Corona Serenades: Q&A with Marie Annick Béliveau, mezzo-soprano (Canada)

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

Meet Marie Annick Béliveau, mezzo-soprano (Canada), singer for Corona Serenades


A native of Quebec City, mezzo-soprano Marie-Annick Béliveau studied violin and oboe before pursuing voice at McGill University with Jan Simons. Having also studied contemporary music with Bruce Mather, she quickly established herself as a leading performer of this repertoire. Her interpretation in 2015 Chants du Capricorne by Giacinto Scelsi, directed by Pauline Vaillancourt, was unanimously praised by critics and won the Opus Prize for Musical Event of the Year, awarded by the Conseil québécois de la musique. Also a teacher for more than 15 years and a host for the Ici Musique radio network, Marie-Annick has been heard in the music of Cirque du Soleil and the soundtracks of several films, including Mourir en France, The Red Violin and Paul à Québec.

How has the crisis affected you?

I am currently living in a situation that I have never experienced before, so much so that I still cannot put my condition into words. Basically, everything I had on the agenda for the next five months was canceled or postponed to an unknown date. So I am busy planning completely hypothetical projects – concerts, productions, shows and tours. It leaves me very perplexed.

What are your five favourite operas?

There are probably dozens that I do not know, andI admit to listening to opera at home especially as a source of comfort. So I don’t explore much, and remain deeply attached to certain works, even to certain interpretations, that I listen to again without getting tired. Often these are the works that I listened to as a child.

Carmen. Without hesitation, and my vinyl version with Regina Resnik and Mario Del Monaco.

L’enfant et les sortilèges.

La Traviata. I have seem the film version by Zeffirelli with Teresa Stratas maybe 12 times.

L’Étoile (Chabrier). Irresistible. I have the tunes in my head all the time.

La Bohème. Mirella Freni and Pavarotti –always with tears.

What movies, television shows and books do you recommend?

West Side Story with Nathalie Wood; André Martineau’s history podcasts. I walk a lot, so I like books on the history of Montreal, including Geneviève Soly’s Marcher Montréal avec une artiste, which describes walks in Westmount.

What other hobbies do you recommend?

Make music, of course! I have more time to sing, work on my voice, the piano, try to tame the ukulele, get out the old vocal exercise books. I am also ardent runner. These days I can afford to run my 40 to 45 kilometres per week. What joy!

Why did you join the CORONA Serenades?

As I said above, I have a lot of plans, but everything is speculative. It’s very satisfying for me to participate in the CORONA Serenades, to have a concrete project, something true, to know that I’m singing for someone. This, after all, is why I do this job!

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

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