Christina Thanisch-Smith

Praised for her “exquisite and ethereal presence with a lovely lyric coloratura” (GigCity), soprano Christina Thanisch-Smith is establishing herself as one of Canada’s up and coming sopranos. Born in Fredericton and raised in Winnipeg, Christina now resides in Montreal. This year, she started the Graduate Diploma in Performance program McGill University’s Schulich School of Music as a member of Dominique Labelle and Michael McMahon’s studios. Christina is a member of Les Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques Ensemble for the 2022-23 season, and will make her debut with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as soprano soloist for Handel’s Messiah in December.

Equally content performing both opera and chamber music, Christina’s recent engagements included a solo recital with the Agassiz Chamber Music Festival, attending the Toronto Summer Music Festival as an Art of Song Fellow and Wendy Nielsen’s Opera Workshop in New Brunswick, and her role debut as Eurydice in Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice with Manitoba Underground Opera. In April, she made her Maison Symphonique de Montreal debut as the soloist for Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the McGill Symphony Orchestra. In her 2021 season, Christina sang the title roles in Poulenc’s Les mamelles de Tirésias and Handel’s Partenope, respectively, with Opera McGill.

Christina is an alumna of McGill University (M.Mus. ’22), the University of Manitoba (B.Mus. ’20), Toronto Summer Music Festival (‘22), Wendy Nielsen’s Opera Workshop (‘22, ‘19), Stratford Summer Music Academy (’21), and Opera NUOVA (’19, ’18).

When not on stage or in the studio, Christina enjoys exploring Northern Manitoba with her geologist-father as a licensed prospector, exploring her home province’s beautiful wilderness and wildlife.