Joel Allison

Bass-Baritone

Biography

Canadian bass-baritone Joel Allison has earned praised for his “rich, ringing tone” (Ludwig Van Toronto). A recent graduate of the elite Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, Mr. Allison was awarded Second Place in the Christina and Louis Quilico Competition in 2019 and was a semi-finalist in the 2020 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

In the 2020-2021 season, Mr. Allison will join Deutsche Oper Berlin as a new member of the company’s ensemble. He will appear in fourteen productions, including as Escamillo in Carmen, Schaunard in La bohème, and the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte. He will also debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra as Monterone in a concert performance of Rigoletto.

In the 2019-2020 season, Mr. Allison sang the Mandarin in Turandot and Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Canadian Opera Company, while covering the roles of the Father in Hänsel und Gretel, the Hunter in Rusalka, and the King of Egypt in Aida. In previous seasons at Canadian Opera Company, he made role debuts as Zaretsky in Yevgeny Onegin, Superior Senator in the world premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian, and Schaunard. Elsewhere, he recently portrayed Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Saskatoon Opera, Leporello in Don Giovanni at Music Niagara and the Westben Arts Festival, Dr. Roland Angeler in Marius Felix Lange’s Der Gesang der Zauberinsel at the Salzburg Festival, and Duglas in La donna del lago at the Buxton Festival.

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Reviews

“In his lone Aria, the young bass Joel Allison displayed a voice that was striking in its maturity, effortless heft and power and superb control.”

Natasha Gauthier

Artsfile, Dec 2018

“The bass arias & recitivos (prose) were more than adequately performed by Allison. He has a powerful & emphatic voice that proved the most dramatic of all. A perfect selection for his protagonist characterizations.”

Danny Gaisin

Ontario Reviews. Apr 2018

More Reviews

“The second half opened with bass-baritone Joel Allison and Nick Shadow’s “Come Master” from The Rake’s Progress. Allison has a rich, ringing bass-baritone with a solid core and an easy top, which allows him to tackle the Diamond Aria with ease. If his Nick Shadow was impressive, it didn’t prepare me for his “Fra l’ombre e gli orrori,” Polythemus’s aria from Handel’s Acis, Galatea e Polifemo. This aria is well nigh impossible vocally given its extreme range, from low D to high A. A very slow aria, which means all the notes have to be sustained. Allison sang all the notes as written, and with distinction. Bravo!”

Ludwig Van Toronto, Feb 2019

“I was also impressed by the Schaunard of ensemble bass-baritone Joel Allison, who sang with plenty of voice and a strong stage presence – this singer will go far.”

Ludwig Van Toronto, May 2019

“Bass baritone Joel Allison has a beautiful instrument for this repertoire: precise in its intonation and articulation, serene and aristocratic, a little cool and bloodless, but with an appealing, soft fuzziness around the edges.”

Ottawa Citizen, May 2015