This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
Francais (French)
Life came full circle when acclaimed Acadian soprano Suzie LeBlanc took over the helm of Early Music Vancouver as its newly appointed Artistic and Executive Director in January 2021, returning to the province where she first launched her illustrious, 35-year international career.
Suzie LeBlanc. Photo: Mark Mushet.
“Coming here felt not only like a return to the organization that gave me one of my first professional engagements outside of Montreal, but also an incredible opportunity because so much of the concert season was at a standstill due to the pandemic,” says Order of Canada member LeBlanc, of her bold leap from La Belle Province to Canada’s West Coast. “I jumped right in and felt really grateful at the opportunity as it’s an organization that I truly love.”
Originally hailing from Edmundston, N.B., and the daughter of an operatic soprano, Marie-Germaine LeBlanc, LeBlanc marked her EMV debut as a 20-something singer then on a Western Canadian tour with vocal trio Musica Secreta in 1984. After dazzling audiences there with her crystalline, pure vocals that have since garnered accolades around the world, her professional career began to soar. She was awarded a plum spot in lutenist Ray Nurse’s New World Consort ensemble. Further studies in Europe followed, in turn leading to her work with Britain’s The Consort of Musicke, among many other ensembles.
During that unparalleled time when COVID-19 still ravaged the globe, LeBlanc cocooned herself in the EMV offices, grateful for being able to go there in person. She learned the ropes of the organization and began to build a new legacy with EMV from the other side of the footlights.
LeBlanc credits getting up to speed quickly to her experience spearheading her own stage career for decades. Also helpful was her work in founding Montreal-based chamber group Le Nouvel Opera in 2005 alongside acclaimed German conductor and harpsichordist Alexander Weimann, artistic director of EMV’s partner ensemble, Pacific Baroque Orchestra. She had also flexed her managerial muscles leading McGill University’s Cappella Antica while teaching with its Early Music program from 2010-16.
Constantinople and Suzie LeBlanc. Photo: Jan Gates.
LeBlanc also sings praises for her predecessor, Matthew White, who led EMV between 2012-20 before being appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Victoria Symphony. Equally important to her is EMV’s infrastructure: her “wonderful, devoted, hardworking staff” and steadfast board of directors that tirelessly supports her dual roles.
“Matthew paved the way in more ways than one,” she says of trailblazer White, with whom she remains in touch. “The first is that he grew the organization a lot. He moved its summer festival downtown so that more people became aware of it. He also brought the Pacific Baroque Orchestra under the wing of Early Music Vancouver, so that we are not just presenters, but they became producers with us,” she says, explaining the two groups’ closely simpatico relationship.
Another pivotal player in her journey thus far has been Weimann, whom LeBlanc praises for his inspiring artistry, and “really, really amazing” presence in Vancouver’s music scene. She describes him as her “right hand for programming,” that included EMV’s hugely successful 2024-25 season opener featuring his own chamber orchestra arrangement of J. S. Bach’s immortal “Goldberg Variations.”
The two artists, like-minded friends and colleagues, first met around 35 years ago in Berlin. Their musical lives later entwined in Montreal and now, again, in Vancouver. The German maestro credited LeBlanc for her instrumental role in “getting him closer to Canada,” where he has now planted firm roots on the West Coast with his wife, PBO concertmaster Chloe Meyers, and their three children.
“It’s been one of the most fruitful and wonderful collaborations that I’ve ever been a part of,” says Weimann, who has led the Pacific Baroque Orchestra since 2009. “I call myself lucky because of all the opportunities that have just flowered over the years—and many of them in just the last two or three years, including our entire educational outreach collaboration with UBC that came about because of this merger (with EMV).”
He particularly appreciates his close working relationship with LeBlanc in her top role—not always a given in the pressure cooker of running not one but, in this case, two arts groups in tandem.
“I’ve always trusted Suzie even before she became my boss, as it were,” the genial artist says with a laugh. “I would often ask for her opinion. It’s a very, very easy partnership, and I think it’s a lucky coincidence—or even serendipity—that brought us together again.”
Soprano Suzie LeBlanc as a guest conductor at SMAM’s International Women’s Day concert, 2019.
One theme that runs like a leitmotif through LeBlanc’s life and career has been the “joy of discovery,” which has played a key role in her imaginative, innovative programming. Now, she can draw on her uniquely multi-faceted career to inform artistic choices in what she charmingly calls the “second act” of her professional life.
One of LeBlanc’s more high-profile ventures was the Elizabeth Bishop Legacy Recording project, in which she commissioned an A-list of Canadian composers to set the Massachusetts-born poet’s words to music. In the same vein, she takes special delight in championing early music by women, literally giving voice to artists often relegated to living in the shadows of their better-known male counterparts.
She’s also making her mark with programs celebrating Canada’s renowned cultural mosaic, including its wellspring of Indigenous artists who weave a wealth of threads into EMV’s rich musical tapestry. Another feather in her cap is the cross-cultural concerts, co-created with Kiya Tabassian from the Constantinople ensemble, that spotlight early music from different cultures.
These are further augmented by an interview series featuring EMV artists from different musical and cultural backgrounds. Still on her to-do list are future collaborations with local groups, including the Coastal Jazz and Queer Arts Festivals, as well as building bridges with non-cultural organizations, such as those dealing with timely environmental issues and sustainability.
Suzie LeBlanc is the soloist with the PEI Symphony Orchestra, 2015.
A natural-born educator, LeBlanc is particularly keen about the University of British Columbia’s newly announced master’s program in Early Music studies beginning in September 2025, that will provide invaluable opportunities and training to the next generation of specialists.
Beyond its regular lineup of concerts in Vancouver, EMV also produces an annual weekend winter festival, “Lumen.” In addition, its series of four digital concerts continues to attract audiences worldwide, while a live, annual 10-day summer festival is performed at a variety of downtown venues, as well as al fresco. LeBlanc has also launched an annual artist-in-residence program as part of the summer festival, which creates a vibrant exchange between local and guest artists as she continues nurturing Vancouver’s ever-flourishing core of Early Music artists.
Embarking on any major career transition naturally brings its own unique set of challenges. LeBlanc admits that moving from Montreal, often referred to as the mecca of Early Music, to a relatively geographically isolated city in which Mother Nature competes with the arts for an audience’s time and attention—not to mention precious dollars that helps keeps arts organizations afloat—initially took some getting used to.
“(Vancouver) is beautiful—however, it’s in a different part of the country, and I didn’t know the audience here, or what they would like,” she says of moving to the other side of the continent. “It was also a big change, taking on the leadership of an organization the size of EMV, and that has been in existence for 55 years. I spent a lot of time in the office, reading over material just to familiarize myself with everything.”
Despite Vancouver’s distance from other music hubs compared to Montreal with its relative proximity to Toronto, Ottawa, Boston and New York City, LeBlanc quickly realized that passion knows no bounds. She was gratified to witness Early Music fans slowly trickling back to concert venues to hear the in-person performances that had been missing from their lives since March 2020, musing on the unique differences between the two equally cosmopolitan cities thousands of kilometers apart.
Suzie LeBlanc and Lucas Harris. Photo: Jan Gates.
“It’s really a question of numbers, and culture,” she says. “When you look at how many Early Music ensembles Montreal has compared to Vancouver, and they all have their series and seem to find an audience for all of those concerts, there’s definitely far more activity in Montreal.” But she is deeply appreciative of the significant opportunities and “space” on the West Coast to introduce new listeners to Early Music concerts. “Despite our smaller numbers, however, we have an audience here that’s really engaged, faithful, curious, and passionate about our programs, and that we’re continuing to grow.”
Another reason why LeBlanc feels right at home in her new city is that uprooting herself periodically to take up new challenges and opportunities is in her very blood and bones. Her fiercely independent Acadian ancestors from a lineage of 17th– and 18th-century French settlers in North America were frequently displaced to new locales for a variety of reasons. It also underscores her deep curiosity about life, infused with, yes, that “joy of discovery” again, as she continues to chart new waters for herself.
“At the age of 16, I went from Acadia to Montreal for 10 years, before living in Europe for the next 12 years,” she says. “I came back to Montreal for another nine, and then to Nova Scotia for five years, with five more years in Montreal before coming to live in Vancouver. I’ve also travelled quite a bit, and so Vancouver just felt like another place to discover. I never would have thought that I would live on the West Coast, as it’s very different from the East Coast. However, I’ve learned to embrace it,” says the artist, who even bought an electric scooter to help explore her new neighbourhood.
When asked about any future plans as she continues to deepen her roots in her new home, LeBlanc doesn’t miss a beat. “I really don’t know, just like I didn’t know that I was going to come here,” she replies. “I’m not planning to leave here anytime soon, but trust that life will show me the next step forward. And I like to be open to that.”
Early Music Vancouver presents countertenor Iestyn Davies along with viol consort Fretwork on Nov. 26, Elizabethan Lute Songs on Dec. 5 and Festive Cantatas by Zelenka and Bach on Dec. 22. For their full season visit www.earlymusic.bc.ca
This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
Francais (French)
