|
The Russian-born mezzo-soprano, Veronika Anissimova, immigrated to Canada with her family at age 3. At age 4, she was singing in a choir, where she learned to sight read, which she said helped her ease into piano when she started taking lessons at age 8. At age 11, she started taking formal vocal lessons and now sings mostly opera repertoire. She obtained her Associate Diploma (ARCT) in Piano Performance from The Royal Conservatory of Music (January 2011-January 2012); Bachelor of Music degree: Comprehensive Piano; Minor in Italian Studies with Honours from University of Toronto (September 2012-June 2016); and her Master of Music degree in Historical Voice Performance from University of Toronto (September 2016-June 2018). Winner of the 2014 National Gold Medal in voice performance at the Royal Conservatory of Music, she was among the 2022 Handel Aria Competition’s top 20, and was an Art of Song fellow with the 2021 Toronto Summer Music Festival.
Since taking part in Marilyn Horne’s The Song Continues series at Carnegie Hall in 2018, Veronika Anissimova has presented recitals for the Arts & Letters Club of Toronto, the Linden Project, St. James Cathedral, Metropolitan United, and Concerts @100. Winner of the 2019 Hart House Orchestra Concerto Competition, she has since performed Gustav Mahler's Rückert Lieder and W.A. Mozart's Exsultate, jubilate with the Hart House Orchestra; other concert soloist appearances include J.S. Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium BWV 248 with the Toronto Choral Society and the Talisker Players, W.A. Mozart's Mass in C Major and Francesco Durante's sacred works with St. Michael's Schola Cantorum, and de Falla’s El Amor Brujo with the Scarborough Philarmonic.
As a Baroque specialist, in June 2023 Veronika Anissimova a took part in a workshop with Paul Agnew of Les Arts Florissants, and has sung with the Trinity Bach Project, Toronto Bach Consort, Elora Singers, Peterborough Singers, UofT Schola Cantorum, the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute and the American Bach Soloists Academy (Early Music America Advanced Summer Scholarship).
Recent operatic roles include Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus and Second Lady in W.A. Mozart's Magic Flute with Opera York, Despina in W.A. Mozart's Così fan tutte with the Toronto Lyric Opera Centre (Despina cover with Brott Opera 2021), Zulma in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri with the Toronto Concert Orchestra, Polluce in Cavalli’s Elena with the Toronto Consort, and Sophie in Massenet’s Werther at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance.
Veronika Anissimova has been praised for her “lovely presence” (Berkshire Fine Arts) and “impressively quick and precise coloratura” (Ludwig van Toronto). This season she appears as a soloist in L.v. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Scarborough Philarmonic, and in J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor BWV 232 with the Toronto Choral Society. She also gives a recital at the Arts & Letters Club of Toronto, with pianist Dakota Scott-Digout.
Fluent in French, Russian, and Italian, she has served on Opera Atelier’s educational outreach team and enjoys contributing text translations to VMII, a groundbreaking digital resource for early vocal music. |
|
Sources:
Veronika Anissimova Website (January 2025) & LinkedIn/Facebook profiles
Photos 03-04, 06, 08, 11-12, 14, 15-17, 23: © Mouna Tahar; Photo 07: © Julia Mark; Photo 09-10: © Samira Mahfuz; Photo 18: Simon Remark; Photo 20: © Lisa Sakulensky
Bits & pieces from other sources
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (February 2025) |
