Get to know the 2025 Portfolio Artist Interns
Kyle Briscoe
Gala & Elegies: A Song Cycle Performer
Kyle Briscoe (he/they) is a queer interdisciplinary artist centring on our humanity through opera performance and his love of pop music. Kyle is pursuing an M.Mus at McGill University studying under John Mac Master. Passionate about creating social change through teaching empathy, Kyle is committed to researching trauma-informed performance practice and challenges others to open their hearts to learn from diverse lived experiences. Recent highlights include REQUIESTCAT; REBIRTH, Kyle’s debut solo recital, singing the role of Oscar in Manitoba Underground Opera's production of Rocking Horse Winner, and making his Messiah soloist debut with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, December 2023.
Jayden Burrows
Gala & Elegies: A Song Cycle Performer
Hailing from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canadian-Baritone Jayden Burrows is currently based in Montreal where he recently graduated from the Schulich School of Music at McGill University. A lover of English Opera and Musical Theatre, Jayden believes heavily in the power of crossover art, and cannot wait to bring Elegies to life with Opera 5 this season. Recent roles and engagements include: Pandolfe in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Cadmus in Handel’s Semele, Mr. Gobineau in Menotti’s The Medium, and the bass soloist in the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra’s Messiah.
Len Crino
Gala Performer, Elegies: A Song Cycle Assistant Director
Len Crino is a recent graduate of Lawrence University, Conservatory of Music and a first year Masters student at McGill University in the opera program. Len is a transgender soprano who nurtures an interest in contemporary opera but also enjoys reimagining classic soprano roles through a queer lens. Len played the role of “Bird” in McGill’s fall production of Blond Eckbert and will be singing the role of “Tax form T4A” in the winter production of Tax Opera. He will also be assistant stage managing three shows this spring and is looking forward to learning varied skills of the theater.
Kate Fogg
Gala & Elegies: A Song Cycle Performer
Come Closer, Little Sister Cover
Kate Fogg (she/her) is a soprano from Dedham, Maine, and is thrilled to return to Toronto with Opera 5 this summer! Kate is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Voice and Opera at McGill University where she is a student of Tracy Smith Bessette. In the 2024-2025 Opera McGill season, Kate will perform Clara Johnson in Adam Guettel’s The Light In The Piazza. Recent role debuts include La Fée (Cendrillon), Governess (Turn of The Screw), and Mary Warren (The Crucible). Kate completed a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism at The University of Maine, where she studied with baritone Isaac Bray. Kate is a 2025 Wirth Vocal Prize semi-finalist and a NATS Maine Chapter Ellen Chickering Award recipient 2021, 2023. Penobscot Theatre Company regional credits: Mamma Mia, 9 to 5: The Musical, and Matilda: The Musical. Kate is a Resident Teaching Artist at Burns Music Studio. She currently lives in Montréal with her street kitties, Auggie and Linus.
Brenna McFarland
Gala & Elegies: A Song Cycle Performer
Come Closer, Big Sister Cover
Brenna McFarland, a soprano from Washington, D.C., is praised for her silvery tone and charismatic performance. Recent roles include Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Clorinda (La Cenerentola), Margaret Johnson (Light in the Piazza), and she is excited to cover the role of Big Sister (Come Closer) and perform in Elegies with Opera 5. An accomplished soloist in opera, oratorio, and musical theater, Brenna is a recipient of the 2024 Graduate Mobility Award from McGill University, where she is pursuing her Master’s in Voice and Opera. Brenna is a versatile cross-genre artist, frequently performing pop, jazz, and more.
Maddalena Orbach
Gala, Performer & Come Closer, Assistant Director
Maddalena Ohrbach is a multidisciplinary singer from Buffalo, NY. She received her Bachelor’s from the Peabody Institute, funded by the Rosa Ponselle Scholarship in Voice. She loves contemporary music and explores social issues, especially gender violence and trauma, through performance art across genres. She currently pursues a Master’s at McGill University, studying with Dominique Labelle and Michael McMahon, funded by the Fonds de recherche Québec (FRQ) grant. She recently appeared with Opera McGill as Berthe in Weir’s Blond Eckbert, co-directed and sang in a student production of Sokolović’s Svadba, and was in residency at Banff Centre with À Mer Quartet.
MacKenzie Sechi
Gala & Elegies: A Song Cycle Performer
MacKenzie Sechi is a mezzo-soprano from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. She is in her second year of McGill University’s Master of Music in Opera and Voice program, where she studies with Tracy Smith Bessette. MacKenzie’s recent role debuts include Berthe (Blond Eckbert), Mrs. Grose (The Turn of the Screw), le Prince Charmant (Cendrillon), and Jo March (Little Women). Favourite musical theatre credits include the Witch (Into the Woods), Marcy Park (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), and Amelia (Heart of Steel). In 2025, MacKenzie is excited to play Margaret Johnson in The Light in the Piazza with Opera McGill, and to return as an intern with Opera 5, performing in their production of Elegies by William Finn.
Emma Yee
Gala & Elegies: A Song Cycle Performer\
Tkaronto-born mezzo-soprano Emma Yee (she/her) is an active interdisciplinary musical artist. Emma is in the first year of her Master’s program at McGill in Tiohtià:ke, studying with Dr. Tracy Smith Bessette. Recent performance highlights include alto soloist in Messiah (Christ Church Cathedral Montréal), Mère Jeanne in Dialogues des Carmélites (Opera McGill), and Serse in Serse (Halifax Summer Opera Festival). Recent technical theatre credits include stage managing Dialogues des Carmélites (Opera McGill), An Inspector Calls (Motyer-Fancy Theatre), and PRÉCIPICE (Tintamarre). Emma is also a performer-scholar, with a publication in Nota bene titled “Liberatory Praxis in Operatic Rehearsal Processes.”