Juno-nominated soprano Jonelle Sills is an emerging talent on the rise, recently named one of York University’s 2022 Top 30 Alumni Under 30 and one of CBC Music’s 30 hot classical musicians under 30. Her mainstage debut at the Canadian Opera Company as Mimi in Puccini’s La bohème, was lauded for being a “beautifully sensitive… with careful control and colour” (The Globe and Mail). She looks forward to reprising the role with Vancouver Opera this season.

Upcoming and recent engagements include Jonelle’s company and role debut as Miss Jessel in Pacific Opera Victoria’s production of Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, joining Tapestry Opera for the Canadian premiere of 10 Days in a Madhouse, and an appearance with the National Ballet of Canada as the soprano soloist for their acclaimed production of Anna Karenina. With the Canadian Art Song Project, she was nominated for a 2025 Juno Award for their album, Known to Dreamers: Black Voices in Canadian Art Song.

Past seasons have seen Sills return to Edmonton Opera as both Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Roselinde in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Vancouver Opera as Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen, and Toronto Operetta Theatre as Hannah Glawari in Lehar’s The Merry Widow. Jonelle also joined the ensemble of Volcano Theatre’s production of Joplin’s Treemonisha, which toured to Chicago’s Harris Theatre.

On the concert stage, Jonelle has performed with the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915), the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (Brahms’ Requiem), and the Guelph Symphony Orchestra. She has also presented recital programs for the Prince Edward County Chamber Music Festival, the Prince George Arts Centre, the Richard Bradshaw Ampitheatre, the Canadian Art Song Project, and Ottawa’s Chamberfest. Ms. Sills toured across Ontario as a part of the musical ensemble for Rhapsody in Blue: A Gershwin Celebration marking the composer’s centenary.

Other performance highlights include Sills’ mainstage debut with Vancouver Opera as Helena in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, joining the star-studded all Canadian cast of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music at Koerner Hall, her role debut of Tatyana in Eugene Onegin with Highlands Opera Studio, and appearing as Female Chorus in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia with MYOpera). With Toronto’s innovative Against the Grain Theatre, Jonelle toured an English adaptation of Puccini’s La bohème in a coast-to-coast tour of Canada. She also made her debut with the company as a part of the ensemble of Vivier’s Kopernikus, which earned her a 2019 Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination. That same year, she was in residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity for their Opera in the 21st Century program, where she premiered the role of Esther in Poala Prestini and Royce Vavreck’s Silent Light, directed and designed by Thaddeus Strassberger.

March 2026
Not to be altered or copied without permission.