Mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy’s voice has been described as radiant, dusky, incandescent, and sumptuous; her presence on stages in Canada, the United States and France have drawn comments such as noble, spellbinding, charming and seductive. Allyson’s varied repertoire encompasses roles from Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux to Rossini’s l’Italiana in Algeri, Cenerentola and Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Handel’s Alcina, Ariodante and Semele, Caldara’s La Converzione di Clodoveo Rè di Francia, to Verdi’s Nabucco and Falstaff, Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito, to Bizet’s Carmen. Her orchestral repertoire includes Das Lied von der Erde, Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s Magnificat, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, and Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, among many other works.
2014-2015 SEASON

Following a busy summer season featuring concerts with the Seattle Chamber Music Society, Allyson’s 2014-2015 season opens with performances of Ligeti’s Requiem with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and Bochum. She also appears as Ruggiero in Handel’s Alcina with Toronto’s Opera Atelier, in the Messiah with both the Toronto Symphony and Les Violons du Roy, and on the Recitals in Rosedale series. The spring takes her to St. Gallen in Switzerland for performances of Orsini in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia and summer 2015 will see Allyson make her debut at theAix-en-Provence Festival.

The 2013-2014 season featured Allyson in her highly acclaimed debut as Sara in the Canadian Opera Company’s Roberto Devereux, as Isabella in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri with the Calgary Opera, as Phèdre in Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie with Opera in Concert,and in Bach’s Magnificat with the Orchestre de Québec. She also appeared on the Recitals at Rosedale series and with the Durham Philharmonic Choir

PREVIOUS SEASONS

Recent highlights include role debuts as ▪ Cornelia in Handel’s Giulio Cesare with the Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit ▪ Sister Helen Prejean in Heggie’s acclaimed opera Dead Man Walking presented by the Opéra de Montréal ▪ Annio in the Opéra national de Paris production of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito ▪ Arcabonne in J.C. Bach’s Amadis de Gaule at the Opéra Comique in Paris and at the Château de Versailles. She has also appeared in the title role of Carmen with Pacific Opera Victoria, as Juno/Ino in Handel’s Semele with the Canadian Opera Company, as Dijanira in Handel’s Hercules with Tafelmusik, Marchesa Melibea in Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims at the New York City Opera , Adalgisa in Norma in Warsaw, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with the Canadian Opera Company, Jo in Little Women in Calgary, as Phèdre in a rare staging of Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm in Toulouse, and in the lead role of Rossini’s La Cenerentola at Glyndebourne.

A consummate concert and recital artist, Allyson has appeared in ▪ Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Toronto Symphony and Symphony Nova Scotia ▪ Handel’s Messiah with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony and the Natonal Arts Centre orchestra in Ottawa ▪ as St. Catherine in a concert performance of Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au Bûcher with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra ▪ Elijah in Montreal, Les Nuits d’Été in Bielefeld, Germany, ▪ Beethoven’s Choral Fantasia with Bernard Labadie and Les Violons du Roy ▪ Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Dream of Gerontius at Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival and in a concert devoted to music in the life and work of Robertson Davies presented by the Aldeburgh Connection. Allyson also took on an innovative collaboration with the Alberta Ballet, performing Requiem, choreographed by Jean Grand-Maître and set to the music of Mozart’s masterpieceand appeared in a national tribute to Maureen Forrester at Stratford Summer Music. Recitals have taken her to many centres in Canada