Canadian soprano Allison Cecilia Arends is a versatile singer whose “voice is stunningly beautiful and [is used] with intelligence and great sensitivity” (Hnatyshyn Foundation). Active as an interpreter of opera, new music, and concert repertoire, she is noted for having “charmed listeners with her lyrical upper tones” and for her “empathetic acting” (Opera Canada).

Allison looks forward to a busy 2025/26 Season singing opera arias with the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra in their 40th Anniversary Concert, joining Cantabile Chamber Singers as an ensemble member for their season, as well as other future projects to be announced. An active examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music, this will take her to various locations across the country. She will adjudicate the music festival in Etobicoke, Ontario and the Contemporary Showcase for the Etobicoke-Mississauga chapter of the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association.

Having performed across Canada, the United States, Germany, Austria, Italy, England, Israel, and China, Allison is in high demand as an interpreter of opera, oratorio, and new music. Allison toured with the Brahms Symphony Orchestra across China in a series of Viennese concerts, and was honoured to perform at Rideau Hall, as well as for International Dignitaries in Calgary and Toronto. In addition to her performing, Allison maintains a busy private music studio in Toronto, is a voice examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music, and regularly adjudicates music festivals from coast to coast. Having formerly taught for St. Michael’s and Timothy Eaton Memorial’s Choir Schools, Allison has conducted choral, vocal, and educational workshops and masterclasses for the Edna Manley Music College in Jamaica, University of Mississippi, British Columbia Provincial Music Festival, Grande Prairie Music Teachers’ Association, Regina Conservatory of Music, Ryerson Oakham House Choir, Opera Atelier, and the Royal Canadian College of Organists.

Allison is a graduate of Calgary Opera’s Emerging Artist Program, and completed a Masters of Music at the University of Toronto Opera School and a Bachelor of Music at the University of Victoria Voice Performance Program. Allison currently studies privately with W. Stephen Smith in Chicago, and has previously studied under the tutelage of Mary Morrison, Timothy Noble, Wendy Nielsen, Alexandra Browning, Selena James, and Diana Woolrich. She has completed summer studies at the Alliance Française, Goethe Institut, Britten-Pears Young Artist Program, Opera Workshop for Advanced Singers in St. Andrews, Highlands Opera Studio, Centre for Opera Studies in Italy, International Vocal Arts Institute in Israel, Queen of Puddings Music Theatre, Banff Centre, Franz Schubert-Institut in Austria, and Stuttgart Festival International Choir under the direction of Maestro Helmuth Rilling.

Allison’s awards include first place and audience choice in the Clifford Poole Voice Competition, being named a Laureate of the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques, second place in the Barry Alexander International Voice Competition, third place in the Spazio Musica International Competition, first place in the Gordon C. Wallis Vocal Competition, the Hnatyshyn Foundation Governor General’s Award for Classical Voice, a Senior Award through the B.C. Arts Council, an Encouragement Award through the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Holbrook Opera Tour Graduating Award, and scholarships from the Johann Strauss Foundation, the Aldeburgh Foundation, the Wagner Society, ARIAS (formerly COVC), and the Universities of Toronto and Victoria. She was also a participant and semi-finalist in the Joy in Singing masterclass series and competition in New York.