John R. Stratton Visitor in Music: Masterclass: Tracy Dahl

Join us for a week of celebrations marking Mary Morrison’s 100th birthday and honouring her enduring legacy. We are delighted to welcome one of Mary’s past students, renowned soprano Tracy Dahl as John R Stratton Visitor in Music. Dahl will lead a public master class featuring singers from our Faculty of Music's Voice Studies and Opera programs.

Registration required for this event.

Tracy Dahl, C.M., O.M.Canadian coloratura soprano’s career now spans over 40 years, having started in theatre and musical theatre and transitioning to opera. Her rich and diverse career in concert and opera has taken her to some of the world’s most famous stages including the Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Le Châtelet in Paris, Sydney Opera House, the Hollywood Bowl and all the major Canadian opera companies. Known initially for her comic roles — Adele in Die Fledermaus, Eurydice in Orpheus in the Underworld, Norina in Don Pasquale, and Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffman — more signature lyric roles were to follow; Marie in La Fille du Régiment, Gilda in Rigoletto and Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Madame Mao in Nixon in China and, her most frequently performed role, Zerbinetta in Ariadne of Naxos. She was in the world premiere of The Ghosts of Versailles as Florestine at the Metropolitan Opera, the North American premiere of The Golden Ticket as Violet Beauregard for Opera Theatre of St Louis and Child Alice by David Del Tredici at Carnegie Hall.In concert Ms. Dahl has enjoyed performing in recitals and concert works not only in North America but in Europe and Australia, in a wide range of music including Mozart, Bernstein, Mahler, Strauss, Orff and Bach. Recordings include, for Naxos label, Madame Mao in Nixon in China and the for CBC, Juno-nominated album Glitter and Be Gay, Rhymes and Rêveries, The Millennium Opera Gala, A Gilbert and Sullivan Gala with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Love Walked In, an all-Gershwin recording with the Bramwell Tovey Trio, and A Disney Spectacular with Telarc. She cherishes her work with conductors Mario Bernardi, Bramwell Tovey, Yves Abel, Sir Colin Davis, Marin Alsop, Stephen Lord and James Levine. Ms. Dahl has been a voice teacher at the University of Manitoba since 1997 and a guest instructor for young artists programs across Canada and the United States, notably for the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, the Opera Theater of St Louis, the Canadian Opera Company and Calgary Opera’s McPhee Emerging Artists program. In 2009, Dahl was awarded the Ruby by Opera Canada for her outstanding achievements on stage. In 2012, she received the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s Golden Baton Award for her artistic achievements. She was awarded the Order of Canada in 2017 for her work as an artist and as a mentor/teacher. In 2026 Ms Dahl received the Order of Manitoba and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Canadian Actor’s Equity.Recent engagements include being a guest soloist with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra on New Year’s Day, with Flipside Opera and Art Song Collective. performing the complete Italienisches Liederbuch by Wolf. This season, she sang another signature role, Despina for Vancouver Opera and reprised the role in Atom Egoyan’s production at the Canadian Opera company of Cosi Fan Tutte, and debuted in the role of Iöle in Handel’s Hercules. Fall 2026, She has performed in recitals across Canada this summer and fall in Vancouver, Saskatoon, and in Toronto.