Chilliwack, BC
Canadian countertenor Shane Hanson has performed with the Theatre of Early Music, Vancouver Bach Choir, Ne.Sans Opera and Dance, Kamloops Symphony, Okanagan Symphony, UBC Opera Ensemble, Against the Grain Theatre, Vancouver Symphony, Early Music Vancouver, and Chilliwack Symphony. Most recent engagements include Orfeo in Ne:Sans’ Orfeo ed Euridice, and alto soloist in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the Kamloops Symphony.
In recent years Shane has participated in several notable productions, including various Bach cantatas with Daniel Taylor’s Theatre Of Early Music, covering Orphee for Against the Grain Theatre’s Orphee, and many concert works with an array of ensembles. He has mostly performed many concert works, and he is also very accomplished on the operatic stage. Notable operatic roles include Britten’s Oberon, Handel’s Guilio Cesare, and Gluck’s Orfeo, and in the 2018 northwestern regional Metropolitan Opera competition, Shane received runner up.
Shane holds a bachelor’s degree in opera performance from the University of British Columbia where he studied under Dale Throness and Nancy Hermiston. He received many generous scholarships during his studies at UBC, including the Edwina Heller Memorial Award in Opera. When off the stage, Shane enjoys discovering late eighteenth century opera arias and creating piano reductions of them to then record or perform. His most notable collection of reductions includes select alto arias of Anfossi, Jomelli, and Myslivecek. Recently, Shane recorded four world premiere arias of Myslivecek with Alex Weimann and members of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra. This recording project was made possible by the generous support of the Vancouver Opera Guild’s career development grant.