Topic: Ben Heppner

Ben Heppner, CC (born January 14, 1956) is a Canadian tenor, specializing in opera and classical symphonic works for voice.

Heppner was born in Murrayville, British Columbia, and lived in Dawson Creek. He began his musical studies at the University of British Columbia and first attracted national attention when he won the CBC Talent Festival in 1979. Since then, he has gone on to become one of the most prominent dramatic tenors active today. He has come to be associated particularly with the Wagner repertoire, but he performs a wide range of works.

Heppner performs frequently with major opera companies in the United States and Europe, as well as concert appearances with major symphony orchestras. He has made DVDs of the Metropolitan Opera's productions Beethoven's Fidelio and Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, two of his signature roles. He first performed Tristan with the Seattle Opera in 1998. He relishes the most challenging roles, including Tristan, Lohengrin, Otello, and Berlioz's Aeneas.