JUDITH FORST, O.C., O.B.C., Guest Artist and Voice teacher

Canadian mezzo-soprano Judith Forst has sung with most major opera companies throughout North America and Europe, including over 250 performances with the New York , where she returned in 2013 for her 20th season. She has performed frequently with the San Francisco Opera Company, the Chicago Lyric Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, Dallas Opera, Houston Lyric Opera, New York City Opera and the Vancouver Opera Association. She has sung for over 10 seasons with the Santa Fe Opera. Recent European engagements have included performances in Italy, Czech Republic and the Netherlands. She made her debut at La Scala in 2006 singing Kabanichka in Janacek’s Katia Kabanova. Ms Forst’s most recent North American successes have included highly-acclaimed performance as Kabanichka at the Met, Kostelnicka in Janacek’s Jenufa with the Dallas Opera, and Dead Man Walking with the Pittsburgh Opera. Ms Forst scored a personal and critical triumph in 2010 with her world premiere performance as Lilian Alling with the Vancouver Opera Association. She performed another world premiere with the Calgary Opera in January 2011, singing in Bramwell Tovey’s The Inventor. Her 2013 performances of the Old Prioress in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites with the Canadian Opera Company were hailed as “emotionally shattering” and “magnificent.” Her busy 2015 schedule included a return to the Chicago Lyric Opera and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Her 2017 performances of Dead Man Walking with the Vancouver Opera Festival were hailed as “devastating” and “unforgettable.” In 1991, Ms Forst received an honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of , the first performing artist alumna to be so honored, and in 1995, the University of Victoria conferred upon Ms Forst an Honorary Doctorate of Music. In 1992, Forst was inducted into the Order of Canada and in 2001 she was inducted into the Order of British Columbia. In 2004, she received Opera Canada’s prestigious Ruby Award marking her distinguished worldwide career in opera. Ms Forst now works continually at the Banff School, and with the young singers in the University of British Columbia’s Opera Programme.