Winnipeg-based soprano Andrea Lett light up this stage, whose Clorinda showcased her confident, pitch-perfect voice (not to mention razor-sharp acting chops) matched equally by Canadian-Bulgarian mezzo-soprano Adanya Dunn (MO debut) as her sisterly counterpart, Tisbe. The pair infused the show with plenty of comic punch, hilariously mugging and sparring for the Prince’s favours while navigating a gazillion quick costume changes. They also easily held their own during Act 2 sextet “Questo è un nodo avviluppato” that became an overall show highlight.

Read the full review here:
Opera Canada

Each June, the Vancouver Opera Guild presents a Career Development Grant to a person involved in the field of opera. The purpose of the Career Development Grant is to assist young singers who are preparing for a career in the performance area of opera or those involved in the technical or production areas of opera by helping them financially so that they can improve their skills or work on a personal project related to opera.

For more information visit:
Vancouver Opera Guild

The delights and dangers of midsummer dreams by Mark Tiarks Jul 30, 2021

“Hermia likes to be in control, and she’s used to getting her way,” says Adanya Dunn, who plays the role. “She knows she has a certain kind of power over people, regardless of her small stature. She’s an independent woman who also enjoys having attention.”

Are there any connections between Hermia and Adanya? “Absolutely,” she says. “One hundred percent.”

Dunn, who grew up in Toronto, is a former competitive figure skater with lots of dance and yoga training. She’s also a pole dancer who has developed what she calls “pole-dance burlesque opera-singing routines. So I know how to sing while going up and down holding myself in different positions.”

The most fireworks came from the Canadian mezzo Adanya Dunn and the South Korean countertenor Minho Jeong as the superstitious couple Zenobia and Radamisto. […] the most dimensions. This is how Zenobia sings in the aria ‘Empio, perverso cor!’ in two splitting lines both the hatred of Tiridate and the love of Radamisto.
– Joost Galema, NRC Dutch News

“I’m confident that Salomon would have joyfully recognised herself in Adanya Dunn’s candid, open, funny Charlotte (her youthful voice deliciously clear).”
– Judi Herman, JEWISH RENAISSANCE

“And Adanya Dunn’s Margaret — it is through her eyes that the story unfolds — is superb at scaling the full range of human emotion through voice and gesture.”
– Anna Borowiecki, ST. ALBERT GAZETTE

Each June, the Vancouver Opera Guild presents a Career Development Grant to a person involved in the field of opera. The purpose of the Career Development Grant is to assist young singers who are preparing for a career in the performance area of opera or those involved in the technical or production areas of opera by helping them financially so that they can improve their skills or work on a personal project related to opera.
For more information visit:
Vancouver Opera Guild

The Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation is pleased to announce that 42 talented young Canadian opera singers have been selected to receive financial assistance for the production of audio and video demonstration recordings. This is an exceptional program that will help singers advance their performing careers.
Read the release here:
The Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation
 

“Adanya Dunn as Hermia, the object of his affection (and dis-affection and then affection again) is a cool beauty with a warm mezzo. Her lush, pleasantly dusky vocalizing easily traversed the role’s mood swings from petulant determination to whimpering defeat.”
Santa Fe Opera Fields a ‘Dream’ Team by Jacob Sohre | Opera Today – August 2021

“Soprano Teresa Perrotta and mezzo-soprano Adanya Dunn were nicely contrasting as Helena and Hermia, […Adanya with] nuanced and physically engaged characterization.”
Substance, not pure silliness, the heart of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by Mark Tiarks | The Santa Fe New Mexican – Aug 6, 2021

The delights and dangers of midsummer dreams by Mark Tiarks Jul 30, 2021

“Hermia likes to be in control, and she’s used to getting her way,” says Adanya Dunn, who plays the role. “She knows she has a certain kind of power over people, regardless of her small stature. She’s an independent woman who also enjoys having attention.”

Are there any connections between Hermia and Adanya? “Absolutely,” she says. “One hundred percent.”

Dunn, who grew up in Toronto, is a former competitive figure skater with lots of dance and yoga training. She’s also a pole dancer who has developed what she calls “pole-dance burlesque opera-singing routines. So I know how to sing while going up and down holding myself in different positions.”

$20,000 Grant awarded to Music Academy of the West alumna Adanya Dunn (mezzo-soprano ’14, ’15), presenting InsideOut: Pop-Up Concerts & Walking Concert Tour (Red Light Arts & Culture). These will be a range of indoor and outdoor, socially-distanced concerts (following a range of COVID protocols), in Amsterdam’s Red Light District.

The Academy received a record number of applicants (98) for the fourth annual 2021 Alumni Enterprise Awards. The six Award winners will receive $85,000 in grants to complete their projects in 2021. Their bold plans address challenges from the pandemic, the call for social justice, gender equality, and include music both written and performed by BIPOC composers and musicians.

PRESS RELEASES & ARTICLES
Music Academy of the West
Broadway World
Santa Barbara News-Press
Musical America
Noozhawk

One of five Winners for the Michigan District’s Metropolitan National Council Auditions. Adanya will compete the Eastern Regional Finals on February 13, 2021.
– For more information, click here.

The most fireworks came from the Canadian mezzo Adanya Dunn and the South Korean countertenor Minho Jeong as the superstitious couple Zenobia and Radamisto. […] the most dimensions. This is how Zenobia sings in the aria ‘Empio, perverso cor!’ in two splitting lines both the hatred of Tiridate and the love of Radamisto.
– Joost Galema, NRC Dutch News

Adanya Dunn is named by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as one of Canada’s top 30 under 30 for classical musicians on their 2017 Edition. Read the full list by Robert Rowat at CBC Music.

“I’m confident that Salomon would have joyfully recognised herself in Adanya Dunn’s candid, open, funny Charlotte (her youthful voice deliciously clear).”
– Judi Herman, JEWISH RENAISSANCE

“It rarely happens that a recital series strikes excellence in programming from the word go, but the group of musicians that include vocalist Adanya Dunn, clarinetist Brad Cherwin, Alice Hwang at the piano and visiting musicians […]. Dunn sang expressively […] A brief “Gebet an Pierrot” from Schoenberg’s much heftier Pierrot lunaire cycle followed […] Dunn was immediately dramatic and gave a good idea of the mood of the entire piece. It was again a brief sample that left me wanting to hear more from where that came from. So: a superbly planned recital, with a rich banquet of textures and colours, most of which we rarely get to sample here in Toronto. I’ve been re-listening to the entire program on the Naxos Online Library, piece by piece, all morning. Next time these people throw a recital, run don’t walk.”
– Lydia Perovic, DEFINITELY THE OPERA

“They sing from twenty feet and from three inches—distances that shame dramatic weaknesses and relax young voices. Standouts in the cast—the strongest Ivany has put together—were baritone Peter Rolfe Dauz as a jumpy embezzler and Adanya Dunn in one of the few tragic parts, as a tormented and vengeful daughter.

[Dunn’s voice with] bassoon improvisation that turned out to be based on “Non so più.” […] it was more of a dramatic experiment than a musical one, and it sparkled.”
– Lev Bratishenko, OPERA NEWS

“Finally, Adanya Dunn (and Fawn Opera collaborating artist) was awesome and powerful as the Messenger, filling the performance space with exciting sound. Her first sounds came from behind hanging, translucent panels that filled the stage, and the result gave me goosebumps.”
– Jenna Douglas, SCHMOPERA

“Rounding the cast out was Adanya Dunn as The Messenger. This is a role that requires a lot of physical acting, perhaps mirroring Hermas’ mental processes […] movement as well as singing was very well realized.”
– John Gilks, OPERA RAMBLINGS

“[..] a strong presence.” – Leslie Barcza, BARCZA BLOG 

“And Adanya Dunn’s Margaret — it is through her eyes that the story unfolds — is superb at scaling the full range of human emotion through voice and gesture.”
– Anna Borowiecki, ST. ALBERT GAZETTE