Thomas Bernard Heppner (born January 14, 1956) is a Canadian tenor and broadcaster, now retired from singing, who specialized in opera and other classical works for voice. Early life and career Heppner, of Mennonite descent, was born in Murrayville, British Columbia, and lived in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. 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. He is associated with the Wagnerian repertoire, but he performed a range of operas from the German, French and Italian canons. Heppner performed frequently with opera companies in the United States (including the New York Metropolitan Opera) and Europe, and concert appearances with symphony orchestras. He has appeared in the DVD recordings of the Met's productions of Beethoven's Fidelio, Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, three of his signature roles. He first performed Tristan with the Seattle Opera in 1998, and in November 1998 with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Heppner also performed and recorded Wagner's "Gotterdammerung" with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. He specialized in operatic roles including the title part in Lohengrin, the title part in Otello, and Berlioz's Aeneas. He performed Beethoven's "Fidelio" at the Salzburg Festival with Sir Georg Solti in 1996, and recorded the work that same year with Sir Colin Davis conducting. Also with Sir Colin Davis, Heppner recorded the role of Aeneas in Berlioz' "Les Troyens". Heppner has recorded on multiple labels, participating in complete operas and solo albums of arias and songs. He was signed to an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon (DG). His first solo recording for DG, made in 2001, was Airs Français. It won a Juno Award. Heppner has received Honorary Doctorates from Queen's University (2006), McMaster Divinity College (2005), York University (2003), Memorial University of Newfoundland (2003), University of Toronto (2002), McGill University (2002), and University of British Columbia (1997). Heppner was awarded the National Arts Centre Award, a companion award of the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards in 1995. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1999, was promoted to Officer in 2002 and Companion in 2008. He performed at closing ceremonies of two Winter Olympic Games. In Turin in 2006, he sang the Canadian national anthem. Four years later, in Vancouver, he sang the Olympic Hymn. Both times, he mixed English and