Mark Dubois

Dubois, Mark

Mark (Christopher) Dubois. Tenor, b Toronto 9 Nov 1953; Artist Diploma (Toronto) 1977, Artist Diploma opera (Toronto) 1979. He began singing at six as a boy chorister and soloist at St Augustine's Anglican Church in Toronto, where he worked with choir director Donald Hanson. He was later organist and choir director 1974-82 at the same church. He began studying at the University of Toronto with Irene Jessner in 1976, and she remained his coach until 1984. He was the winner of the vocal category in the CBC Talent Festival in 1981, and that same year sang Idamante in Idomeneo, and appeared in The Impresario and Bastien et Bastienne at Festival Ottawa. DuBois made the first of many appearances with Stuart Hamilton's Opera in Concert in 1976 as Flamino in L'Amore dei Tre Re, and made his COC debut in 1978 as Don Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro. Other appearances with Opera in Concert have included the title role in Pelléas et Melisande (1978, 1988), and in the Canadian premiere of Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie (1983). With the COC he has sung leading roles in Cenerentola (1979), The Merry Widow (1981), Falstaff and The Magic Flute (1982), Candide and Hamlet (1985), The Mikado and Dialogues of the Carmelites (1986). He has also sung with the Calgary, Edmonton, Northern Ireland, St Louis, San Diego, and Vancouver operas, and with Toronto Operetta Theatre and the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Toronto.

DuBois' versatile, light lyric tenor voice, praised for its sweetness and tonal purity, also has been heard in recital and in concert. He has appeared with chamber groups, choral societies, and in concert with major orchestras throughout Canada. He has performed in oratorio (eg, 13 Messiahs in the 1982-3 season, Oedipus Rex with the MSO in 1982, Israel in Egypt with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir in 1984, Acis and Galatea with the TS in 1986), is a frequent guest soloist in light classic and pops concerts, and has appeared at the major Canadian summer music festivals.

In 1982 DuBois made his Italian debut with the RAI orchestra in Milan in Stravinsky's Mavra, and returned to sing with that orchestra in 1986. In the USA he has sung in concerts with the San Francisco SO and with the Boston SO at Tanglewood, and has appeared at Hollywood Bowl, at Ravinia, and at the New England Bach Festival. His London premiere was at Wigmore Hall 7 Dec 1986 with Festival of the Sound in a concert that featured the premiere of Oskar Morawetz'The Weaver. He also premiered John Greer's Palm Court Songs of the Bubble Ring (text by Dennis Lee) as part of the Amici concert series in Toronto 19 Apr 1991.

DuBois has been heard often on CBC radio broadcasts. He has recorded with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (An Evening with Rodgers and Hammerstein, MMG 114/Fanfare DFL-9022X), the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra (Oktoberfest Operetta, CBC SM-5045 and 'Viens, gentille Dame,' CBC SM-5077), and the Elmer Iseler Singers (Musical Toronto: A Concert Party, Marquis MAR-104); he may also be heard on The Best of Broadway with Erich Kunzel and the Rochester Pops (1986, Pro-Arte CDD-252/CDD-450), and Oskar Morawetz: Vocal Works (1989, Centrediscs CMC-CD-3589). He appeared in the Rhombus Media 1985 film Magnificat.