Critical acclaim

Daniel Turp recently reviewed my recent performance of Geneviève on his Opera Blog:

J’ai par ailleurs apprécié la Geneviève de Kathryn Humphries et l’impeccable diction dans son air "Voici ce qu’il écrit à son frère Pelléas."

(I also appreciated Kathryn Humphries' Genevieve and the impeccable diction in her aria "Voici ce qu’il écrit à son frère Pelléas.")

Here's a link to the review itself:
http://danielturpqc.org/bloguelyrique/?p=1521

And another review by Claude Gringas of La Presse:

(une) très digne Geneviève
(A very dignified Geneviève)

The full article:
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/arts/musique/musique-classique/201203/02/01-4501728-pelleas-une-immense-reussite.php

And from Saturday night's performance with the other cast:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/Review+Opera+success+despite+odds/6248962/story.html

Pelléas et Mélisande

L’ATELIER D’OPÉRA ET
L’ORCHESTRE DE L’UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTRÉAL

vous invitent aux représentations de l’opéra



I'm playing Geneviève on thursday the 1st of March :)

Direction musicale Jean-François Rivest
Mise en scène François Racine
Direction de l’atelier d’opéra Robin Wheeler
Conception scénographique François Racine
Accessoires et costumes Carl Pelletier
Éclairages Nicolas Descoteaux

avec la participation spéciale de
Joseph Rouleau

Le 1er et le 3 mars 2012, à 19 h 30

Salle Claude-Champagne

Billets : 20 $
pour les membres du corps enseignant
et le personnel de la Faculté de musique

Les billets peuvent être achetés à la réception (B-338).

Doctorate Recital video clips

Here are some video clips of my latest doctorate recital, which took place on February 1 2012 at Université de Montréal. (Forgive the skips)

Chansons de Bilitis - Debussy
1) La flûte de Pan
2) La Chevelure
3) Le tombeau des Naïades




1) La flûte de Pan
For the festival of Hyacinthus
he gave me a syrinx, a set of pipes made
from well-cut reeds joined
with the white wax
that is sweet to my lips like honey.

He is teaching me to play, as I sit on his knees;
but I tremble a little.
He plays it after me, so softly
that I can scarcely hear it.

We are so close that we have
nothing to say to one another;
but our songs want to converse,
and our mouths are joined
as they take turns on the pipes.

It is late:
here comes the chant of the green frogs,
which begins at dusk.
My mother will never believe
I spent so long
searching for my lost waistband.

2) La Chevelure
He told me: "Last night I had a dream.
Your hair was around my neck,
it was like a black necklace
round my nape and on my chest.

"I was stroking your hair, and it was my own;
thus the same tresses joined us forever,
with our mouths touching,
just as two laurels often have only one root.

"And gradually I sensed,
since our limbs were so entwined,
that I was becoming you
and you were entering me like my dream."

When he'd finished,
he gently put his hands on my shoulders,
and gazed at me so tenderly
that I lowered my eyes, quivering.

3) Le Tombeau des Naïades
I was walking along in the frost-covered woods;
in front of my mouth
my hair blossomed in tiny icicles,
and my sandals were heavy
with muddy caked snow.

He asked: "What are you looking for?"
"I'm following the tracks of the satyr -
his little cloven hoofprints alternate
like holes in a white cloak."
He said: "The satyrs are dead.

"The satyrs are dead, and the nymphs too.
In thirty years there has not been such a terrible winter.
That's the trail of a he-goat.
But let's pause here, where their tomb is."

With his hoe he broke the ice
of the spring where the water-nymphs used to laugh.
There he was, picking up large cold slabs of ice,
lifting them toward the pale sky,
and peering through them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Interpretations of a Life - David Warrack (Canadian)
1) Long-Distance Operator
2) Another Night in Another Room
3) Please Leave me Love
4) Mothers, Maids



Pretty self-explanatory, I think!

Doctorate Recital

I'm pleased to announce that I will be presenting a solo recital on February 1st as part of the requirements for my Doctorate in Vocal Performance. Programme to include song cycles by Debussy, Mahler, de Falla and Canadian composer David Warrack. I am especially excited to be including excerpts from "Interpretations of a Life" by David Warrack, because I will be the first person to perform this piece since the legendary Maureen Forrester, for whom it was written.

Récital de chant dans le cadre d'un programme de doctorat.
Mercredi, le 1er février
16h30
la salle Claude-Champagne, 200 rue Vincent-d'Indy

J'espère vous y voir nombreux :)

Concert des grands cycles Allemands

(English message follows)

Vous aimez la musique vocale allemande?
Ce concert GRATUIT(!) ne pourrait être plus parfait!

Venez vous faire sérénader par les fabuleux duos du Séminaire d'art lyrique du Lieder. Des Lieder, on en a pour tous les goûts!
Schubert! Schumann! Wolf! Strauss! Malher! Brahms!

Quand??: Mercredi, 14 décembre à 19h30
Où??: Salle Claude-Champagne, Faculté de musique, UdeM
200, Vincent-d'Indy, Métro Édouard-Montpetit

Chanteurs et pianistes en vedette:

Fernando Altamura
Nancy Breau
Jacques Olivier Chartier
David Olivier Chénard
Geneviève Colletta
Florent Feral
Michael Finlay
Carol-Anne Fraser
Julien Horbatuk
Kathryn Humphries
Carol Leger
Jean-Sébastien Lévesque
Andrey Manulik
Steven Massicotte
Florian Puddu
Clark Schaufele
Sonya Sweeney
Steeve Vérayie

----------------------------------------------------------

Do you enjoy German vocal music?
Well then, this FREE(!) concert could not be more perfect!

Come and be serenaded by the fabulous collaborative duos from the Lieder Seminar. You want lieder? We got lieder!
Schubert! Schumann! Wolf! Strauss! Malher! Brahms!

When??: Wednesday, December 14th at 7:30 p.m.
Where??: Salle Claude-Champagne, Faculty of music of UdeM
200, Vincent-d'Indy, Métro Édouard-Montpetit

Starring the following pianists and singers:

Fernando Altamura
Nancy Breau
Jacques Olivier Chartier
David Olivier Chénard
Geneviève Colletta
Florent Feral
Michael Finlay
Carol-Anne Fraser
Julien Horbatuk
Kathryn Humphries
Carol Leger
Jean-Sébastien Lévesque
Andrey Manulik
Steven Massicotte
Florian Puddu
Clark Schaufele
Sonya Sweeney
Steeve Vérayie

England and Austria

I've just returned from a wonderful trip to England and Austria! I paid a visit to my sister Liz, who is currently pursuing her Masters degree in Voice at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, then I headed down to Vienna to take some voice lessons, and then back up to London to visit my friend Jonathon, who is studying voice at the Royal Academy of Music. The goal of this trip was to set up an academic exchange to the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien next year. The process has begun, now that I've worked with a couple of the voice teachers and spoken to the administrators, but there's still a lot of work to be done. Not the least of which is my "Deutschekentnisse" (German language skills)! If I am accepted to do this exchange I will spend the summer learning German in Germany or Austria. How exciting!



Here's a picture of me in front of the Wienerstaatsoper (Vienna State Opera) - hopefully I'll be singing there one day! It will take a lot of hard work and even more luck, but I'm determined!
Liebe Grüsse von Montréal!

Songs of a Wayfarer video clips

Here's my performance of Mahler's "Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen" (Songs of a Wayfarer), from the concert de fin-doctorat of Sebastien Cohen in May 2011. I hope you enjoy this clip as much as I enjoyed singing it! (Sorry about the skips)



Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht
When my darling has her wedding-day,
her joyous wedding-day,
I will have my day of mourning!
I will go to my little room,
my dark little room,
and weep, weep for my darling,
for my dear darling!

Blue flower! Do not wither!
Sweet little bird - you sing on the green heath!
Alas, how can the world be so fair?
Chirp! Chirp!
Do not sing; do not bloom!
Spring is over.
All singing must now be done.
At night when I go to sleep,
I think of my sorrow,
of my sorrow!

Ging heut Morgen übers Feld
I walked across the fields this morning;
dew still hung on every blade of grass.
The merry finch spoke to me:
"Hey! Isn't it? Good morning! Isn't it?
You! Isn't it becoming a fine world?
Chirp! Chirp! Fair and sharp!
How the world delights me!"

Also, the bluebells in the field
merrily with good spirits
tolled out to me with bells (ding, ding)
their morning greeting:
"Isn't it becoming a fine world?
Ding, ding! Fair thing!
How the world delights me!"

And then, in the sunshine,
the world suddenly began to glitter;
everything gained sound and color
in the sunshine!
Flower and bird, great and small!
"Good day, is it not a fine world?
Hey, isn't it? A fair world?"

Now will my happiness also begin?
No, no - the happiness I mean
can never bloom!

Ich hab ein glühend Messer
I have a red-hot knife,
a knife in my breast.
O woe! It cuts so deeply
into every joy and delight.
Alas, what an evil guest it is!
Never does it rest or relax,
not by day or by night, when I would sleep.
O woe!

When I gaze up into the sky
I see two blue eyes there.
O woe! When I walk in the yellow field,
I see from afar her blond hair
waving in the wind.
O woe!

When I start from a dream
and hear the tinkle of her silvery laugh,
O woe!
Would that I lay on my black bier -
Would that I could never again open my eyes!

Die zwei blauen Augen
The two blue eyes of my darling -
they have sent me into the wide world.
I had to take my leave of this well-beloved place!
O blue eyes, why did you gaze on me?
Now I will have eternal sorrow and grief.

I went out into the quiet night
well across the dark heath.
To me no one bade farewell.
Farewell! My companions are love and sorrow!

On the road there stands a linden tree,
and there for the first time I found rest in sleep!
Under the linden tree
that snowed its blossoms onto me -
I did not know how life went on,
and all was well again!
All! All, love and sorrow
and world and dream!