April 26, 2025
3890 Bayridge Ave
West Vancouver
Second
Act
Join soprano Catherine Thornsley, mezzo-soprano Taryn Plater, and pianist Richard Epp for an intimate evening of opera favourites, hosted for a second time in a beautiful West Vancouver home. Enjoy the best of classical music while supporting an up-and-coming local opera company. All proceeds will go towards Opera Unbound's 2025–2026 programming.
Saturday April 26, 2025
at the home of Carol Chestnut and John Thomas
7:00PM Light refreshments
7:30PM Music begins
Catherine Thornsley
Soprano
Mexican-American soprano Catherine Thornsley is a two-time National Semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Based in Vancouver, Catherine is an Artist-in-Residence with Nebula Performances, where she regularly performs and collaborates on impactful programming. A passionate advocate for diversifying classical music, Catherine finds fulfillment in curating projects that showcase underrepresented voices. This year, she worked with Opera Lirica to present a program celebrating her Mexican heritage, featuring Mexican composers. She recently led a program with pianist Richard Epp for International Women’s Day, spotlighting music and poetry by women from Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. These projects reflect her commitment to amplifying overlooked voices in classical music. Catherine believes in music’s power to inspire and transform. She strives to make it more accessible and enjoys teaching voice, helping others experience the joy and freedom she finds in music. She draws inspiration from everyday people’s resilience and the escape music provides from life’s challenges.
Taryn Plater
Mezzo-soprano
Taryn Plater is a versatile singer and creator, recognized for her “dramatic and vocal thrust” (Opera Canada). Driven by an interest in opera’s relationship to different genres and mediums, her portfolio focuses on Ukrainian art song, new works, and the intersection of jazz and classical music. As a founding member of Opera Unbound, Taryn pursues projects that open new avenues for artistic collaboration. Taryn is an emerging artist with Manitoba Opera’s 2024 DEAP program, was a 2021-2022 RBC Artist Fellow with the Association for Opera in Canada, and recently sang in workshops of Good Mess Opera Theatre’s new opera, Monsters Made. She created the digital artist statement First Steps through Against the Grain’s 2021 National Opera Intensive, and continues to explore non-traditional opera creation with the development of her original multi-media performance piece, Pamyatayesh.
Richard Epp
Piano
Richard Epp is a Vancouver based vocal coach, pianist, and conductor. He was senior opera coach for the Opera Workshop at UBC and sessional instructor in the School of Music for many years. At UBC, he conducted Serse, Die Gärtnerin aus Liebe, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, Hänsel und Gretel, Der Fledermaus, Die lustige Witwe, Brundibar, Cabaret, and Weisse Rose, among others. In the past year, he has worked for Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, Vancouver City Opera, and in the young artist program at Kelowna Opera. In the past, he worked at Vancouver Opera as pianist for their Resident Artist Program for five years and has also been on the faculty at the Vancouver Academy of Music. He has appeared in concert for both Vancouver Early Music and Vancouver New Music. He has premiered numerous Canadian works and has appeared in recital on CBC on numerous occasions.