Leanne Kaufman is a Toronto-based soprano, originally from Calgary. Her recent engagements include concert debuts of Handel's Messiah and Mozart's Requiem, and performances of La Contessa (Le nozze di Figaro) with Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) at the Westben Festival and Music Niagara, and Musetta (La bohème) with Highlands Opera Studio.

 

Leanne regularly performs with the Canadian Opera Company, covering roles such as Frantík / Jay (The Cunning Little Vixen) and Fourth Maid (Elektra), and participating in the workshops of new Canadian operas such as Ana Sokolovic's The Old Fools and Ian Cusson'sopera for young audiences, Fantasma. She has been a member of the COC Chorus since 2018.

 

Leanne is a graduate of the University of Toronto, where she completed her Master of Music in Opera under the mentorship of Wendy Nielsen. Her performances with UofT Opera included: Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Rhoda Rosenstein (Gershwin's Of Thee I Sing) and Vénus (Orphée aux Enfers). As part of the UofT New Music Festival, Leanne created the role of Claire Zachanassian in the world premiere of Vengeance, a collaboration with the UofT Composer Collective, based on an adapted libretto by Michael Patrick Albano. In 2017, she performed in the ensemble of Against the Grain Theatre's iconic production of La bohème, where she also covered Musetta.

 

Leanne holds a Bachelor of Music in Opera from the University of British Columbia, where she was a student of Heather Thomson-Price. As part of the UBC Opera Ensemble, Leanne performed in many operas and orchestral works, notably as Hatá (The Bartered Bride), as a featured soloist in Handel's Messiah with the UBC Symphony Orchestra, and in various concerts with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Bramwell Tovey and various guest conductors. As the 2015 winner of the Strauss Foundation Scholarship, Leanne was afforded the opportunity to study at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria, where she studied with renowned soprano Michèle Crider at the Internationale Sommerakademie.

 

Further credits include: Jade Boucher (Dead Man Walking), Meg March (Adamo's Little Women), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), and La voix (Les contes d'Hoffmann).