Isabel Bayrakdarian
(born 1974 in Zahle, Lebanon) is a Grammy Award-nominated Armenian Canadian opera singer.
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Early life
Born in
Lebanon in 1974, she moved to
Canada as a teenager. Bayrakdarian graduated in 1997 from the
University of Toronto with an
honours B.A.Sc. in
Engineering Science.
Career
Isabel Bayrakdarian is noted as much for her stage presence as for her musicality,
[1] and she has followed a unique career path. Since winning first prize at the 2000
Operalia International Opera Competition [2] founded by
Plácido Domingo, she has launched an international opera career, appearing at the
Metropolitan Opera,
Royal Opera House,
La Scala,
Opéra National de Paris,
Lyric Opera of Chicago,
Salzburg Festival,
Dresden Semperoper,
Bavarian State Opera,
San Francisco Opera,
Santa Fe Opera, and the
Canadian Opera Company among others.
Her roles have included Euridice in
Orfeo ed Euridice
, Cleopatra in
Giulio Cesare
, Romilda in
Serse
[3], Emilia in
Flavio
, Susanna in
The Marriage of Figaro
[4], Zerlina in
Don Giovanni
, Pamina in
The Magic Flute
, Rosina in
The Barber of Seville
, Marzelline in
Fidelio
, Adina in
L'elisir d'amore
, Norina in
Don Pasquale
, Leila in Bizet's
The Pearl Fishers
, Teresa in
Benvenuto Cellini
, Mélisande in
Pelléas et Mélisande
, the Vixen in
The Cunning Little Vixen
, Blanche in
Dialogues of the Carmelites
and Catherine in
A View from the Bridge
.
Her concert schedule includes appearances with the Chicago, Montreal, Toronto, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, singing under the baton of such conductors as
Seiji Ozawa,
James Conlon,
David Zinman,
Michael Tilson Thomas,
Christoph von Dohnányi,
Christoph Eschenbach,
Colin Davis,
Andrew Davis,
Nikolaus Harnoncourt,
Mariss Jansons,
Leonard Slatkin,
James Levine,
Peter Oundjian and
Richard Bradshaw.
Bayrakdarian is the subject of a film entitled
A Long Journey Home
[5] that documents her first trip to Armenia. A major North American tour by Bayrakdarian in October 2008, will feature the music of Reverend Gomidas (
Komitas Vardapet), with concerts in Toronto,
[6] San Francisco, Orange County, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Boston and New York's
Carnegie Hall. She will be accompanied by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra conducted by Anne Manson, and pianist
Serouj Kradjian. The "Remembrance Tour" is dedicated to victims of all genocides and will be sponsored by the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (a division of
Zoryan Institute).
Prizes
In addition to her first prize at the Operalia Competition and four consecutive
Juno Awards, Bayrakdarian has been awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, the 2005 Virginia Parker Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts
[7], the Leonie Rysanek Award from the George London Foundation, and a Metropolitan Opera National Council Award in 1997.
Personal life
In 2004 she married
pianist Serouj Kradjian.
Recordings
Her first
recording, titled
Joyous Light
was released in March 2002 and rose to No. 1 in the Canadian classical charts. Soon afterwards, her vocals were featured in
Atom Egoyan’s
film Ararat
, and in the movie
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
in the track
Evenstar
.
Since then she has won four consecutive
Juno Awards for "Classical Album of the Year - Vocal or Choral Performance" for the following recordings:
Azulão
(
Bluebird), an album featuring Spanish and Latin American songs (2004);
Cleopatra
, featuring arias sung by the character
Cleopatra from operas by
Handel,
Carl Heinrich Graun,
Johann Adolph Hasse and
Johann Mattheson (2005);
Pauline Viardot: Lieder Chansons Canzoni Mazurkas
, (2006); and
Mozart: Arie e Duetti
with fellow Canadians
Russell Braun and
Michael Schade (2007). In late 2007,
Tango Notturno
, a collection of
tango songs, was released on CBC Records. Her album
Isabel Bayrakdarian: Gomidas Songs
, featuring songs by the 19th century Armenian composer
Gomidas Vardabet, was released on September 23, 2008 on the
Nonesuch label and is nominated for a Grammy in the Best Classical Vocal Performance category.
Her dance music single
Angelicus
with the
Vancouver electronica group
Delerium made it to the top of
Billboard Dance music charts in March 2007 and was nominated for a Grammy Award.
[8]
Popular and crossover
- Millennium Gala
(2001, CBC Records)
- Joyous Light
(2002, CBC Records)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
soundtrack (2002)
- Ararat
soundtrack (2002)
- Delerium: Nuages du Monde
(2006, Nettwerk)
- Tango Notturno
(2007, CBC Records)
- Gomidas Songs
(2008, Nonesuch) with Chamber Players of the Armenian Philharmonic conducted by Eduard Topchjan; Serouj Kradjian, piano [9]
Classical
- Azulão
(2003, CBC Records)
- Mahler: Symphony No. 2
(2004, San Francisco Symphony label) with Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and the San Francisco Symphony & Chorus conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.
- Cleopatra
(2004, CBC Records) with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.
- Pauline Viardot: Lieder Chansons Canzoni Mazurkas
(Analekta, 2004)
- Mozart: Arie e Duetti
(2006, CBC Records) with Russell Braun, Michael Schade and the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, conducted by Richard Bradshaw.
- Gomidas Songs
, (2008, Nonesuch Records)
Filmography
- Opera Night at Cologne
(2005)
- Handel: Serse
(2005)
- A Long Journey Home
(2005)
- Mozart: Don Giovanni
. Live from Salzburg (2006)
- Great Performances at the Met: The Magic Flute
(2007)
References
- Has child, wil travel - a lot
- Operalia winners 2000
- DVD Review: ''Serse''
- We're hoping Isabel Bayrakdarian will come home
- Telefilm Documentaries
- Roy Thomson Hall Events
- News Releases 2005
- Isabel Bayrakdarian's big week
- Gomidas Songs