Hometown: Alameda, Saskatchewan

Acclaimed for her “poise and great musical aplomb” (Opera Canada), soprano McKenzie Warriner has made her mark on repertoire spanning genres and centuries. A member of the Glenn Gould School’s Rebanks Family Fellowship, the 2024/25 season sees McKenzie make her debut as the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte (GGS Opera), sing Messiah with the Winnipeg Symphony, appear as a soloist in the Royal Conservatory of Music’s 21C Festival, and perform as an artist fellow with the Cincinnati Song Initiative. 

Winner of the 2023 Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition, McKenzie is one of Canada’s rising stars in the field of contemporary music. She has premiered over a dozen works by composers from across North America and the United Kingdom, with performances at the Aldeburgh Festival as a Britten Pears Young Artist, on tour across Canada with pianist Danielle Guina, and in concert with Slow Rise Music, the series McKenzie co-founded with her frequent collaborator, Tristan Zaba (her husband). 

An alumna of Vancouver Opera’s Yulanda M. Faris Young Artist Program, McKenzie has performed across Canada, with highlights including Die Zauberflöte (Vancouver Opera), The Handmaid’s Tale (Banff Centre), Ayre (Edmonton Opera), Messiah (Saskatoon Symphony), and Alligator Pie (Regina Symphony). McKenzie holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Manitoba. When she isn’t singing, McKenzie loves running, knitting, and playing Dungeons & Dragons, and she is a proud pet mother to Marcie the dog and Blake the snake.