Michael Sproule
Michael Sproule, B.Mus. in Performance, Violin (University of Toronto) Diploma in Operatic Performance (University of Toronto)
Violin, Viola, Voice
Ottawa-born violinist and baritone Michael Sproule has built a unique career that has taken him from the Orchestra of the Canadian Opera Company to the stage. He is currently a member of the Canadian Opera Company Chorus and makes his solo debut this October in the role of the "French Abbé" in the Canadian Opera Company production of Prokofiev's War and Peace.
On the violin side, he received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance from the University of Toronto, studying with Lorand Fenyves. Michael furthered his violin studies with Rodney Friend in London, England, and in the Winter Programme at the Banff Centre for the Arts. He has won several awards including First Prize in the Remenyi Violin Competition, a grant from the Floyd S. Chalmers Foundation, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra Bursary. He has appeared as soloist with the Cathedral Bluffs Orchestra and the Huronia Symphony and was concertmaster of the Les Miserables Orchestra . Michael was a member of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra from 1990 to 2007 and has performed with many orchestras including the Esprit Orchestra, the National Ballet Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Brantford Symphony, and the orchestras of Miss Saigon, Beauty and the Beast, Crazy For You, Ragtime, Jane Eyre, and The Lion King.
On the singing side, Michael studied voice with Mary Morrison and Patricia Kern, receiving a Diploma in Operatic Performance from the University of Toronto. He also studied at the Britten-Pears School in England with Russian baritone Sergei Leiferkus. He created the role of John Wilson in the world premiere of The Last Duel by Gary Kulesha, and his operatic roles performed include Guglielmo in Mozart's Così Fan Tutte, Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, The Clock in Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges, Ford in Verdi's Falstaff, Rambaldo in La Rondine by Puccini, and The Ferryman in Benjamin Britten's Curlew River, a role he performed in Aldeburgh, England. Michael has appeared as soloist with the Talisker Players, the Georgetown Bach Choral, the Valley Festival, and the Brampton Festival Singers, and has performed in recital with pianist Roger Vignoles in Nagaoka, Japan.
Michael loves teaching and, in addition to teaching at the Classical Music Conservatory of Canada, he leads the Lower/Middle School and Upper School String Ensembles at the Crescent School in Toronto.