Lois Jeanette McDonall CM (born February 7, 1939) is a Canadian operatic soprano, especially known for her performances in the operas of Mozart and Donizetti.
On the recommendation of Irving Gutmann, she was connected with the University of Toronto where she studied with Irene Jessner, Herman Geiger-Torel and Jacqueline Richard.
She then went on to the Stadische Buhren in Flensburg, Germany where she played the demanding title role in Puccini's Tosca and Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin.
In following seasons she performed Fiordiligi from Così fan tutte, the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Roselinda in Die Fledermaus, Antonia in The Tales of Hoffmann, Leonora in Il trovatore, Freia in Das Rheingold, Hanna in The Merry Widow, the title role in Massenet's Manon, Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, Violetta in La traviata, Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw and she created the title role in Iain Hamilton's Anna Karenina.
Ms. McDonall has worked tirelessly in the years since her return to Canada to prepare young Canadian singers for their own careers in opera and classical music.
The award appropriately recognizes Ms. McDonall’s diligence and determination in overcoming the challenges which naturally arise from emanating from a remote Canadian pioneering farm community.
Now-prominent students include soprano Othalie Graham,[6] Jackalyn Short, Elliot Madore, Stephen Harland, and Andrea Ludwig.