First Nations mezzo-soprano Marion Newman has quickly established herself as a "jewel in Canada’s impressive performing arts crown". In 2005 Marion made her debut in the title role of Carmen, with Opera 2005 in Cork, Ireland where the Irish Examiner review noted her “superbly sinuous sexuality” and marked her as a “very exciting new talent”. She has subsequently appeared in Cork, Ireland as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, nominated for an Irish Times theatre award for best opera production, Margret in Wozzeck and Juno in the The Tempest with Pacific Opera Victoria, Meg Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and the White Cat, Dragonfly and Squirrel in L’Enfant et les Sortilège. Recently released is a Naxos recording of the Aradia Ensemble performing Handel’s Rinaldo with Marion singing the role of Goffredo.

Highlights of Marion's 2007-2008 season include Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte with Vancouver Opera, a Naxos recording of Vivaldi’s opera La Griselda, for which Marion is highly praised for her performance in the title role by BBC Music Magazine, and the roles Flora in Verdi’s La Traviata and Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro in Sulmona, Italy. Upcoming performances in 2008 include Cherubino and Cenerentola for Opera Lyra in Ottawa as well as a new recording with the Aradia Ensemble.

Other international appearances include performances in the Czech Republic and in Germany as Don Ramiro in Mozart’s Die Gärtnerin Aus Liebe and Ericlea in Il Ritorno di Ulisse. Ms. Newman also sang the roles of Zita and La Zia Principessa in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica in Italy. As part of the Banff Centre new music programme, Marion toured France with Richard Dubelski’s What’s Goin’ On and in 2004 she traveled to Lithuania with the ERGO ensemble to perform at the Is Arti New Music Festival.

Marion has also demonstrated her "luscious mezzo soprano voice and captivating vivacity" on television, having been featured four times as a soloist on CBC’s National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, and opening the 2002 Royal Golden Jubilee Gala at Roy Thomson Hall, where she performed the National Anthem with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir before Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

On the concert stage, Marion has performed with the Victoria Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Portland Baroque Orchestra, CapriCCio Vocal Ensemble, San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra, Kingston Symphony, Symphony Nova Scotia, Elora Festival Singers, Talisker Players, Bell’Arte Singers, Aradia Ensemble, Toronto Philharmonia, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, St Lawrence Choir, Fanshawe Chorus London and Sooke Philharmonic. Her extensive repertoire includes Handel’s Messiah, the Mozart Requiem, Coronation Mass and Davidde Penitente, Copland’s In The Beginning, Bach’s St. John Passion, Magnificat, and Cantata no. 4, recorded with the CapriCCio Vocal Ensemble, as well as Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit, Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater, and Clarae Stellae Scintillate, which are both recorded with the Aradia Ensemble for the Naxos Label.

Ms. Newman made her orchestral debut at the age of sixteen with the Victoria Symphony, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto K. 488 in A Major. She holds a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from the University of Victoria and a Master of Music with Distinction in vocal performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She is the recipient of a Career Development Grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.