Canadian Children's Opera Company

The Canadian Children's Opera Company (CCOC), Business Registration Number 129782538RR0001, is a prominent Canadian nonprofit organization based in Toronto dedicated to inspiring and developing young people through music, opera, and storytelling. It is recognized as Canada’s only permanent children's opera company that regularly commissions and produces new operas specifically for child performers.

Overview

Founded in 1968 by Ruby Mercer and Lloyd Bradshaw, the CCOC began as the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus and was initially a 32-member ensemble. It has since grown to over 240 children and youth participants, ages 5 to 19, organized into five divisions with around 90 singers in the Principal Chorus. The company serves as the children’s chorus for the Canadian Opera Company’s productions and is notable for fostering young voices from diverse communities and abilities via transformative music education and professional-level performance opportunities.

The organization changed its name to Canadian Children's Opera Company in 2008 to better reflect its expanded role in producing full-scale operatic works for children.

Mission and Activities

The CCOC emphasizes musical excellence and storytelling to empower young voices, uniting children through shared artistic experiences. It is dedicated to creating a viable canon of children’s opera by commissioning new works and regularly presenting fully staged productions with professional directors, designers, singers, and coaches drawn from Canada and abroad.

Children from the company participate annually in high-profile productions, including as the children’s chorus for the Canadian Opera Company. The organization also offers the Canadian Youth Opera Chorus, established in 2002, to provide advanced training for boys with changed voices and older girls, bridging the gap between youth opera and university-level programs.

Notable Achievements and Commissions

• The CCOC has commissioned and premiered numerous one-act operas tailored for children, contributing significantly to the children’s opera repertoire in Canada. Some notable commissions include:

  • The Secret World of Og (2010) by Dean Burry, based on Pierre Berton’s novel.
  • Dragon in the Rocks (2008) by Alexander Rapoport with libretto by Marie Day.

• The chorus has toured extensively, both nationally and internationally. Highlights include their first European tour in 2001 performing in the Netherlands and Germany, and a 2017 tour performing Brundibár by Hans Krása across Prague, Krakow, and Budapest, including at the concentration camp where the opera was historically performed.

• In 2011, the CCOC achieved second place in the treble category at the Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival in Vienna.

• The company celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017 with a gala concert featuring prominent Canadian opera singers and alumni at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre.

Leadership

The company’s current music director is Teri Dunn, under whose leadership the CCOC continues to thrive as a pioneering institution in children’s opera, preserving tradition while fostering innovation and inclusion.

The Canadian Children's Opera Company plays a vital role in Canadian cultural life by nurturing young talent and producing a unique repertoire of children’s operas, helping to ensure the continuing vitality and evolution of the operatic art form in Canada.