Karina Gauvin
Recognized for her work in the Baroque repertoire, Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin sings Bach, Mahler, Britten and the music of the 20th and 21st centuries with equal success.
Mrs Gauvin has sung with the world’s leading symphony orchestras, including the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the San Francisco Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and the Rotterdam Philharmonic, as well as Baroque orchestras such as Les Talens Lyriques, the Venice Baroque Orchestra, Le concert de la Loge, Accademia Bizantina, Il Complesso Barocco, Freiburger Baroque Orchestra, the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Les Violons du Roy.
She has performed under the direction of Charles Dutoit, Michael Tilson Thomas, Michel Plasson, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Ivor Bolton, Mikko Frank, Teodor Currentzis, Bernard Labadie, Christophe Rousset, Sir Roger Norrington, Kent Nagano, Fabien Gabel, Jérémie Rhorer and the late Alan Curtis among others. On the recital platform, she has collaborated with pianists Marc-André Hamelin, Angela Hewitt, Michael McMahon, Maciej Pikulski and Roger Vignoles.
Last season 2022-2023, saw Miss Gauvin revisit the greatest role of her career, Alcina by Handel in a few productions from the Théâtre Royal in Versailles, the National Theatre in Brno, in the Czech Republic to the opera theatre in Caen with the esteemed Baroque Ensemble, Collegium 1704 under Vaclav Luks. She also celebrated an important career benchmark with Les Violons du Roy and it’s present musical director, Jonathan Cohen singing this very role. 2023 also saw her tackle the exciting and challenging role of Circé in the opera of the same name by the 17th century composer Henry Desmarest with longtime collaborators Stephen Stubbs and Paul O’Dette for the Boston Early Music Festival.
In past seasons, she sang a much lauded performance of Vitellia in Mozart’s Clemenza di Tito at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris (J. Rohrer/D. Podalydès) and Armida in Handel’s Rinaldo (O. Dantone/R. Carsen) at the Glyndebourne Festival. She gave a gripping performance of title role in Gluck’s Armide (I. Bolton/B. Kosky) at the Netherlands Opera and Giunone in Cavalli’s Calisto at the Bayerische Staatsoper. In 2017, she appeared as Duchesse d’Étampes in Camille Saint-Saëns’ long-lost opera Ascanio, conducted by Guillaume Tourniaire at the Grand Théâtre de Genève.
Past projects include a European tour and a recording of Ariodante (Handel) for EMI Virgin Classics, along with a European tour and a recording of Giulio Cesare, both with the late Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco. She sang in the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian and the Symphony No. 2 (Mahler) with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas. Karina Gauvin was Lia in Debussy’s l’Enfant prodigue with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under Mikko Frank later released on the Erato label.
Her extensive discography – over 50 titles – has won her numerous awards, including a “Chamber Music America Award” for her “Fête Galante” disc with pianist Marc-André Hamelin, 3 Grammy nominations for her recordings with the Boston Early Music Orchestra and several Opus Prizes.
Recent projects have included Merab in Handel’s Saul at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Paris Théâtre du Châtelet, Giunone in Cavalli’s Calisto at the Staatsoper München and at the Teatro Real in Madrid. She sang Bellezza (Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno) at the Innsbruck Festival, Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare) with the Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset at the Bucharest George Enescu Festival, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Ambronay Festival. She has given several concerts with Le Concert de la Loge under Julien Chauvin at the Halle Festival and the Metz Arsenal among others.
Among the numerous distinctions she received in her early career, Miss Gauvin was named soloist of the year for the International French Radio Community, won first prize for the CBC Radio Young performers Competition, the Virginia Parker prize as well as the Maggie Teyte Memorial Prize in London and the lieder and public’s prize at the s’Hertogenbosch International Competition.
During the pandemic, Karina Gauvin was priviledged to participate in a very exciting new recording project; the complete songs of late 19th century composer Jules Massenet, to be released in 2022. In late 2020, she was named artist in residence for Mécénat Musica, a cultural program by donors for donors to make a sustainable contribution in music and the arts.