2024 Adjudicators

Soprano Irene Ilic received her Master's Degree in Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music and has performed a variety of operatic and musical theatre roles in the U.S. and Canada. She has also been a guest soloist with many Canadian choirs and orchestras, performing as soprano soloist in works such as Orff's CARMINA BURANA, Purcell's KING ARTHUR, Haydn's THE CREATION, Handel's THE MESSIAH, Bach's ST. JOHN PASSION, and the REQUIEMs of Faure, Durufle, Brahms and Rutter.

Ms. Ilic has a thriving private teaching practice in Newmarket and is a member of NATS, ORMTA and the CMFAA. She is also currently a board member of both NATS Ontario and the OMFA. She has adjudicated many music festivals throughout Canada. She is the founder and director of the Newmarket Voice Festival, an annual event since 1996. She was selected to join the repertoire selection committee for both the 2012 edition and 2019 edition of the Royal Conservatory of Music Songbook Series.

Many of her students have won Silver and Gold Medals for the highest mark in Ontario for an RCM Voice Exam. Her students have starred in Opera Atelier productions and the Toronto casts and touring productions of THE LION KING, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, BILLY ELIOT, MARY POPPINS, and more. Her student, John-Michael Scapin, won the $150,000 scholarship in the CBC show Triple Sensation. Her annual "Tea & Tunes" student concerts have been held for over twenty-five years and have raised thousands of dollars for Sick Kids Hospital.

Irene is very proud that many of her students have gone on to pursue music at the university level and as a career path.As a consultant with Voice Dynamics Inc. for three years, Irene conducted corporate workshops on presentation skills, customer service, voice image and telemarketing for Peat Marwick Thorne, SaskTel, AllState Insurance, Bell Canada, Revenue Canada and A.T. & T. in New York City. She has been a guest lecturer at the McGill Club, the YMCA, the Association of Women in Business, and George Brown College.