Teacher

Benjamin Butterfield studied voice with Selena James at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. He later graduated from McGill University and was awarded grants from the Canada Council for the Arts to study in the USA, UK and Italy. He was recognized by the Sullivan Foundation and Oratorio Society of New York and was a participant at the Steans Vocal Institute at the Ravinia Festival, Chicago. Benjamin is the recipient of a Craigdarroch Award for Excellence in Artistic Expression (UVic), a Ruby Award (Opera Canada) for his contributions as a tenor and pedagogue and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Prof. Butterfield is presently head of Voice for the School of Music at the University of Victoria and maintains an active singing career represented by Schwalbe & Partners in New York City. Performance highlights include: Handel’s Tamerlano with the legendary stage director Jonathan Miller at Glimmerglass Opera; Montreal Jazz Festival with Dave Brubeck; sharing the stage with film star Isabella Rossellini at Il Teatro di San Carlo in Naples and Epidaurus in Greece, filming Messiah for ZDF at the Handel Festspiele-Halle with Trevor Pinnock and performing Stankovych’s "Kiddish Requiem" with the Hamburg Philharmonic in Kyiv, Ukraine for the 75th anniversary of Babyn Yar. Other performances have included Rossini’s Barber of Seville with Welsh National Opera, Mozart’s Magic Flute at New York City Opera, Haydn’s Creation with the Orchestra of St. Lukes at Carnegie Hall and participating in the St. Matthew Passion under Seiji Ozawa at the Saito Kinen Festival in Japan. Heard regularly on CBC Radio and nominated for several Juno Awards, Mr. Butterfield has also been featured in episodes of This is my music.

Prof. Butterfield has been on faculty at York University in Toronto and serves as summer faculty at Opera Nuova (Edmonton), Orford Musique, Institut Canadien d'Art Vocal (Montreal), Yellow Barn (Vermont). Valley Opera Summer Intensive (Kelowna), Sicily International Voice Festival and Competition and is Co-Director of the Ukrainian Art Song Summer Institute (Toronto).