Vocal Competition

Every year, ORMTA showcases some of the most talented advanced vocal students from across Ontario in this prestigious competition. Students of ORMTA members first compete locally at the branch level. A local branch winner then qualifies to compete at their regional zone competition. Winners of each zone competition across Ontario then earn the right to advance to this provincial competition. Students are expected to perform a stylistically balanced programme. Each student receives a written critique from a panel of distinguished adjudicators. Special thanks to many organizations and individuals for their ongoing support of this competition. 

If you would like to make a donation to our student scholarship fund, please click here.

2025 Prizes

Level 8 & 9

1st place - $750

2nd place - $500

Level 10 & Associate

1st place - $1,000

2nd place - $750

Other Prizes

Esther Su Memorial Scholarship Award - $250
for the best vocal performance of a Canadian work.

German Lieder Award - $100 (one prize per category)
for the best performance of a Lied by a composer such as Schubert, Brahms, Mozart, Wolf, Strauss.

Rules & Regulations

Download the Vocal Competition Level 8 & 9 Rules and Regulations

Download the Vocal Competition Level 10 & Associate Rules and Regulations

Select the image above to view a chart of the hierarchy of competitions from the
Branch level to the National level.

Application Forms

Adjudicators’ Signature Form

2025 Vocal Competition Adjudicators

  • Torin Chiles’ active performance career as an operatic tenor has spanned 20 years and his resume is replete with engagements from North American symphonies and opera companies. Mr. Chiles appeared on CBC television’s Opening Night as McAlpine in the critically acclaimed new Canadian opera, Filumena which was performed in Calgary, Banff, Ottawa and Edmonton. Many live operatic performances have been featured on CBC Radio Two’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. Mr. Chiles’ credits include: Pinkerton and Count Almaviva for Opera Lyra at the National Arts Centre; MacDuff for the Manitoba Opera in Winnipeg; Pang for Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and Arizona; Bob Boles in Montreal; The Magician in The Consul for Montreal, Manitoba and Milwakee. Mr. Chiles has premiered many new Canadian works such as Filumena by John Estacio, Erewhon by Louis Applebaum, Taptoo by John Beckwith and The Lady with the Lamp by Timothy Sullivan. A Gilbert and Sullivan Gala with the Winnipeg Symphony under maestro Bramwell Tovey was recorded for the CBC SM5000 series and is available commercially.

    Torin Chiles began teaching part time at Western University Canada in 1999 while still in the active phase of his career as a lyric tenor. In 2004 he was appointed to the Don Wright Faculty full time and served as the Voice Division Co-ordinator at the DWFoM from 2006 to 2011 and again from 2016 to 2023. He currently serves as the Acting Chair of the Department of Music Performance Studies. Mr. Chiles has taught undergraduate and graduate vocal pedagogy courses at Western since 2004 and is a busy clinician, lecturer, adjudicator and examiner. Recent seminars have been presented to the Schulich Faculty of Medicine at Western; the Alberta Music Educators Association, NATS Ontario (National Association of Teachers of Singing) and Conservatory Canada.

    A member of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) since 1999, Torin Chiles is a past president of NATS Ontario, and a past District Governor. In addition to having served on strategic planning committees at the national level, he has served on the NATS Foundation board of directors as well as a recent four year stint as the VP-Membership for the national NATS board of directors. Chiles currently serves on the organizing committee for the 2025 Conference in Toronto of the International Congress of Voice Teachers.

  • Deborah Linton completed her Bachelor of Music in voice performance at the University of Toronto where she studied with Irene Jessner and Elizabeth Benson-Guy. She received her Master of Fine Arts in voice performance from State University of New York. While there, she received the voice fellowship for two years, taught undergraduate voice courses and studied with Muriel Hebert Wolf. Further study included post graduate work with John Malloy and Thomas Paul at the Eastman School of Music.

    Deborah’s opera performances have included such diverse roles as Mrs. Ford (Merry Wives of Windsor), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Metella (La Vie Parisienne), Baba the Turk (The Rake’s Progress), and Katisha (The Mikado). She has been a featured soloist in numerous oratorios, among them Messiah (Handel), Magnificat (Bach and Vivaldi) and Missa Brevis (Mozart).

    Deborah has been an avid recitalist with programs devoted to a wide range of vocal repertoire. One of her most successful recitals was entitled “The Wicked, Wicked Women of Song”. Another favourite was a vaudeville program complete with costume, fans and feathers.

    Recently, Deborah retired from Brock University where she taught voice, pedagogy, master classes and language diction for nearly thirty years. In addition she maintained a very active private studio. Several of her students went on to prominent international careers such as her student Brett Polegato, who recently was honoured with the prestigious  “Ruby” award for his outstanding work in opera.

    Deborah has been a member of ORMTA, receiving the “Special Teacher Award “ from them in 2005 for the Niagara Falls branch. She has also belonged to NATS and the Federation of Music Festivals. She has adjudicated multiple music festivals, university exams and recitals. In addition she has given presentations of vocal technique and physiology and the Alexander Technique to choirs, speech pathologists and teachers.

    Today Deborah is the alto soloist at First Presbyterian Church in Buffalo. She resides with her patient husband Lloyd and very large Goldendoodle Sam in Niagara Falls.