Pierre-Étienne Bergeron, Baritone
Pacific Opera Victoria
Marchese d'Obigny in La traviata
October, 2009
Pierre-Étienne Bergeron is participating in Pacific Opera Victoria's Fall 2009 Resident Artist Program and will make his POV mainstage debut in October 2009 as Marchese d'Obigny in La traviata.
Taking part in the apprenticeship programme of l'Opéra de Montréal from 2007 to 2009, baritone Pierre-Étienne Bergeron had the opportunity to perform several roles, such as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Ramiro in L'heure espagnole, Ernesto in Il mondo della luna, Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor and Bello in La Fanciulla del West.
Mr. Bergeron's performance as Truman in A Chair in Love by Welsh composer John Metcalf and Québec author Larry Tremblay, with l'Ensemble Pentaèdre under the direction of Wyn Davies, was appreciated by the public and critics alike, notably at the Buxton Festival and the Cardiff Millenium Centre.
Television credits include Death at the Opera for the Bravo! Channel, Ça manque ā ma culture for Télé-Québec and the Gala des prix Artis at TVA. Thanks to his joint interest in photography and opera , he was adopted through the Conseil Québecois de la musique's "Adoptez un musicien" by Espace-Classique, the French-canadian national radio station's internet version.
While touring across Canada with the Jeunesses Musicales du Canada, Pierre-Étienne performed Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus. Also taking part in programs such as the International Vocal Arts Institute in Montreal, Tel Aviv and Buxy, France, he was Siméon in L'enfant prodigue, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, and Reverend Hale in The Crucible, while working with artists such as Joan Dornemann, Gabriel Bacquier, Sherrill Milnes and Håkan Hagegård.
Also in demand as a recitalist and an oratorio performer, Mr. Bergeron has to his credit concerts with l'Orchestre Symphonique de Laval, the Outaouais Sacred Music Festival, the Pro Musica concert series, the McGill Chamber Music Orchestra, Symphony New Brunswick and the Festival Orgue et Couleurs. With the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, he was soloist in Nuit Blanche, a play written by Jacques L'Heureux, and sang a recital opening weeked of the first edition of the Bel Canto Festival in Knowlton, Québec.
This versatile artist holds degrees in both Classical Guitar and Vocal Performance from the University of Ottawa and the Université de Montréal. He is a former member of the Opera Lyra Ottawa Young Artist Programme, is a laureate of the 2009-2010 Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques competition, and has received grants from several sources, notably the Conseil des Arts du Canada.
Upcoming engagements include his fall 2009 residency with Pacific Opera Victoria and appearances with the Orchestre du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, l'Ensemble contemporain de Montréal, the Chapelle Historique du Bon-Pasteur and the Opéra de Montréal. In summer 2009, he takes part in the Lamèque International Music Festival, performing Apollo e Dafne by Handel.
July, 2009