July 26, 2010
By George Laverock
On August 12
at 5:30pm, we’re proud to be presenting a recital by one of Canada’s most promising young singers, Yannick-Muriel Noah, who will be collaborating for the first time with pianist Rena Sharon. It should be a recital to remember... and I hope that Ms. Noah will remember us when she becomes a world renowned artist, which I believe is her destiny.Ms. Noah has a past connection with Vancouver since she won a $6000 Career Development Grant from the Vancouver Opera Guild in 2009 – and she is indeed developing her career in a big way. She has been winning prizes all around the world, and has now settled in Toronto, where she has been working with the Ensemble Studio of the Canadian Opera Company. Some other illustrious singers who are alumni of this program include Ben Heppner, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Joseph Kaiser and Kristina Szabo.
Somehow, along the way between Madagascar (the French-speaking country where she was born) and Toronto, Noah earned a degree in architecture at Ottawa’s Carleton University, and also racked up a minor in Italian (which will no doubt be useful in her operatic career).
She came across our radar screen in May, 2009 when she won the prize as the top Canadian singer in the Montreal International Music Competition. MusicFest Vancouver has been collaborating with the Montreal competition for many years now... and we basically have an agreement that we will bring one of their winners to our festival in the year following the competition. They alternate between voice, piano and violin... so in our 2011 festival, you will have a chance to hear one of the amazing young violinists that became laureates in May, 2010.
But I digress... it is Yannick-Muriel Noah that we are so excited about introducing to Vancouver music lovers on August 12. With the incomparable Rena Sharon at the piano, Ms. Noah will present a mixed program of songs and opera excerpts, showing off her artistic versatility as well as her technical strengths. She’ll perform everything from Kurt Weill songs to arias by Puccini, Verdi and Erich Korngold. Audience advisory: You may cry when you hear the beauty of her voice.
