Canadian mezzo-contralto, Hillary Tufford is noted for her “rich and velvety sound,” (Dawn Martens, Opera Canada). Hillary’s incredibly unique timbre, extensive range, and artistic versatility, allows her to perform a wide range of repertoire from the Baroque to the Contemporary era. 

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A testament to her versatility, last season Hillary made her international debut in the role of Cherubino in Daegu Opera’s production of Le nozze di Figaro in South Korea. She sang the alto solo in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at The Banff Centre, she returned to perform with The Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra and she made her debut with The St James Cathedral Orchestra to sing the alto solo in Handel’s Messiah, and she jumped-in for the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra, singing Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. Gaining recognition as a contemporary music specialist, last season Hillary was a finalist in the Eckhardt-Grammaté Competition for New Music and she sang Helen in Stephanie Martin’s oratorio Water, and Mrs Demers in Weinsensel/Cavanagh’s contemporary opera Cityworkers in Love. This season Hillary will sing the alto 2 solo in Mahler’s Eighth “Symphony of a Thousand,” with Mandle Cheung and The Toronto Symphony Orchestra. She will also return to perform with The VanBach choir to sing in Handel’s Messiah, and return to perform with The Victoria Philharmonic Choir to sing the world premiere of Tobin Stokes’ The Oceans.

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Hillary’s operatic repertoire includes Carmen (Carmen, Bizet), Olga (Eugene Onegin, Tchaikovsky), Lola (Cavelleria rusticani, Mascagni), Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Britten), Flora (La Traviata, Verdi), Pauline (Pique Dame, Tchaikovsky), Jean (Le portrait de Manon, Massenet), and Hebe (HMS Pinafore). Contemporary music roles include Jarman in Tim Albery and Cecilia Livingston’s The Garden of Vanished Pleasures with Soundstreams, Berthe in Judith Weir’s Blond Eckbert with Vancouver Opera, and Nadia in Tapestry Opera’s Dora Award winning show The Enslavement and Liberation of Oksana G. 

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Also an active concert performer and recitalist Hillary has worked with The Elmer Eisler Singers, The Bach-Elgar Choir, Magisterra Soloists, The Kingston Symphony Orchestra and performed in recitals for the Toronto Summer Music Festival. 

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Hillary was a District Winner (Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition), she won 3rd prize at The Macina Competition, and she won finalist prizes in The Mozart Project Competition, and The IRCPA Singing Stars Competition, which led to her radio debut on 96.3 The New Classical FM. 

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Hillary is a proud laureate of Les jeunes ambassadeurs lyriques, a graduate of the Vancouver Opera Yuland M. Faris Young Artist Program, and she holds a Masters in Voice Literature and Performance from Western University, Canada, where she achieved the Gold Medal in Music, awarded to the student with the highest average upon graduation. She has received bursaries from Opera America, the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts, the RBC Emerging Artist Project and the Hazel Crydermann­-Wees Foundation.