Frédérique Vézina
Soprano Frédérique Vézina has established herself both in Canada and the United States as an artist of note and in Marmande France, she was declared First Prize winner at the Concours International de Chant. Highlights of past seasons include Tatiana in EUGENE ONEGIN for the Lanaudiere Festival conducted by Kent Nagano, LES NUITS D’ETE for the Edmonton Symphony, Mimi in LA BOHEME for Vancouver Opera and L’Opéra de Quebec, Micaëla in CARMEN for the Edmonton Opera, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Orchestre symphonique de Trois Rivieres and a return to the role of BOHEME’s doomed heroine for the Canadian Opera Company. She was Elvira in DON GIOVANNI for Pacific Opera Victoria and Orchestra London, while on the concert stage she has appeared as soprano soloist in Mozart’s REQUIEM for the Thunder Bay Symphony. In a lighter vein she was heard for Orchestra London in an evening devoted to Viennese operetta classics. Of particular note was her highly successful portrayal of the lead role in the World Premiere of Estacio’s LILLIAN ALLING for the Vancouver Opera.
Praised for her “stimulating vocal performance” and “ sense of dramatic immediacy”, the striking young Quebecoise sang Lisa in PIQUE DAME while still a member of the company’s Ensemble and critics hailed the arrival of a major presence on the opera stage: “The dark mahogany tone of Vézina’s soprano somehow verified the dignity that was continually being stripped from her, and her performance of her big Act III aria made eloquent testimony to the character’s own addiction to emotional gambling.” (Everett Green – Globe and Mail) Debuts with the Toronto Symphony (Vaughan Williams’ DONA NOBIS PACEM) and Washington Opera (Wellgunde in RHEINGOLD) highlighted past seasons. Also among her engagements were Pacific Opera Victoria’s EUGENE ONEGIN (Tatiana), a solo recital for the Mountain View Festival in Alberta, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 for l’Orchestre Metropolitain with Nezet Seguin, and Mozart’s MASS IN C MINOR for L’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec with Yoav Talmi. Back in the U.S. she was heard at Chautauqua Festival as Fiordiligi in COSI FAN TUTTE.
She was seen in COC’s THE TURN OF THE SCREW as the Governess and also as Ellen Orford in PETER GRIMES. Ms. Vézina appeared as Tatiana in EUGENE ONEGIN at the Opera Festival of New Jersey and was the ‘merry’ widow herself for L’Opéra de Montréal. Further credits include Miranda in Lee Hoiby’s THE TEMPEST for Pacific Opera Victoria, Micaëla in CARMEN for Cincinnati Opera, Ruders’ THE HANDMAID’S TALE for COC, Micaëla for l’Opéra de Montréal and in a special coup, was asked to sing the title role in Estacio’s FILUMENA at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Her concert schedule has included a solo recital with Music Toronto, MESSIAH in Victoria, LOBGESANG with l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec, and the Fauré REQUIEM with the Winnipeg Symphony.
A Metropolitan Opera semi-finalist in 2004 and a winner in the Début Young Artists Competition, Ms. Vézina completed a Bachelor of Music Degree at McGill University. She received first prize in three consecutive years at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition (NATS) and was also awarded the ‘Most Promising Singer’ prize. In 2002, at the Trois-Rivières Symphony competition, she was awarded the Grand Prize as well as a recital broadcast on CBC. Ms. Vézina was also the first prizewinner at the National Music Festival held in Calgary.
January 2011
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