Abigail Sinclair is a Canadian soprano who seeks to inspire new audiences through the reinterpretation of classical works while promoting the creation and performance of new music. A recent graduate from the Master of Arts in Voice Programme at the Royal Academy of Music, Abigail is thrilled to return to the Academy as a member of their Advance Diploma in Opera Programme. Royal Academy Opera (RAO) performances thus far include Albert Herring (Emmie) with director Orpha Phelan and conductor Geoffrey Paterson, and Hänsel und Gretel (Taumännchen) directed by Jack Furness with conductor Johann Stuckenbruck. She looks forward to making her role debut as the Königin der Nacht in RAO’s production of Die Zauberflöte in early 2025.

Over the Summer, Abigail was a Vocal Fellow with the Institut Canadien d’Art Vocal (ICAV) in Montréal, Canada, under the guidance of co-artistic directors, Étienne Dupuis and Nicole Car. While there, she made her role debut as Adele in a French language production of Die Fledermaus (La Chauve-Souris) with Orchestre classique de Montréal, directed by Lorraine Pintal and conducted by Simon Rivard. She also had the privilege of singing in an arias gala with the young musicians of the Orchesre de la Francophonie, conducted by Julien Proulx through ICAV’s Festival d’Art Vocal.

Abigail made her professional American debut in January 2024 performing the chamber piece “Love, Loss and Exile” by Juhi Bansal at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, NY as part of Only Voice Remains, a concert co-curated by composer Niloufar Nourbakhsh and Sparks and Wiry Cries. She had previously premiered the work, which centres around poetry as a form of rebellion for women in Afghanistan at the Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall in San Francisco as part of SongFest, where it was the 2022 Sorel Commission.

As a recitalist, she has presented programs of French repertoire by Boulanger, Debussy, Ravel and Fauré across London with pianists from the Academy at both St Marylebone Parish Church and St James’s Piccadilly. Most recently she curated a recital for “A Proud Future,” Classical Pride 2024’s Young Artist event at St Giles Cripplegate in the Barbican Centre. In collaboration with pianist, André Bertoncini, she performed works by Schubert, Boulanger and Strauss, in addition to a new commission by emerging composer, Archie John.

While at the Academy, she was accepted into their prestigious Bach Consort. Through this, Abigail has been involved in three concerts presenting six different cantatas with instrumentalists from the Academy’s historical performance division, under the baton of Dame Jane Glover, Iain Ledingham and Peter Whelan respectively.

In March of 2023, Abigail made her Southbank Centre debut with the London Sinfonietta as the Soprano I soloist in “The Fields of Sorrow” as part of a concert conducted by Martyn Brabbins commemorating the late composer, Sir Harrison Birtwistle.

Abigail received a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Toronto (UofT) where she was a member of their Undergraduate Opera Program and a recipient of the Douglas Bodle - St. Andrew's Award. While there, she studied under Elizabeth McDonald.

During her time in Toronto, Abigail was the Executive Director of Green Room Sound Collective, an initiative promoting new music by emerging Toronto-based composers. In their first season alone, they premiered 11 new pieces and held a workshop on Art Song creation with Canadian contemporary performance group, Women on the Verge. In March 2022 she performed in the digital premiere of Green Room’s original chamber opera “Union,” for which she co-wrote the libretto and helped secure a Toronto Arts Council Grant.

Highlights of her 2021/22 season included the Toronto premiere of Peter Meechan’s “Dreams Unseen” with the UofT Wind Ensemble, and an Encouragement Award in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition’s Buffalo/Toronto District. In August of 2021, she performed in a recital entitled Feminine Endings, with pianist Ria Kim for the Banff Centre’s inaugural EvoFest: Evolution Concert Series. The recital, which was made possible with support from the National Arts Centre of Canada, was a fusion of arias by Handel and music by 20th and 21st century female composers such as Lili Boulanger, Hiromi Uehara, Cecilia Livingston and a newly commissioned piece by Canadian composer/poet duo, Vivian Kwok and Yi Nuo Cheng.

Abigail enjoyed four years with the Halifax Summer Opera Festival, performing in Suor Angelica in 2016 (the Novice), Albert Herring in 2017 (Emmie), L’incoronazione di Poppea in 2018 (La Fortuna/Damigella) and in Handel’s Alcina in 2019 (Morgana).

Abigail is immensely grateful for the support of the Mills Williams Foundation, the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation, the Nova Scotia Talent Trust, the Royal Academy of Music and the University of Toronto.