Mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy "a singer of enormous imagination and versatility, sang a lustrous and energetic Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia)" according to the San Francisco Chronicle's Joshua Kosman, who continued his praise noting that "the inventive twists and turns in her highly ornamented account of the opening 'Una voce poco fa' were superb". Her triumph as Rosina (conducted by Maurizio Barbacini) followed her debut performances as Olga in San Francisco Opera's Eugene Onegin conducted by Illan Volkov. The striking mezzo-soprano made her debut with New York City Opera as Marchesa Melibea in Rossini's Il Viaggio a Reims under George Manahan and recent concert engagements have included Messiah for the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Elijah in Montreal (both conducted by Julian Wachner), Les Nuits D'été in Bielefeld, Germany and Alexander Nevsky for Orchestra London (Timothy Vernon).

The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts opened in September of 2006 with Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen and Ms. McHardy appeared in Die Walküre (Rossweisse) and in Das Rheingold and Die Götterdämmerung (Flosshilde) during these inaugural performances. She made her role debut as Dalila in Samson et Dalila for Opera Ontario and on the concert stage she was soloist in Israel in Egypt for Les Violons du Roy led by Bernard Labadie. She has recorded the title role in Caldara's La Conversione di Clodoveo, Re di Francia (earlier performed in Berlin, Montreal and Vancouver) for ATMA and just completed a recording project featuring the music of the Ukrainian composer Lysenko.

In the fall of 2007, she was in France for Isabella in L'Italiana in Algeri in Lille, Amiens and Caen followed in the winter of 2008 by the role of Olga in Eugene Onegin for Vancouver Opera. Later in 2008, she was soloist with the Edmonton Symphony and Quebec's Les Violons du Roy, conducted in both instances by Bernard Labadie.

Some highlights of earlier seasons include Solange in The Maids and The Drummer Girl in The Emperor of Atlantis for Cincinnati Opera, a solo concert for San Francisco's Schwabacher Recital Series, and Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream for Chicago Opera Theater.

Ms. McHardy was Carmela in La Vida Breve at Tanglewood with Frühbeck de Burgos and debuted with the Minnesota Orchestra in Honegger's Jeanne D'Arc conducted by Helmuth Rilling. She recorded two works by Harry Somers, Serinette and A Mid-Winter Night's Dream, after live performances for Soundstreams with the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus. She was also featured in from Rags to Riches: A 100 Years of American Song with Steven Blier.

Some concert highlights include Concepciòn in L'Heure Espagnole under the baton of Seiji Ozawa at Tanglewood, Henze's Venus und Adonis at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and La Vida Breve under Frühbeck de Burgos with the Boston Symphony in Boston. Ms. McHardy has appeared for the Calgary Opera as Mercedes in Carmen, Zerlina in Don Giovanni for Arizona Opera and Dido in Dido and Aeneas for the Amherst Early Opera Institute in Massachusetts. Other roles in her repertoire include Giunone in La Calisto, Polinesso in Ariodante and Jocasta in Oedipus Rex. In concert, she has been heard with the Hamilton Philharmonic, Victoria Symphony, Toronto Sinfonia, Toronto's Opera in Concert and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. Born in Oshawa, Ontario, she studied voice at Wilfrid Laurier University, earning an Honours Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance and an Opera Diploma. She is an alumna of the Merola Programme at the San Francisco Opera the Ensemble Studio of the Canadian Opera Company.

September 2009