Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Turnbull maintains a distinguished reputation in the U.S. and Canada, hailed by the press as “(one) of this country’s finest singers, luminous and rich-voiced”. She began singing at an early age, both in choirs and as a soloist around her hometown of Edmonton, Alberta. Recognition of her lustrous and rich voice led first to studies in Canada, followed by three years at the prestigious Nordwestdeutsche Musikakademie in Germany, and three more years in the highly-regarded Opera School at the University of Toronto. Invitations for further vocal education came from programs around the world, including the Steans Institute in Chicago, Tanglewood in Massachusetts, the Aldeburgh Festival in England and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, where she counted such illustrious teachers and collaborators as Renata Tebaldi, Christa Ludwig, Hermann Prey, Marilyn Horne and Christoph Eschenbach among her mentors. Ms. Turnbull’s young but impressive singing won her support and recognition as a regional winner in the Metropolitan Opera Competition, and career development grants from such prestigious organizations as the Canada Council and the Chalmers Foundation.

In her more than twenty-five years as a professional singer, Ms. Turnbull’s performance career has taken her across continents and has seen her including appearances with numerous major orchestras and opera companies around the world.. Her vivid stage presence and deeply communicative vocal portrayals have covered a broad range of classical styles and periods; from the role of ‘Lyubija’ in the Serbian chamber opera Svadba which toured in Europe (France, Serbia and Ireland) and Canada (Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver), and is further demonstrated in her performances in roles ranging from the baroque (‘Juno’ in Semele), to the romantic (‘Carmen’ in Carmen), to modern (‘Augusta Tabor’ in the Canadian premiere of The Ballad of Baby Doe) and new (creating the role of ‘Maria Picariello’ in Filumena). 

Concert experience has included the oratorios of Bach, Bruckner, Handel, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Saint Saens and Vivaldi, the symphonies of Beethoven and Mahler, the songs of Brahms, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Rachmaninov, as well as numerous new music compositions of song/recital repertoire.

Demand for Ms. Turnbull’s dramatic vocal and acting portrayals has most recently included the creation of the role of ‘Elizabeth’ in Opera on the Avalon’s John Estacio opera, Ours, as well as a reprise of ‘Maria’ in Calgary Opera’s remount of Filumena, and the role of ‘Larina’ in Calgary Opera’s Eugene Onegin.  

Ms. Turnbull’s discography includes 3 CDs with Toronto’s Bach Consort, two recordings with the Ukrainian Art Song Project (songs of Lysenko and Stepovyi), as well as a self-produced disc of Irish and Scottish Songs, entitled ‘The Meeting of the Waters’. Many of her Canadian operatic performances have been heard across the country on CBC’s ‘Saturday Afternoon at the Opera’.  

Recently retired as an instructor of Voice, Chamber Music and Opera Workshop at the University of Alberta, Elizabeth Turnbull taught as a faculty member there from 2009 to 2021. She is in demand and remains active as an adjudicator and master class clinician at festivals and young artist programs across the country.