Recently named one of CBC's “30 Hot Classical Musicians under 30”, mezzo-soprano Alex Hetherington is rapidly solidifying her position as a versatile interpreter of operatic and concert repertoire. Having recently completed her tenure in the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio, Alex has already graced major stages across her home country of Canada. In the 2024-25 season, Alex will portray Siebel in a new production of Faust at the Canadian Opera Company and make her company debut with Vancouver Opera as the Stewardess in Flight. She will also perform as the alto soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with both Ottawa Chamberfest and the Mandle Philharmonic, and join Chorus Niagara for Handel’s Messiah.
During the 2023-24 season, Alex performed as Lapák in The Cunning Little Vixen, covered the role of Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and appeared as the Second Handmaiden in Cherubini’s Medea with the Canadian Opera Company (COC). She also returned to Tapestry Opera, where she performed as the House (mezzo-soprano) in Rocking Horse Winner and participated in the company's Box Concert series. At the Banff Centre for Arts, Alex sang the role of Offred in a new arrangement of Poul Ruders' The Handmaid's Tale.
In 2022-23, Alex made her Canadian Opera Company debut as Mercédès in Carmen, and later returned to the Four Seasons stage as the Slave in the COC’s production of Salome. Additionally, she covered Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro and Suli in the world premiere of Kye Marshall and Amanda Hale’s Pomegranate with the company. Highly skilled in the realm of new music, Alex premiered the role of [Riley] in Nicole Lizée’ and Nicholas Billon’s R.U.R. A Torrent of Light at Tapestry Opera, for which she won a 2022 Dora Mavor Moore Award. Further operatic credits include Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Carmen in La tragédie de Carmen (UofT Opera), and Nicklausse in Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Toronto City Opera).
On the concert stage, Alex made her National Arts Center Orchestra debut in 2022 as the alto soloist in Mozart's Requiem under the baton of Bernard Labadie. This marked the beginning of a series of collaborations with the orchestra, including notable performances of Ana Sokolović’s Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes and the premiere of Cecilia Livingston’s orchestral arrangements of lieder selections by Clara Schumann, led by Maestro Alexander Shelley. Other recent concert highlights include performing Ian Cusson’s Songs from the House of Death with the Victoria Symphony under the baton of Christian Kluxen, and Peter Lieberson’s Neruda Songs with the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra. A consummate recitalist, she has curated programs for the Toronto Summer Music Festival and the Norcop Art Song Recital at the University of Toronto.
Alex has garnered notable accolades in the last few years, securing the 3rd Prize in the Christina and Louis Quilico Awards, being named a finalist in the Concours Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and receiving an encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. She holds a Bachelor’s in Voice Performance and a Master's in Opera Performance from the University of Toronto, where she was recognized with the Jim and Charlotte Norcop Award in Art Song and named the winner of the UTSO Concerto Competition. Throughout her studies, Alex conducted a research- creation project exploring art song performance practice through the lens of modern gender theory. In her spare time, Alex can be found reading, gardening, and doting on dogs (primarily, but not exclusively, her family’s sweet pup, Max).