CVAI: Tamar Simon, soprano

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This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en: Francais (French)

Name:  Tamar Simon

Voice type: soprano

From: Vancouver

Teachers:  Nancy Hermiston, James Patrick Raftery, Heidi Melton

Education: University of British Columbia opera program.

Tamar Simon is an emerging Armenian-Canadian soprano from Vancouver. Her recent roles include Adina in L’elisir d’amore, Musetta in La bohème and Zerlina in Don Giovanni.

Heralded for her “clear vibrant tone” by Opera Canada, the young soprano is a winner of the District Award and an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions. Tamar is also a frequent performer in British Columbia, singing with Vancouver Opera, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra and the Burnaby Lyric Opera. She has performed internationally with the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.

This summer she is scheduled to appear as Zerlina in the Highland Opera Studio production of Don Giovanni.

When did you first start making music?

I began taking private voice lessons with Alison Nystom at the age of 8.  Originally, I started lessons because I was homeschooled and my mother was trying to help me find extracurricular activities.

Singing did not come naturally to me. I was tone deaf for the first six months! However, after a lot of hard work, I started to make improvements quickly. I started performing wherever I could – recitals, competitions, nursing homes, and church services. I also participated in several operas in the children’s chorus with the University of British Columbia Opera (La bohème and Die Zauberflöte) and Vancouver Opera (Pagliacci and Cavalleria rusticana).

How have you been keeping your voice in shape during the pandemic?

I have focused on learning new repertoire and creating a new audition package with my current teacher Heidi Melton. We both felt it was time to make some changes as my voice has become more comfortable singing full lyric-coloratura roles.

Before the pandemic, I was focusing on lighter soprano repertoire, such as the roles of Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and Sophie (Werther). Now I am moving towards a heavier repertoire including Violetta (La Traviata), Juliette (Roméo et Juilette) and Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail).

I also used this time to make several recordings, both for online concerts and demo videos, which allowed me to keep performing and progressing.

This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en: Francais (French)

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