Canadian soprano Chelsea Kutyn’s quest for knowledge, understanding, and joy, has inspired a thirst for trying new things. This allows her to craft a charismatic stage presence whether she is playing the role of food obsessed “Suor Dolcina” in Suor Angelica with Pacific Opera Victoria, or crawling on all fours like a dog as “Lapak” in Opera NUOVA’s production of The Cunning Little Vixen, among other performances.

Owing much of her musicality and stage presence to fifteen years of classical training in ballet, jazz, and modern, Chelsea endeavours to ‘dance’ her way into the hearts of audiences with rich and magnetic performances of opera, art song, and music theater.

Chelsea’s desire for knowledge led her to complete both a Bachelor of Commerce degree in entrepreneurship (2016) and a Bachelor of Music degree in voice performance under the direction of Benjamin Butterfield (2020) from the University of Victoria. This spring Chelsea was honoured with the Victoria Medal for the highest graduating cumulative GPA in the Faculty of Fine Arts. She feels privileged to be able to study her passions and learn from her talented colleagues and faculty.

Using advice from Butterfield who said, “don’t bore me!”, Chelsea plans to use the skills from her two degrees to build her own company that will create and promote new small scale works and productions. Her vision is to expand opera’s digital presence and bring a wider and more diverse audience to the genre of opera.

After recovering from a serious case of COVID-19 this spring, Chelsea is happy to be on her feet and singing again. This fall she began her Master of Music degree at the University of Manitoba under the direction of Monica Huisman on a full-ride scholarship.

Despite the turbulent times created by COVID-19, Chelsea is happy it has fueled innovation in how we communicate with each other and our audiences. This is an opportunity for people to come together, discuss, learn, and create new projects. Chelsea is both grateful and thrilled to be a part of Pacific Opera Victoria’s Apprentice Civic Engagement Quartet as it forges a new path ahead.