Torin Chiles

Torin Chiles is a Lecturer and currently serves as the Acting Chair of the Department of Music Performance Studies at the Don Wright Faculty of Music, Western University. He began teaching part-time at Western in 1999 while maintaining an active operatic career, and was appointed to the Don Wright Faculty full-time in 2004. Previously, he served as Voice Division Co-ordinator from 2006-2011 and 2016-2023.

His research and professional focus centers on vocal performance and pedagogy within classical and operatic traditions. With a 20-year career as an operatic tenor, Chiles has performed principal roles for major North American opera companies including Opera Lyra at the National Arts Centre (Pinkerton, Count Almaviva), Manitoba Opera (MacDuff), and Vancouver/Montreal/Calgary/Edmonton/Arizona Opera (Pang). He has premiered significant Canadian works such as John Estacio's Filumena, Louis Applebaum's Erewhon, and John Beckwith's Taptoo, with performances frequently broadcast on CBC Radio Two's 'Saturday Afternoon at the Opera' and CBC television.

Chiles has taught undergraduate and graduate vocal pedagogy courses at Western since 2004, while maintaining an active role as clinician, lecturer, and adjudicator. He has presented seminars for the Schulich Faculty of Medicine, Alberta Music Educators Association, NATS Ontario, and Conservatory Canada. His professional leadership includes serving as past president of NATS Ontario, past District Governor, VP-Membership for the national NATS board, and strategic planning roles for the NATS Foundation.