Karyn Way

Theatre Director, Music Director, Creative Producer

Karyn is very active in Vancouver as a singer, adjudicator, director and music instructor. Some of her favourite roles include Madame Giry/ensemble in The Phantom of the Opera, in which she did over 350 performances at the Ford Centre in Vancouver. In the opera Hansel and Gretel, Karyn played the role of Hansel twice with Burnaby Lyric Opera and the roles of the Mother and the Witch with the UBC Opera Ensemble.

A favourite musical of Karyn’s is Evita. In separate productions in Alberta she had the great pleasure to play the role of Eva Peron in Leduc and was in the Ensemble at Theatre Calgary. Under the direction of the late Robin Phillips, Karyn worked at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton in the musical Man of La Mancha. Karyn has played both the First and the Second Lady in separate productions of The Magic Flute. At Grant MacEwan University, Karyn had roles in The Sorcerer and She Loves Me. At the Banff Centre, she had roles in Street Scene, The Cunning Little Vixen and The Crucible.

Karyn was also a member of the Edmonton Opera Chorus for 4 years in productions such as La Traviata, La Boheme, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Masked Ball, Madama Butterfly and several others. Karyn was a member of the Vancouver Chamber Choir for 4 years under the direction of Jon Washburn performing over 10 concerts each year in the regular season and touring across Canada and in the United States. She has also sung with the Vivaldi Chamber Choir, the Vancouver Bach Choir and the Broadway Chorus. She can frequently be seen in concert performing a mixture of musical theatre, pop, art song and opera. Karyn has also performed many times with the big band, The Forward Motion Jazz Orchestra under the direction of her husband, Daniel Séguin. 

As a director, Karyn staged Amahl and the Night Visitors for the Vancouver Academy of Music. She also directed several productions of opera scenes for the Academy. For her own studio, Vocalis Music she has produced and directed many recitals including vocal solos, duets and musical theatre ensembles.

She was on faculty at Capilano University as a voice instructor in the jazz program for four years where she taught vocal technique and gave many masterclasses in musical theatre performance. Karyn was head of voice for Stagecraft Theatre School for eight years and also served as music director and conductor for many performances.

Karyn currently teaches voice, piano and music theory at her home studio, Vocalis Music, the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts and also teaches singing and acts as manager for Lights Up Theatre School. Karyn continues to adjudicate and give masterclasses in voice, musical theatre and choir at festivals across Canada including Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia.

At the University of British Columbia, Karyn earned a Bachelor of Music Degree in Voice Performance and a Master of Music in Opera. She also earned Diplomas in Musical Theatre from Grant MacEwan University and the Banff Centre. Karyn has Advanced Voice Teacher Certification for the Royal Conservatory of Music and is a proud member of the College of Examiners. She is also a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and is on the Board of the Vancouver Chapter of NATS.