Measha Brueggergosman (born on June 28, 1977 at Fredericton, New Brunswick) is a critically acclaimed Canadian soprano, who performs both as a concert artist and opera singer.

Biography

As a child Brueggergosman began singing in the choir of her local Baptist church. As a teen, she took voice lessons in her home town, and spent summers on scholarships at the Boston Conservatory. She studied for one year with New Brunswick soprano Wendy Nielson, before moving on to studies at the University of Toronto, where she obtained a BMus, and then pursuing a Master's degree at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Performances

At age 20 Brueggergosman played the lead in the premiere of the opera Beatrice Chancy by James Rolfe. Produced in Toronto in 1998, and in Nova Scotia the following year, the opera tells the story of a slave girl in 19th–century rural Nova Scotia who murders her abusive father and master. The opera and Brueggergosman was well received critics and audiences, and in 2000 it was filmed for the CBC.

She has appeared throughout Canada, and performing with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra under the direction of Pinchas Zukerman, and at Roy Thompson Hall.

She has performed in Elektra, Dead Man Walking, and Turandot with the Cincinnati Opera. She has also performed the Verdi Requiem with Sir Andrew Davis and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, as well as with Helmuth Rilling at the International Beethoven Festival in Bonn.

Awards and recognition

She was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2002 Jeunesses Musicales Montreal International Competition and has been a prize winner at other competitions including the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition in London, the George London Foundation in New York, the Queen Sonja International Music Competition in Oslo, and the ARD Music Competition in Munich. She is also a recipient of the prestigious Canada Council and Chalmers Performing Arts grants.

Other

Brueggergosman defended Alice Munro's collection of short stories The Love of a Good Woman on the CBC's Canada Reads 2004.

External link

• Measha Brueggergosman's official web site (http://www.measha.com/)