Elisabeth St-Gelais (soprano) – Prix d’Europe Winner

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

Elisabeth St-Gelais stands out as an unstoppable young professional. Along with winning the prestigious Prix d’Europe competition, she was named a Révélation Classique by Radio-Canada.

From a young age, St-Gelais remembers looking forward to learning about the annual recipients of this title, and dreaming about one day seeing herself in the announcement. These two major accomplishments have left St-Gelais feeling ready to continue her work as a freelance soloist in what has quickly become a completely booked upcoming year.

This year marked her second time participating in the Prix d’Europe (she advanced to the semifinal round in 2022). Having previous experience at the competition definitely helped St-Gelais secure the win. Not only did she know what to expect but, as she explained, “I needed to be really strategic. The choice of repertoire is very important, and strategy was the core of my success.” Her deliberate repertoire choices included a 16-minute Tchaikovsky aria (Tatiana’s “Letter Aria” from Eugene Onegin), in which the judges could surely hear the challenge of learning such an extensive Russian text. She contrasted this with “To This We’ve Come” from Menotti’s The Consul. Here, St-Gelais seizes the opportunity to show the shocking pain of the main character, Magda. To her, singing is a means of stepping into the shoes of another and, as she puts it, “experiencing states I would not be in otherwise.”

Though not often faced with the same bureaucratic troubles as Magda, St-Gelais does have her own extra-musical aspirations. The raison d’être behind all of her hard work is her desire to be an inspiration and role model for young Indigenous people. Describing this as her “main motivation,” St-Gelais lights up when speaking about being a symbol of hope and possibility for Indigenous youth. A member of the Innus de Pessamit band raised in Saguenay–Lac-St-Jean, St-Gelais is proud to have people listening to an Indigenous voice when she sings. As she continues to develop her own career and realize her childhood dreams, she hopes to show Indigenous children that “the sky’s the limit.”

St-Gelais used a portion of her prize money to travel to Italy and immerse herself in the Italian language and bel-canto style of singing. She says that she “loves seeing how much things can improve in a short amount of time.” Her outgoing personality and dedication to her craft will surely help her continue on an inspirational, musical path.