Alain Coulombe, Bass

Pacific Opera Victoria
Sergeant Flowerdew in Mary's Wedding
November, 2011

Alain Coulombe made his Pacific Opera Victoria debut in 2004 as Oroveso in Norma, returning in 2006 to perform Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia (2006) and Sparafucile in Rigoletto. In November 2011 he will create the role of Sergeant Gordon Flowerdew in POV's world premiere production of Mary's Wedding.

Praised for “his deep stentorian bass voice” and “his powerful stage presence”, French Canadian bass Alain Coulombe is one of the most commanding and exciting singers of his generation. Admired for his musical and dramatic versatility, as well as for his unique basso profondo voice, Mr. Coulombe is a favorite of critics and public alike. His passion for the singer-actor's craft has won him numerous acclaims over the years, his sheer dedication to each one of his roles being his widely recognized trademark. An alumnus of l'Opéra de Montréal, the Canadian Opera Company and the Tanglewood Music Center's Young Artists Programs, Alain was the recipient of several career grants for artistic excellence from l'Opéra de Montréal and the Canadian Opera Company's Boards of Directors, from the Vancouver Opera Judith Forst Foundation, as well as from the Canada Council for the Arts. Having completed his vocal training with Marlena Malas, Patricia Kern, Martin Isepp, Craig Rutenberg and the late Robert Savoie, he has worked with famous conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Richard Bradshaw, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Hervé Niquet, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jonathan Darlington, Helmut Rilling, Bernard Labadie, Paul Nader, Edoardo Muller and Richard Bonynge.

During the 2011/12 season, Mr. Coulombe takes part in two World Premières: he will be First World War hero Lieutenant Gordon Muriel Flowerdew, in the opera Mary's Wedding by Andrew MacDonald and Stephen Massicotte (Pacific Opera Victoria) and he wil be making his European opera debut personifying the legendary Clark Gable, in Robin de Raaff's second opera commission for the Netherlands Opera, Waiting for Miss Monroe. Mr.Coulombe will also be Count Ceprano and the cover for the role of Sparafucile in Rigoletto (Canadian Opera Company), as well as Don Fernando in Fidelio (Edmonton Opera). On the concert stage, he will be Marcel in Les Huguenots (Toronto Opera In Concert), guest soloist at l'Opéra de Montréal's Opera Gala, in Mozart's Requiem with l'Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, and with the National Orchestra of Spain in L'Enfance du Christ by Berlioz.

Mr.Coulombe's 2010/11 opera calendar featured him in two productions of Aïda, as the King of Egypt with the Canadian Opera Company and as Ramfis with the Calgary Opera Association. He was also Sparafucile in Rigoletto with Michigan Opera Theatre, Le Bailli in Werther with l'Opéra de Montréal, as well as the bass soloist in Verdi's Requiem with the Vancouver Symphony.

During the 2009-10 season, Mr.Coulombe sang Oroveso in Bellini's Norma with Vancouver Opera, Le Comte des Grieux in Massenet's Manon with Ottawa Opera Lyra, Il Commendatore in Mozart's Don Giovanni with l'Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen with the Canadian Opera Company and Manitoba Opera, as well as Montano in Verdi's Otello with the COC. On the concert stage, he performed at the Vancouver Opera's 50th Anniversary Gala, as the bass soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with L'Orchestre Symphonique de l'Estuaire, as well as in Mozart's Requiem with the Pasadena Symphony, California.

In 2008-9, Mr.Coulombe performed the role of Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Cincinnati Opera and l'Opéra de Montréal, The Bonze in Madama Butterfly with Cincinnati Opera, Zuniga in Carmen with Vancouver Opera, as well as Pietro in Simon Boccanegra and Count Ilya Rostov in War and Peace with the Canadian Opera Company. On the concert stage, he was Pater profundus in Mahler's 8th Symphony at the Brott Music Festival and the bass soloist in Vivaldi's Dixit Dominus with the National Ballet of Canada.

In recent years, he was Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia with l'Opéra de Montréal and Pacific Opera Victoria, Sparafucile in Rigoletto and Oroveso in Norma with Pacific Opera Victoria, Seneca in The Coronation of Poppea for Cleveland Opera, Lignière in Cyrano for Michigan Opera Theatre, Don Fernando in Fidelio and Count Horn in Un Ballo in Maschera for Vancouver Opera, Colline in La Bohème for Edmonton Opera and l'Opéra de Québec, Créon in Charpentier's Médée and Hidraot in Lully's Armide for Opera Atelier and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. As a regular guest artist at the Canadian Opera Company, he was Sarastro in The Magic Flute, The Priest in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Doctor Grenvil in La traviata, Le Médecin in Pelléas et Mélisande, Superintendent Budd in Albert Herring, Zuniga in Carmen, as well as covering the roles of Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Arkel in Pelléas et Mélisande, Wurm in Luisa Miller, Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and The Old Convict in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.

His recent appearances on the concert stage include Tiresias in Oedipus Rex with L'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Lord Valton in I Puritani, Die Heremit in Der Freischütz, Nourabad in Les pêcheurs de perles and Arkel in Pelléas et Mélisande for Festival Vancouver and Vancouver Opera, Le Roi de Trèfles in L'Amour des trois oranges with Toronto Opera In Concert, The Mother in The Seven Deadly Sins with Calgary Opera and Bertran in Iolanta at Le Festival International de Musique de Lanaudière. He was the bass soloist in The American Songbook for Calgary Opera, Abellini Gala with L'Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, Christos Hatzis' Kyrie for CBC Radio, Schubert's A Flat Mass with The CBC Orchestra for Festival Vancouver, and in Mozart's Requiem with The Elora Festival, Orchestra London and the Symphony Orchestras of Windsor, Thunder Bay, Victoria and Edmonton. He also performed at the Opening Ceremonies of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, new home of the Canadian Opera Company and in Berlioz's L'enfance du Christ with the Boston Symphony and the Dresdner Philharmonie, Germany.

Further operatic credits include Pistola in Falstaff at the Tanglewood Music Festival, The Sacristan in Tosca and Sparafucile in Rigoletto for L'Opéra de Québec, Ashby in La Fanciulla del West for Vancouver Opera, as well as Colline in La Boh7egrave;me, Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Count Horn in Un Ballo in Maschera, Lieutenant Ratcliffe in Billy Budd, Lodovico in Otello, Talpa in Il Tabarro and Don Prudenzio in Il Viaggio a Reims at the Canadian Opera Company. He was The High Priest in Nabucco and The Mayor in Jenufa with l'Opéra de Montréal, as well as Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola for Les Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. He also marked more acclaimed appearances as Cadmus in Semele for Toronto Opera In Concert and as Seneca in L'Incoronazione di Poppea for Opera Atelier and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.

Mr. Coulombe appeared as Leporello alongside Dmitri Hvorostovsky's Don Giovanni in concert at the George Weston Recital Hall and was featured as Masetto in the Gemini winning Rhombus Media film Don Giovanni Unmasked, again starring Hvorostovsky. He also sang the role of Phinée in the live DVD production of Lully's Persée under EuroArts with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Opera Atelier.

His recording credits include Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges with the Prague Symphony Orchestra for Le Théâtre Sans Fil, Harry Somers' Serinette, Chura Churam and The Death of Enkidu for Centrediscs Records, the World Premiere of David DiChiera's Cyrano for Michigan Opera Theatre, the soundtrack of Rhombus Media's movie Don Giovanni Unmasked under CBC Records, as well as numerous live radio broadcasts of opera performances and concerts across North America.

Alain Coulombe, as Collatinus, conveyed deep emotion with his velvety, powerful bass voice.
David Lasker, The Globe and Mail, 1999

Alain Coulombe as Seneca gives the kind of assured, refined performance we've come to expect from him. Even as his sonorous bass lends gravitas to the philosopher's great final scene, he suggests a man forcing his emotion to bend to his will.
Christopher Hoile, Stage Door, 2002

a voice most Wotans would envy
Robert Markow, Opera News, 2003

May 2011