Ottawa-born soprano Ellen McAteer, hailed by CBC Radio as a “young, rising star”, is the two-time recipient of the Richard Bradshaw Graduate Fellowship in Opera, and has been awarded the Ruby Mercer Opera Award, a Schulich Scholarship, the Gaelyne Gabora Memorial Prize and the E. M. Wirth Scholarship. 

Ellen has been praised for her “lovely, full sound” (Greater Hamilton Musician), “joy and ebullient charm” (Bach in Bethlehem), and “stupendous singing” (Calgary Herald), as well as for her voice’s “size, colour and agility”. Her performances have been described as a “powerhouse of dramatic assuredness, the ultimate in vulnerable intensity” (Opera Canada). Her appearance as Lola in James Rolfe’s new opera Crush was critically acclaimed: “Ellen McAteer was stunning as Lola. Universally admired, McAteer braved Rolfe's challenging score with virtuoso daring, and her eloquently played characterization became the hinging point of success for the entire opera.” (Opera Canada) Of her appearance as First Witch/Second Woman in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with Opera Atelier, the Toronto Star wrote, “McAteer’s steely soprano handles Purcell’s fussy lines with sparkling agility.” 

Ellen’s performed operatic roles are diverse and include several premieres, such as the role of Rebecca in Joel Ivany’s transladaptation and amalgamation of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni, entitled No One’s Safe (The Banff Centre, dir. Joel Ivany), Mother in composer Joe Amato’s oratorio With Respect at the Diefenbunker Museum in Ottawa, and Chorus II in James Rolfe and Morris Panych’s Overcoat (Tapestry Opera, dir. Jordan de Souza).

​Other performed roles include Lucia in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia (The Banff Centre, dir. ​Paul Curran / Anna Theodosakis), Lola in James Rolfe’s opera Crush (The Banff Centre, dir. Amiel Gladstone), Despina in Joel Ivany’s transladaptation of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, entitled A Little Too Cozy (Against the Grain Theatre, dir. Joel Ivany), Tigrane in Handel’s Radamisto (Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, dir. Martin Haselböck), Athalia in Handel’s Athalia (Victoria Conservatory Summer Program, dir. Laurence Cummings) and Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (Theatre of Early Music, dir. Bill Coleman).

In concert, Ellen has performed Golijov’s Tenebrae (Glenn Gould Ensemble), Handel’s Messiah (Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, dir. Marc David / Peterborough Singers, dir. Sydney Birrell), Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater (Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, dir. Martin Haselböck), C. P. E. Bach’s Magnificat (Bach Choir of Bethlehem, dir. Greg Funfgeld), Haydn’s The Creation (Bach Choir of Bethlehem, dir. Greg Funfgeld / Peterborough Singers, dir. Sydney Birrell), Bach’s Coffee Cantata (Theatre of Early Music, dir. Adrian Butterfield), Britten’s Les illuminations de Rimbaud (University of Toronto with Helen Becqué), Bach’s Magnificat (Theatre of Early Music, dir. Adrian Butterfield), Orff’s Carmina Burana (McGill University, dir. Jordan de Souza) and Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion (Church of Saint Andrew and Saint Paul, dir. Jordan de Souza). 

Ellen’s voice can be heard on several CDs, most recently the Juno-nominated Le refuge du cœur (Analekta 2015), The Vale of Tears (Analekta 2015) and both Four Thousand Winter (Sony 2015) and The Tree of Life (Sony 2016) featuring the newly formed Trinity Choir, directed by Daniel Taylor. 

A versatile performer, Ellen has taken part in several unusual performance opportunities. Her voice has been heard in KT Brynski’s audio drama, “Six Stories, Told at Night,” and on acoustic folk-band October Gold’s first CD release, "Into the Silence," she debuted and recorded the symphonic poem "A Dream within a Dream" by McGill composition student Kit Soden and was featured at Place des Arts in Montreal as part of a multi-disciplinary outdoor art exhibit entitled "The Artistic Disciplines". 

Ellen holds a Master of Music Degree in Voice Performance from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Music Degree in Voice Performance from McGill University where she graduated with Excellence in Voice. She has furthered her studies at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, the Orford Arts Centre, The Banff Centre, Opera on the Avalon and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Ellen is currently continuing her studies as a 2016-2017 Rebanks Fellow at the prestigious Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.