Canadian soprano Leah Gordon is acclaimed for her soaring lyricism, radiant top notes, and
powerful middle register, paired with masterful control across registers and dynamics. A graduate of
the University of Toronto and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, she has built a wide-ranging
European career over the past two decades. From 2008–2018 she was a member of the ensemble at
Staatstheater Nürnberg, where she performed a broad repertoire of leading roles and established
herself as a true vocal chameleon.
Her roles include Aida, Turandot, Tosca, Odabella (Attila), Amelia (Un ballo in maschera),
Giorgetta (Il tabarro), Suor Angelica, Desdemona (Otello), Elvira (Ernani), Elisabeth (Tannhäuser),
Leonore (Fidelio), and Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana). Her signature role is Elisabeth de Valois,
which she has sung in both the French and Italian versions at major houses including Opéra Royal
de Wallonie (Liège), Theater Basel, Theater Kiel, Theater Bern, the Opernfestspiele Heidenheim,
Saarländisches Staatstheater, and Theater Freiburg.
Other notable highlights include Ernani at Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp; Turandot and Tannhäuser at
Teatro Comunale Pavarotti-Freni di Modena; and Aida at Oper im Steinbruch St. Margarethen. She
has also appeared at the Bayerische Staatsoper and the Glyndebourne Festival.
Recent and upcoming engagements include Il trittico at Nationaltheater Mannheim, Odabella in
Attila at the Opernfestspiele Heidenheim (recorded for Coviello Classics and broadcast via
OperaVision), Tosca at Saarländisches Staatstheater, and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at
Opernfestspiele Heidenheim in summer 2026. She is the 2024/25 Artist in Focus at the Heidenheim
Opera Festival, opening the festival in concert with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie in Strauss’s
Vier letzte Lieder.
Gordon is a laureate of the Elisabeth Connell Prize for Dramatic Sopranos (Second Prize) and a
two-time recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts Grant, in addition to top prizes in
competitions including Marcello Giordani, Magda Olivero, Beppe de Tomasi, Jole de Maria, and
Nuovo Canto.
In addition to her operatic work, she maintains an active recital and crossover profile, frequently
exploring repertoire from jazz, musical theatre, and early 20th-century film music. A recent review
praised her as “a true all-purpose weapon,”noting that her musical theatre interpretations were
“subtle to the point of noble,” delivered with emotional finesse and restraint, and entirely free of the
“hollow pathos” often associated with the genre. She was also featured in recital at the Kurt Weill
Festival in Dessau.

Adagio Artists