Over the past few years he has branched into music production, arranging and recording, mostly as a means of staying sane during COVID.

Riley McMitchell, Baritone
Bob, Cast 2

Praised for his ‘lyrical, resonant voice’ (Opera Canada), baritone Riley McMitchell is equally comfortable in opera, musical theatre, and concert repertoire.  He has sung many operatic leading roles ranging from Handel to Verdi to Britten including Germont (La Traviata), Nabucco (Nabucco), Marcello (La Boheme), Gianni Schicchi (Gianni Schicchi), Malatesta (Don Pasquale), Falke (Die Fledermaus), Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte), Count (Marriage of Figaro), Bob (The Old Maid and the Thief), and Captain Corcoran (HMS Pinafore). He has recorded several concerts for CBC Radio and is a past national finalist of the CBC Opera Quiz. Riley holds a Bachelor of Music degree from UBC and Bachelor and Master of Education degrees from Simon Fraser University. He participated in two seasons of Opera Nuova and received a full scholarship to study at the Lyric Opera Studio in Weimar, Germany. He has performed throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. Riley also spent many years working as a choral director, voice teacher and elementary music teacher. When he is not singing, Riley is an Elementary School Principal in Vancouver and an advocate for inclusive, equitable public education.

Rachel Suzanne, Soprano
Miss Pinkerton, Cast 2

Rachel Suzanne (she/her) was born in Vancouver, BC. In addition to her extensive performing career, Rachel is a freelance music educator, teaching her own private studio, through the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music (VSOSoM), and is Assistant Conductor of the Vancouver Bach Children’s Choirs. Rachel holds a Master of Music in Opera Performance from the University of British Columbia, a Bachelor of Music in Voice from Mount Allison University, and a Conducting Certificate from Capilano University.

Rachel is an accomplished performer in concert, recital, and on the opera stage. She has performed as soloist for many works, including Orff’s Carmina Burana, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, and Handel’s Messiah. Operatic performances include Mary Crawford in Mansfield Park, Gianetta in The Gondoliers, The Brothel Keeper in Shadow Catch, and Frau Fluth in Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor. Rachel has performed alongside the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra for multiple of their Traditional Christmas Concerts.

Garrett Quirk
Announcer, Cast 1

Garrett Quirk’s mother will be the first one to tell you how he likes to act up. There’s a fire in that boy that only grows bigger with time. He began by founding a theatre company (Flying Shoe Players), and a film company (K/G Productions) while getting his theatre degree at Algonquin College in Ottawa. After starring in the Importance of Being Earnest (Plosive Prod.) and Twelfth Night (A Company of Fools), he tied a bandana to a stick and moved to Vancouver. First, he bought himself a great hat, and then starred in TV Shows (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Charmed, Take Two), and hit the stage in Seminar (Stages Theatre Co.) and Taming of the Shrew (Stone’s Throw Prod.) among many other fantastic endeavours. Making audiences feel something special is what drives him, and he’s grateful for the opportunity.

Kenneth Tynan
Announcer, Cast 2

Kenneth Tynan is an artist based in the lands belonging to the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples or colloquially known as Vancouver. He has been working for the past decade in theatre, film and Tv having had the pleasure of working on shows from Pageant: A Musical (Something Extra Collective), all the way to appearing in a small role in Power Rangers (2019). More recently he was a recurring character in Netflix’s Zero Chill, a figure skating youth TV program, and he was in Direct Theatre’s Monster last Fringe. Kenneth is also discovering his voice as a writer and had his play Moon Cakes appear in Fabulist Theatre’s recent production of The Dim Sum Diaries: A Second Helping, and will have his piece Qi-Pao go up this upcoming Fringe. He is pursuing creative writing at UBC and is excited to see what is to come!