JOEL KLEIN

 

Born on a wheat farm near Fox Valley Saskatchewan, Joel began artistic studies in Calgary and moved to Vancouver to complete his bachelor's (UBC Opera), and a graduate diploma at Vancouver Academy of Music.  He spent the first decade of the 2000s touring the province and the country as a professional operatic baritone, singing roles for, among others, Vancouver Opera, Edmonton Opera, and City Opera Vancouver.

 

In his current creative practice as fabulous drag superstar Maria Toilette, he is developing multiple collaborative projects including TransPositions (explorations of gender in turn-of-the century lyric coloratura performance) and Cocktales with Maria, an exploration of M2M sex and sexuality, through the verbatim words of contemporary practitioners.

 

Joel splits his time between his personal artistic endeavors, and supporting those of others in his Executive role at Made in BC – Dance on Tour, a support organization for the dance milieu throughout British Columbia.