CAREER EXPERIENCE

ELIZABETH RAYCROFT

Elizabeth Raycroft, soprano, trained at the University of Alberta (BMus,), at the University of Houston (MMus, Opera) and at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna. She has performed roles with the Edmonton Opera in their productions of Jenufa (Karolka), HMS Pinafore (Hebe) and The Marriage of Figaro. She has worked with many renowned conductors (Richard Bradshaw, Elmer Eisler, Uri Mayer), directors (Kelly Robinson, Katherine Twaddle) and coaches (Walter Berry, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Robin Phillips). 

A regular oratorio soloist, Ms. Raycroft has performed in Handel’s Messiah with the Red Deer Symphony, Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Augustana University Choirs and Haydn’s Mass with the Edmonton Opera Chorus.  She is an avid performer of new music and has had many new works created for her, performing the World Premier of Joseph Lai‘s “Four Songs, Opus 15” at Canada 150 Concert in Muttart Hall, Edmonton. 

For three years, Ms. Raycroft performed the role of the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors with the edmonton coOPERAtive. She performed in Toy Gun Theatre’s 2014 Fringe mega-hit "Propylene Glycol, Maltodextrin, Retinol Palmitate and Other Words I don't Understand Like Love", which also toured throughout Alberta in June and July 2015. In 2019, Ms. Raycroft was part of the sold-out production of "The Light in the Piazza" at Walterdale Theatre, where she was delighted to be able to use her Italian as Signora Naccarelli.  She is a regular recital performer and reularily performs Faculty Recitals at The King’s University, where she is a faculty member. 

Elizabeth was a member of Pro Coro Canada for over 15 years and was a founding member of the chamber music ensembles Cantilena Consort and Wind, Women and Song, who released a CD in 2005.

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Her acting credits include "The Real Inspector Hound" and "Trial by Jury" at the University of Alberta. 

Ms. Raycroft had been on faculty at The King’s University since 2001. She teaches voice, diction and vocal pedagogy, as well as Theory and Music Appreciation. She is also on faculty at MacEwan University’s Alberta College Conservatory of Music.  Ms. Raycroft regularly shares her expertise and knowledge in masterclasses, workshops and through adjudicating festivals throughout Western Canada. 

Her students consistently excel at local festivals and have participated in Provincial Festival, ARMTA's Provincial Vocal Competition and in the national CFMTA Vocal Competition. Many of her students have won the Northern Alberta Concerto Competition, performing with the Edmonton Youth Orchestra in the Winspear Centre. Her students perform in musical theatre and opera productions, as leads, chorus members and in smaller or comprimario roles. Former students have performed with Edmonton Opera, Calgary Opera, Opera Pacific and the Danish National Opera, Edmonton Musical Theatre, Opera Nuova and Mayfield Dinner Theatre.

Ms. Raycroft is very involved in the musical community in Alberta. She has been on the boards for the Alberta Registered Music Teachers' Association (ARMTA), both Provincial and Edmonton branch, where she is currently on the National Conference 2023 Committee. She was on the founding board of Opera NUOVA, also serving as Volunteer Co-ordinator.  She is past-president of the National Association of Teachers of Singing North Central Alberta Chapter and is a Certified Royal Conservatory of Canada Teacher.