“But the most stunning and evocative moments of the night came from soprano Jonelle Sills… and moved me to tears… the immediacy of Sills’ acting and singing voice was inescapable. Sills’ performance made the night for me.” (Calgary Herald, Stephan Bonfield)
Ms. Sills was named one of York University’s 2022 Top 30 Alumni Under 30 and in 2020 was one of Canada’s 30 hot classical musicians under 30 by CBC Music. One of the most exciting emerging sopranos of her generation, Jonelle recently made her company debut at the Canadian Opera Company as Mimi in La bohème, where she was lauded for being a “beautifully sensitive Mimi with careful control and colour” (The Globe and Mail)
Upcoming this season, Sills looks forward to returns to Vancouver Opera as Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème.
Her 2025 season saw role debuts of Miss Jessel in Britten’s The Turn of The Screw with a company debut at Pacific Opera Victoria. Making her Harris Theatre Debut in Chicago in Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha.
On the concert stage, she has recently made returns to the National Arts Centre Orchestra under the batons of Alexander Shelley, Dinuk Wijeratne, and Cosette Justo Valdés; joined the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir for Brahms’ Requiem, and presented recital programs for both Prince Edward County Chamber Music Festival and Ottawa’s Chamberfest.
Past highlights include her Canadian Tour as Mimì in La Bohème with Against the Grain Theatre. Residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Against the Grain Theatre’s “Opera in the 21st Century” program. In her residency she premiered the role of Esther in Poala Prestini’s (Composer) and Royce Vavreck (Librettist) Silent Light directed and designed by Thaddeus Strassberger.
Other performance highlights include Sills’ main stage debut with Vancouver Opera as Helena in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, joining the star-studded all Canadian cast of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music at Koerner Hall, a Canadian tour as Mimì in La bohème with Against the Grain Theatre, and her role debut of Tatyana in Eugene Onegin with Highlands Opera Studio.
She was in residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity for their Opera in the 21st Century program, where she premiered the role of Esther in Poala Prestini and Royce Vavreck’s Silent Light, directed and designed by Thaddeus Strassberger. In April of 2019, she made her company debut with Toronto’s Against The Grain Theatre in Vivier’s Kopernikus, which earned her a 2019 Dora Award as a member of the ensemble.
Further operatic credits include Rosalinde in J. Strauss’ Die Fledermaus with The Glenn Gould School, Musetta in La Bohème in the Muskoka Opera Festival, Micaëla in Carmen with Summer Opera Lyric Theatre, and Cecchina in La Cecchina with The Glenn Gould School. As Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia (MYOpera), Jonelle was praised for, “she handles the huge vocal range expertly and takes us on a beautiful dramatic arc throughout the show” (Schompera, Greg Finney).
Currently based in Toronto Ms. Sills has completed her studies in the the Artist Diploma Program (ADP) at The Glenn Gould School at The Royal Conservatory of Music in 2018. Jonelle has also performed in master classes and coachings with notable artist such as Gerald Finley, Liz Upchurch, Adrianne Pieczonka, Tim Noble, Martin Katz, Catherine Robbin, Dawn Upshaw and Joan Dornemann.