This article was originally published in the .
At 19, Iain MacNeil (BMus鈥�13) came to AV俱乐部 intending to train as a music teacher. Instead, opera found him and set him on an exciting new trajectory.
鈥淚 grew up around music,鈥� says the Brockville, Ontario native, who started piano at age five and quickly moved on to musical theatre, capturing the lead role in a community production of Oliver! when he was 12 years old. 鈥淓veryone in my family鈥攅ven my grandparents鈥攊s into music, be it listening to old favourites like John Denver, or making music themselves, singing and playing piano or guitar.鈥�
Encouraged by his high school music teacher and mentor, Judy Quick, MacNeil set his sights on AV俱乐部, imagining that he would fit right into the local music scene at this cool, seaside university. 鈥淛udy was such a great influence,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 wanted to be a music teacher just like her. And she thought I鈥檇 like Halifax.鈥�
But it didn鈥檛 take long for MacNeil鈥檚 career plans to change direction, thanks to the attentions of accomplished mezzo-soprano and AV俱乐部 voice professor Marcia Swanston. 鈥淯ntil I came to Dal, I had no idea that I could sing classical music, or that I had any aptitude for it,鈥� says MacNeil. 鈥淪uddenly, I was exploring this whole world of layered and textured music.鈥�
A natural bass-baritone, MacNeil cut his operatic teeth on Mozart, whose music he describes as 鈥渂oth the easiest and most difficult to sing.鈥� Within months, the teenager was singing opera in Italy, an experience that cemented his future career aspirations.
International success
Now 23, MacNeil has emerged as one of the rising starts of the international opera scene. 鈥淚n the last year, Iain has enjoyed unprecedented success,鈥� says Dal鈥檚 Swanston. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all rather amazing for a young singer just emerging from undergraduate studies.鈥�
Highlights of that success include being one of only two Canadians invited to take part in the Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival in Austria; being invited to join the prestigious University of Toronto Opera program (he hadn鈥檛 even applied); and touring with Carmen on Tap through the United States with Julie Nesrallah. He is currently proceeding through the rounds of the New York Metropolitan Opera competition in the United States and has just been named to the Canadian Opera Company鈥檚 Ensemble Studio, Canada鈥檚 premier training program for young opera professionals.
鈥淚ain actually came third in the Canadian Opera Ensemble Competition,鈥� says Swanston. 鈥淗e is the second of only two Dal students who have placed in that competition the fall after graduation, so it鈥檚 almost unprecedented.鈥�
For all his successes, MacNeil is surprisingly grounded. 鈥淚t鈥檚 dangerous to let the music business dictate your life,鈥� he says. 鈥淢usic and performing demand a lot of emotional energy, so I鈥檓 trying to enjoy it; to take the highs and the lows and stay balanced.鈥�