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Douglas Von Edelmann is a professional lyric tenor, pianist, Professor, Adjudicator, film/TV actor, and artistic director. He cloaks his shimmering, velvety vocal timbre, and interpretive style with his debonair, handsome, and youthful magnetism on stage.  Known for his role portrayals in Handel and Mozart operas, his versatility encompasses an array of operatic literature.  His interpretive finesse in oratorio and concert repertoire embodies works by Bach to Beethoven and beyond.  Mozart roles such as Tamino and Belmonte delineate the vocal flexibility and ease that Douglas is praised for by the press and public alike.    He has been heard on Radio France, Germany, Israel, and CBC Canada.  He has made extensive concert appearances with conductors including Sir Roger Norrington, Christoph Spering, Vincent La Selva, Peter Oundjian, and Krzysztof Penderecki.  He appeared in the World premiere of the classical opera, Proserpin, by Joseph Martin Kraus (‘the Swedish Mozart’) with Swiss director, Georges Delnon, at the Schwetzingen Festival in Germany.  This production was awarded ‘World Premiere of the Year’ by Opernwelt Magazine.  Douglas sang the Canadian premiere of Robert Ward’s opera The Crucible in the role of Judge Danforth.  Coupled with Douglas’ illustrious vocal artistry are his acting gifts that bring an outstanding realism to his appearances in operatic roles.  He has received notable awards and has been singled out in the press for his vocal charms and charismatic, energetic presence on stage.  He has performed for HRM Queen Elizabeth and other dignitaries and world leaders such as the Prime Minister of Norway.  Frequent performances with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra in Germany include Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42, Schubert’s Mass in E Flat, Mahler Symphony Nr. 2, as well as Bach’s Mass In B Minor, with Sir Roger Norrington.  Douglas also toured Bach’s oratorio to Luebeck, Germany, Brno, and Prague where he performed in the historic Smetana Hall.  Mass in B Minor, performances also in Cambridge, England.  Douglas appears often in Bach oratorios, including the Weihnachts-Oratorium, Magnificat in D with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, as well as performances of Bach Kantaten with Howard Dyck.  He has performed at the esteemed Beethoven Festspiele in Bonn, Germany in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony – An Die Freude, New York City’s Carnegie Hall, Duesseldorf, Bamberg Symphony, Bad Kissingen, Essen, and Bergheim.  Many concerts were tours to international festivals in Montreau, Switzerland and Caen, Normandy where he performed the classical work La Passione by Czech composer, Myslivecek, who had close family ties to the Mozart family.  His debut in Freilicht Theater was with the Eutiner Festspiele in a production of Wagner’s opera Tannhaeuser.  Other European tours include Handel’s oratorio Belschazzar in Tel Aviv and Tiberius with the Israel Chamber Orchestra.  Beethoven Messe Solennelle in Bilbao, Spain, and Rossini’s Le Petit Messe Solennelle in Madrid, Valencia, Mallorca, and Bilbao. Mozart's repertoire and Douglas’s tenor voice are synonymous with one another.  He performs Mozart’s Requiem, making his debut in Ahrensburg, Germany followed by Toronto, Canada.  Other Requiem performances include the Verdi Requiem in Bonn, Germany, and Boston, Massachusetts.  Douglas performs Handel’s Messiah seasonally with the same vocal breadth and interpretive depth that is reflected in all his performances.  His clarion vocal tone illuminates innate beauty, elegance, and intelligence.  His first performance of Handel’s Masterpiece was in the Orpheum Theater with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.  He is also in demand as an oratorio singer, including performances in Koeln, Germany.  Operetta's roles are vast and include performances in Pinneberg, Lueneburg, and Schloss Berner, resonating with Douglas’ vocal virtuosity and utility.  Sung and spoken languages include German, French, Italian, English, and Russian.   In Canada, Douglas has performed with several symphony orchestras and companies including the Guelph Symphony Orchestra, Hamilton Opera, and Tafelmusik.  Douglas is dedicated to performing new music and has performed and recorded contemporary works by Canadian composer, Glen Buhr, in the lead role of his world premiere of Flux.  He performed the song cycle Pectus Amor by Michael Groefrer in the European premiere in Stockholm, Sweden. Unique to Douglas are his writing and compositional credits.  Harvest Sky, his first opera creation, was premiered and featured on the acclaimed CBC Radio program with Stuart McLean called The Vinyl Café.  Following this was the launch of a song cycle for soprano and string orchestra based on the Hawthorne novel, The Scarlet Letter, entitled Songs from Hester’s Heart.   Appointed Artistic Director of The Quinte Mozart Festival & The Velvet Curtain, Douglas produced many concerts and directed Purcell’s masterpiece, Dido and Aeneas, Mozart’s Singspiel Der Schauspieldirektor/The Impressario, among endless other productions throughout Canada.  As a performer and producer, he brings incredible energy to all artistic projects he undertakes.  Further to this, he also conducts numerous ensembles and directs opera, concert, and oratorio productions throughout Germany and Canada. All of this would not be possible without a highly polished pedigree in vocal pedagogy and study.  He completed his studies in Canada, the USA, and Europe with renowned teachers Kenneth Bozeman, Geert Smits, Rainer Trost, Caroline Metz, Ingrid Kremling, Victor Martens, Christoph Pregardien, Edward Zambara, Diane Forlano, and Dr. Richard Miller.  Work in Masterclasses with Peter Schreier, Markus Schäfer, Maria Pellegrini, and Margreet Honig among others is part of Douglas’ infinite interest in vocal pedagogy and the interpretation of musical styles.  His prodigious performance practice of Baroque and Classical repertoire is garnered with experts inclusive of Julianne Baird, Jeffrey Dooley, and the Cambridge Early Music Centre. 

In conjunction with performing and recording, Douglas serves as an adjudicator for vocal & piano competitions in international festivals. and competitions.  Douglas dedicates considerable vitality to his teaching and diagnostic work in the physiology of the human voice.  Between his performance and teaching engagements, Douglas is frequently asked to do master classes with singers on vocal technique and repertoire at the university level.  He has taught at several international secondary school institutions in several countries, and also maintains a private roster of students online and live.  Whether classical or other genres of music, Douglas has trained and re-conditioned voices previously exposed to counterfactual or amateur training, rehabilitating, and conditioning students in a positive, stimulating, and informative sphere, putting a solid technical base at the forefront of his teaching expertise.  His sole objective is to ensure that all students develop and master their full artistic potential through technical principles and objectives that focus on fostering a free functioning, highly innervated, and fully realized voice offering solution-based lessons that optimize the results for becoming a complete singer.   Douglas is also a solid pianist and accompanist, often accompanying his students in public performances.  His extensive skills in playing the piano are also an asset to his in-studio work preparing students for auditions, competitions, and performances.  Many of his students appear in opera, oratorio, musical theater, and many genres of music in Germany, Sweden, other European countries, Canada, Australia, and the United States of America.  Douglas' strong research skills and natural inquisitive disposition result in an insatiable quest to deepen his continuing knowledge and exposure in both the Bel Canto singing tradition, as well as CCM/contemporary vocal techniques that also result in healthy, resilient singing.  

To book lessons with Douglas, or engage him for Masterclasses or as an adjudicator, please contact his studio via email:  dvemusik@gmail.com 

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