Fee: $195 4-week series Classical singing and opera have reached a level of popularity never before seen. Younger generations are taking an interest more than ever thanks to both the burgeoning live and online performances available to them. Star-studded operatic productions featuring today's greatest singers can be viewed in your local movie theaters and living rooms in HD. A career in opera today not only relies on great singing but a slew of other characteristics that have little to do with singing. One can't help but wonder if we are losing sight of what makes great singing great. This course will take a look back at the lives and careers of some of the world's greatest singers, and the qualities that earned them the titles of "The Greatest", "Legendary", and "La Superba". About the Instructor: David Eliakis has collaborated with some of Canada's finest singers and has worked with world-renown artists such as Isabel Bayrakdarian, Warren Jones, Julius Rudel, and Sir Martin Isepp. After graduating from the University of Toronto's Faculty of Music, David was awarded an Ontario Arts Council grant to study privately with Warren Jones in New York City, and since then has also worked with pianists Roger Vignoles, Rudolf Jansen, Dalton Baldwin, and Graham Johnson. David works as a collaborative pianist, voice coach and lecturer at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Music and The Royal Conservatory of Music. As a pianist his performances have taken him to the stages of Brazil, Switzerland, England (where he was a finalist in the Wigmore Hall Song Competition), Germany, Bermuda, and the Maritime Provinces. In 2006 David attended the Aspen Summer Music Festival in a production of Verdi's La Traviata conducted by Grammy winner Julius Rudel. As of this year he has joined the team of Against The Grain Theatre as an Artistic Associate and host/pianist for their monthly Opera Pubs. Aside from David's performances he has also worked in Public Relations liaising with companies such as Deutsche Grammophon and IMG Artists.