Elisabeth St-Gelais, Tchaikovsky & Dvořàk
Elisabeth St-Gelais—winner of the 2023 Prix d’Europe, First Prize and Audience Choice Award winner at the Canadian Opera Company’s 2023 Centre Stage Competition, and a Radio-Canada Classique Revelation for 2023-2024—is now the artist-in-residence for our Happy Hour Concerts series. This is an occasion for her to introduce us to artists she enjoys working with and to explore a repertoire she generally has less of an opportunity to perform. She is presenting three new concerts that will give you a chance to meet this young Innu soprano from the community of Pessamit whose round, clear tone and stage presence will surely grab your attention! She promises to deliver an inspiring autumn season!
TCHAIKOVSKY & DVOŘÁK
Elisabeth St-Gelais, soprano
Mary Jane Egan, soprano
Louise Pelletier, piano
Sopranos Elisabeth St-Gelais and Mary Jane Egan, accompanied by pianist Louise Pelletier, join forces for a concert of Russian and Czech music.
AN EARLY LOOK AT THE REPERTOIRE*
P.TCHAÏKOVSKI (1840-1893)
6 Duets, Opus 46 for voice and piano
A.DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Lieblicher Mond (Song to the Moon), excerpt from Rusalka
A.DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Zigeunermelodien, opus 55, B. 104
Artist-in-residence presented by:
BIOGRAPHIES
Elisabeth St-Gelais, soprano
Named Radio-Canada’s 2023- 2024 classical breakout artist, in April 2023 Elisabeth St-Gelais completed a master’s degree in the Opera and Voice program at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University. A member of the Innu nation, from the community of Pessamit, she accords immense importance to sharing her culture through her mission as an artist. She made her European debut in the summer of 2022 at the Berlin Opera Academy, in the role of Rosalinde in the operetta Die Fledermaus. Ms. St-Gelais has performed throughout Canada, notably with the Orchestre symphonique du Saguenay- Lac-Saint-Jean, Orchestre symphonique de la Côte-Nord, I Musici de Montréal, Orchestre de l’Agora, Orchestre symphonique de Québec and Orchestre des Jeunes de Montréal. In 2022, she won McGill University’s prestigious Wirth Vocal Prize, and the Grand Prize in the 19-30 age category at the Canimex Canadian Music Competition. That same year, she was featured in CBC’s prestigious “30 Hot Classical Musicians under 30” list, and in 2023, she was awarded the Prix d’Europe in Montreal and the First prize and Audience Choice at the Center Stage 2023 competition of the Canadian Opera Company. In november 2023, she is the western canada district winner for the MET OPERA LAFFONT COMPETITION. Deeply engaged with the montreal’ musical community, she is since April 2023 part of the boards of directors of the Conseil de la Musique du Québec.
Mary Jane Egan, soprano
A native of Toronto, Mary Jane Egan completed her Masters in Voice at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, where she was the recipient of the Gaelyne Gabora Memorial Prize, the Martha Schiller Memorial Award, and the Duncan Campbell Memorial Award. In 2024, she was selected as a District singer in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and took home second prize at the Toronto Mozart Competition. Her opera roles include Blanche in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites, The Soprano in Tom Johnson’s The Four Note Opera, Despina in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte (Summer Opera Lyric Theatre), Nora in R. Vaughn Williams’ Riders to the Sea (Opera McGill), and Suor Genovieffa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica (UC CCM Opera Bootcamp).
A lover of sacred and concert repertoire, Mary Jane has performed as the soprano soloist in G.F. Handel’s Messiah (Toronto Beach Chorale), Johannes Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem (McGill Symphony Orchestra), Howard Goodale’s Eternal Light (McGill Concert Choir), Dvorak’s Te Deum, Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore (Cantabile Chorale), Faure’s Requiem (Mississauga Chamber Singers) and Haydn’s Paukenmesse. Mary Jane is a graduate of many prestigious vocal academies and apprenticeships, including Songfest, the Institut Canadien d’Art Vocal, the Lachine Academy, Domaine Forget Academy, Tel Aviv Summer Opera, and Toronto Opera in Concert.
Louise Pelletier, piano
Known for her sensitivity and enthusiasm, Louise Pelletier has led a dynamic and remarkable career as a pianist, accompanist and vocal coach. For over 20 years, Mrs. Pelletier has held the position of accompanist/vocal coach at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music and has often served as a rehearsal pianist for Opera McGill. A faithful and devoted accompanist, she has worked in the voice studios of Bill Neill, Thérèse Savadjian, Winston Purdy, Joanne Kolomyjec, Lucille Evans, Michael Meraw, Yolande Parent, Catherine Sévigny, Marie Daveluy, Sanford Sylvan, Stefano Algieri and Dominique Labelle.
Having a vast knowledge of both recital and operatic repertoire, Louise is often called upon as an official pianist for competitions, auditions for Young Artist programs and various summer training programs. She is an official pianist for the Canadian Music Competition as well as the International Stepping Stone Competition and serves as an official pianist for the Canadian Opera Company auditions in Montreal. She is also regularly hired by the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques to play auditions and gala concerts. She has served as accompanist at the American Institute for Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria and for several years been an important part of the Canadian Vocal Arts Institute (CVAI) in Montreal, serving as coach and accompanist, alongside Joan Dornemann and many notable teachers from New York’s Metropolitan Opera. While still being an active member of the CVAI faculty, for the past two years, Louise has also been the vocal coach and in charge of the scenes program at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s Summer Opera Studio. As a member of the faculty of CCM’s Summer Opera Studio, she has played for the voice classes of William McGraw and Joyce Miller, as well as staging rehearsals for directors Vernon Hartman and Vince Degeorge. Other stage directors she has worked closely with include Renaud Doucet, Patrick Hansen and François Racine.
She collaborates with many of the major orchestras across Quebec, such as l’Orchestre Symphonique de Laval, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Longueuil, the McGill Chamber Orchestra, the Festival de Lanaudière and the Orchestre Métropolitain, and has occupied the positions of répétiteur, pianist, and harpsichordist for choral works, symphonic works and operatic works. A versatile and highly sought-after colleague, she has worked with many leading conductors, including Jean-Philippe Tremblay, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, Véronique Lacroix, Julian Wachner, Jean-Francois Rivest, Agnès Grossman, Marc David, Boris Brott, Miklos Takacs and most notably, Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Her close relationship with Maestro Nézet-Séguin was one that first developed over a period of 6 years at the Choeur de Laval, and they then went on together to the Orchestre Métropolitain, where Louise continues to serve as the pianist for the choir. Other musical projects with Yannick Nézet-Séguin include Hänsel and Gretel in a collaboration between Théâtre sans fil and the Orchestre Métropolitain, as well as Pélléas et Mélisande at the Opéra de Montréal.
*Jeunesses Musicales Canada reserves the right to modify the repertoire without prior notice.
