Florie Valiquette: Conquering Europe

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“I always knew that I would have to move to Europe eventually,” says Granby-born soprano Florie Valiquette. “I did not know where exactly, but in my mind, it was a must.” After her stint at the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, during the summer of 2015, Valiquette did a few international competitions to get better heard and make more contacts abroad. It was at the Queen Sonja International Competition in Oslo, Norway, that she was noticed by the director of the Zurich Opera, Sophie de Lint, who offered her a young artist position. “It was really an open door to Europe,” says Valiquette. “Zurich is very international, there are many great conductors and directors who come there.”

At the time, Valiquette was hoping that—if everything went well—she would be able to join the company of Zurich Opera and that is exactly what happened. She spent two years in Zurich, one year in the young artist program, and another in the company. Being on location in Europe, it became very easy for her to travel to auditions all over the continent whenever she had free time. “My agents were able to push hard to get me engagements in Europe, and then, since I only had a one-year contract at the Zurich Opera and had no guarantee that my contract would be renewed, I took the opportunity to audition.” As a result, the soprano got several engagements for the following year and since these engagements were mostly in France, she decided to move to Paris.

Today, her career is mainly in Europe. Nevertheless, she loves having the chance to come back to Quebec to perform. And she is very excited to be invited to sing in Mozart’s Don Giovanni as Zerlina at the Opéra de Québec in May. “I am really looking forward to it, especially since Zerlina was the first role I sang on stage when I was a student at the Université de Montréal.”

Photo: Conny Butzbach

Valiquette also says she is proud of the training she received in Quebec. “I would say that the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal was really a perfect program for me. For example, not only did Chantal Lambert, the director, give me a lot of freedom to continue my voice lessons in New York privately, but I also received scholarships from the Atelier to be able to take these courses.” While allowing her to continue her musical training, the Atelier also opened many doors in Quebec for her. “Thanks to them, I felt really solid to take the next step and go sing abroad.”

This season has been a busy one for the Canadian soprano. Indeed, Valiquette made her debut in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro as Susanna in Luxembourg in October, repeated at Opéra Royal de Versailles in November and December. She then sang in a new production of Offenbach’s La vie parisienne at Opéra de Rouen Haute-Normandie which subsequently travelled to Théâtre des Champs Élysées in Paris. This past January, she sang Sophie in Opéra National de Bordeaux’s Werther. Concerts at Versailles and with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques have also been part of her season. In June, she sings in a Mozart project with the Insula Orchestra conducted by Laurence Equilbey.

Mozart: Don Giovanni, Opéra de Québec, May 14, 17, 19, 21.