Countertenor Ryan McDonald is a current Young Artist with POV’s Civic Engagement Quartet. A recent Encouragement Award winner from the MET Council Auditions, Ryan has been seen on stage across Canada and Europe in a variety of operatic and concert roles.

Ryan was hailed by Opera Canada for his performance in Dido and Aeneas: “Ryan McDonald, a young Newfoundland and Labrador countertenor, made a particularly favorable impression as Spirit. McDonald has a voice of luminous, fresh colour, combined with natural musicality and an exciting sense of narrative drama”.

Ryan is the co- founder of OperaQ, a company focused specifically on presenting queer theatre, by queer artists for queer audiences. Ryan led the reimagined production of Purcell’s Dido and Belinda as the titular character, Dido. In addition to their musical activities, Ryan is currently pursuing a DMA in Historical Performance at the University of Toronto where they are researching the life of Klaus Nomi and investigating the ever expanding queer performance practice guide.