strange culture and many strange languages and being left to figure it all out alone". Operatic career When Howe made his European debut as Nemorino in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore in Oporto, Portugal in November 1997, he had been given only three weeks prior to the opening performance to prepare. He spent sixteen-hour days learning the role while also rehearsing his movements on stage. Since then, it has become his most performed role, with a total of more than 100 performances and rising. His efforts were such a success that the press revered him as "the quintessential Nemorino". Despite what appeared to be the beginning of a burgeoning career in Europe, he chose to return to Canada, for his first Rodolfo in Puccini's La Bohème in 1998. Despite being based in the somewhat smaller Canadian market, Howe was still able to take on major tenor roles of all kinds including those in Lakmé, Falstaff, Don Pasquale, Lucia di Lammermoor, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, La Fille du Régiment, Gianni Schicchi, The Bartered Bride, Die Fledermaus, Rossini's William Tell, Verdi's Attila, Lehár's The Merry Widow, Susannah by Carlisle Floyd, Bellini's La Straniera, Romberg's The Student Prince, Rota's The Italian Straw Hat and many others. Sought internationally as a creator of new operatic roles, he created the role of James Nichol in Chan Ka Nin's The Iron Road to unanimous rave reviews at the historic Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres in Toronto. The opera inspired a movie of the same name produced for Canada's Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Prior to this debut, he also created the extensive lead role of John Higgs for Pacific Opera Victoria's critically acclaimed world premier of Erewhon from Canadian composer Louis Applebaum and librettist Mavor Moore. Both world premieres were recorded and broadcast nationwide on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He also created lead roles in world premier operas such as Pulitzer Prize winning composer Robert Ward's Lady Kate, where he created the role of Tom Wade (leading to his first review in Opera News while still a student at Oberlin); and the role of Marco in The Padrone, a work written by Chadwick, former President of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. After a break of nearly three years to focus on his young family and on teaching, Howe returned to full-time performing in 2011 with a renewed passion for the stage. In addition to core repertoire that