GILES TOMKINS

BASS-BARITONE

NEWS ARCHIVE

SEPTEMBER 26, 2014

The 2014/2015 performance season got off to an early and successful start for Giles. The beginning of September saw Giles perform the role of Angelotti in Puccini's Tosca for Opera Lyra Ottawa. The reviews were very positive, including the Charlebois Post claiming that he was "most effective as the escaped prisoner Angelotti looking ragged and hungry as he scurried about the stage looking for places to hide." In December, Giles will once again perform Handel's Messiah with the Elmer Iseler Singers, and will debut the title role in The Mikado with Toronto Operetta Theatre. The season continues next February with a major role debut for Pacific Opera Victoria. He will join the cast of Donizetti's bel canto masterpiece Lucia di Lammermoor, singing Raimondo, a role he will then repeat with Edmonton Opera next April. On the concert stage, he will head to Vancouver next March to sing Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Vancouver Bach Choir under the expert leadership of conductor Leslie Dala.

 

OCTOBER 30, 2013

Lots of exciting events are coming up for Giles this season.  First off, he heads back to Vancouver Opera to revisit the role of Superintendent Budd in Britten's Albert Herring in November.  Returning to Vancouver Opera in March 2014, Giles will make his debut in both the roles of Leporello and the Commendatore in Mozart's Don Giovanni.  And in April 2014, Giles will debut with Manitoba Opera, singing Colline in Puccini's La Bohème, a role he has performed several times to critical acclaim.  A return to Ottawa's Thirteen Strings (Bach's St. John Passion), and a debut with Symphony New Brunswick (Beethoven's Ninth Symphony) complete a very thriving and rewarding performing season!

 

JANUARY 23, 2013

Giles is currently enjoying being back in beautiful Victoria, BC as part of Pacific Opera Victoria's Britten Festival. He will be playing Superintendent Budd in Albert Herring, which opens at the Royal Theatre on February 7th, and he will also be the wicked Sweepmaster in Let's Make An Opera/The Little Sweep, which begins its run on March 2nd at the Belfry Theatre.

 

MARCH 7, 2012

Giles is looking forward to spending the summer at one of the world's most prestigious opera festivals, the Glyndebourne Festival in the UK. He will be joining the company to sing in the chorus of three major productions, Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Puccini's La Bohème, and Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges. Le Nozze di Figaro will also be presented in a concert performance at London's Royal Albert Hall at the end of August. He is also thrilled to be returning next year to both Vancouver Opera and Pacific Opera Victoria, to sing Sergeant of Police in The Pirates of Penzance, and Superintendent Budd in Britten's Albert Herring, respectively.

 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

Giles is excited to be starting the new season with his Opera Hamilton debut! He will be performing Don Basilio in Rossini’s comic masterpiece The Barber of Seville. Performances will take place October 22 – 29 at the new home of Opera Hamilton, The Dofasco Centre for the Arts. Further concert announcements include a debut with Symphony Nova Scotia, a 30th Anniversary Gala Concert with the Aldeburgh Connection, and the title role in Verdi’s Oberto with Opera In Concert.

 

JUNE 14, 2011

The reviews are in!  Check out the REVIEWS section to read the latest ones, including Damnation of Faust with Vancouver Bach Choir, and The Devil & Kate with Opera In Concert.  Stay tuned for concert announcements for the 2011-12 season!  Have a great summer!

 

JANUARY 20, 2011

On Sunday, March 27th, Giles will perform with Toronto's Opera In Concert in a presentation of Dvorak's The Devil & Kate. One of Dvorak's last operas, this twisted comedy will be performed in English, and will take place at Toronto's Jane Mallett Theatre (St. Lawrence Centre). Giles' upcoming operatic and concert performances also include La Boheme (Pacific Opera Victoria), and La Traviata (Vancouver Opera).

 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

On October 20th at the Koerner Hall in Toronto, Tambuco, four master Mexican percussionists, joins with four exceptional Canadian singers: Virginia Hatfield and Eve-Lyn de la Haye, sopranos; Krisztina Szabó, mezzo-soprano; and bass-baritone Giles Tomkins. These artists perform electrifying works that fuse the ancient and the modern.  The program features World Premieres of three Soundstreams commissions by Javier Alvarez (Mexico), Analia Llugdar (Canada) and Ana Sokolovic (Canada),  plus Osvaldo Golijov’s Demos Gracias al Señor, George Crumb’s The American Songbook and Dios Nunca Muere (Traditional Mexican). Presented by Soundstreams.

 

APRIL 26, 2010

This summer, Giles will be returning to the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy (COSI) to perform the role of Achilla in Handel's Giulio Cesare.  He will also sing Colline in La Boheme at the Highlands Opera Studio in Haliburton, Ontario.  Performances will take place at the Northern Lights Performing Arts Pavilion at the end of August. In 2011, Giles will return to Pacific Opera Victoria and debut with Vancouver Opera.

 

FEBRUARY 20, 2010

Pacific Opera Victoria's 2010-11 season has just been announced!  Giles will be returning to the company next season to sing Colline in Puccini's La Boheme.

 

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

Canadian opera composer Dean Burry was asked by the CBC to envision an episodic telling of the story of Baby Kintyre, the mummified infant discovered by a construction crew in the attic of a Toronto home in 2007.  The first episode will be broadcast on Saturday, November 7th on CBC's Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. The series will continue on this programme for the next four weeks, concluding Saturday, December 5th.  Giles will première the role of Wesley.

 

AUGUST 10, 2009

Giles, along with the supremely talented pianist Gordon Gerrard, will be competing in the International Song Competition at the Wigmore Hall in London, England. This prestigious event will take place from the 6th – 10th of September 2009. They will offer art songs by Schubert, Schumann, Poulenc, Ibert, Duparc, Warlock, Ives, and Barber. Giles is grateful to the Canada Council for the Arts for a travel grant to attend this competition.

 

APRIL 4, 2009

Giles has been invited to participate in the 2009 Montreal International Musical Competition. He will enter the competition this coming May in the Quarter Final Round. More information about the competition can be found at www.concoursmontreal.ca

 

MARCH 30, 2009

Giles was thrilled to sing the part of Christus in the Bach Consort performance of Bach’s St. John Passion yesterday afternoon, conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin. This special event was a benefit performance in aid of Eva’s Initiatives, a group that works to get homeless youth off the streets permanently.

 

FEBRUARY 28, 2009

Inês, the world premiere of the Fado-inspired opera by James Rolfe, has enjoyed a successful run at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, playing to nearly sold-out houses each night. Engagements and concerts for the 2009-10 season have now been added to the Concert Schedule section of this website, including performances with Pacific Opera Victoria and Saskatoon Opera.

 

JULY 30, 2008

Giles has just returned from a fabulous summer in Sulmona, Italy where he was fortunate enough to be a member of the COSI Opera Studio (www.co-si.com) He performed Colline in Puccini’s La Bohème to an enthusiastic audience, who cheered his splendid rendition of the “coat” aria 'Vecchia Zimarra'.

 

JUNE 7, 2007

Giles auditioned for Maestro James Levine in New York last December, and subsequently was cast to play the role of Don Alfonso in Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte this summer at the Tanglewood Music Center, to be conducted by Maestro Levine. The performances take place on August 11, 12, & 14.

 

JANUARY 25, 2007

And So It Goes, the debut solo CD from Giles Tomkins, has found a new home among old friends. Since the release features the music of the Canadian Brass, it only makes sense to feature it at the Canadian Brass Store!

Canada Council for the Arts