Alex Hetherington

Mezzo-Soprano

Mezzo-Soprano, Alex Hetherington enjoys performing a wide variety of styles, with a specialty in contemporary music. She is currently pursuing a master’s in opera performance at the University of Toronto, where she was honoured with this year’s Norcop Art Song Recital Prize. She sang the title role in Peter Brook’s La tragédie de Carmen, premiered the role of Ivanka Trump in the newly-composed Escape Room, and won an encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Adapting to the pandemic, Alex has sung in a number of recordings this year, including Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with Lauren Margison and Vlad Soloviev, and Tapestry Opera’s new album, Rocking Horse Winner, which premiered on CBC Music’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera.

In the 2019-2020 season, Alex made role debuts as Nicklausse/Muse in Toronto City Opera’s Tales of Hoffmann, The House in Tapestry Opera’s Rocking Horse Winner, and Juno in Toronto Lyric Opera Centre’s Semele. She sang Ana Sokolović’s dawn always begins in the bones in Winnipeg and Toronto with the Canadian Art Song Project, and performed in Classical Context’s Prehistoric Ligeti and Toronto Summer Music’s season, Beyond Borders, as an Art of Song Fellow. In past seasons, Alex performed with Tapestry Opera (Songbook VIII, 2018; Oksana G., 2016), Camera Ensemble (Art Song Project, 2016), and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (The Bear, 2014). She completed her Bachelor of Music at the University of Toronto, and was the 2019 recipient of a prestigious Faculty of Music Graduating Award. During her undergraduate, she had the honour of working with celebrated industry professionals, including Jessye Norman, Barbara Hannigan, Judith Forst, and Deen Larsen.

Alex specializes in contemporary music. She loves collaborating with composers and is passionate about working to expand and promote Canadian repertoire for singers. She is also a composer herself, with works performed in concert by the Gryphon Tio and members of Esprit Orchestra. In her spare time, Alex can be found reading, gardening, and admiring dogs.