The CCOC is the only permanent children's opera company in Canada that commissions and produces operas for children on a regular basis. Having commissioned and premiered half a dozen children’s operas in the first 25 years of its existence, the CCOC has redoubled its determination to create a viable canon of children’s opera in recent years. Two fully staged premieres and a workshop in the past four seasons complement plans for two more fully-staged new works in the next three years. Children are involved every year in a production with high-profile professional directors, designers, singers and coaches drawn from the Canadian and international opera community.
The company regularly collaborates and performs with other leading arts organizations, such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Five commercial recordings have been released including the 2006 recording of A Midwinter Night’s Dream that garnered a Juno nomination in 2007. The CCOC’s second European tour, to Central Europe in summer 2007, was met with critical acclaim.
- The Canadian Children's Opera Chorus was founded in 1968 by Ruby Mercer and Music Director Lloyd Bradshaw specifically to provide a stable source of child singers for productions of the Canadian Opera Company.
- Subsequent Music Directors included Donald Kendrick, Derek Holman, and John Tuttle. In 2000, with the hiring of the CCOC’s first Artistic Director, Ann Cooper Gay, the operatic focus of the organization was enhanced with the inclusion of an even balance of drama training and music literacy alongside choral singing.
- Two Junior Choruses (AC and IC) were added to the main program in 1988 to provide basic training for children ages 6 to 11 years and in 1999, the Ruby Chorus was created to introduce 5- and 6-year-olds to music and drama through singing games and eurhythmic training.
- In 2002, the CCOC introduced the Canadian Youth Opera Chorus for boys with changed voices and girls ages 16 to young adult in order to provide further training and experience as a bridge to university programs. From 32 original members, the CCOC has now grown to almost 200 children and youth participants.
- In 2008, the name was changed to Canadian Children’s Opera Company to reflect the significant amount of work the CCOC does in presenting full-scale productions and commissioning new operatic works created for children to perform.