Chantal Dionne captivates audiences with her unmistakable charisma, sumptuous velvety voice, and innate elegance.
Named Best North American Singer at the World Folk Vision competition in 2020 and finalist at the Montreal International Music Competition, Canadian soprano Chantal Dionne has also distinguished herself with a remarkable triple victory at Italy’s 56th Gian Battista Viotti International Competition, earning First Prize, the Audience Choice Award, and the prize for Best Foreign Artist.
Her debut recital album, Romances, recorded with pianist Louise-Andrée Baril, has enjoyed international acclaim. As noted by Codaex, Médan, France: “Chantal Dionne, a lyric soprano with a velvety tone, flawless high notes, seamless phrasing, and an elegiac pianissimo, shines brilliantly in this repertoire. (Rachmaninoff – Liszt, from her album Romances).”
On both the recital stage and in concert halls, Chantal Dionne displays an impressive breadth of repertoire, ranging from opera to art song and oratorio. Recently, she appeared as guest soloist in two major symphonic concerts in Montreal and Ottawa, performing Verdi’s and Brahms’ Requiems to great acclaim.
She also earned high praise for her performance of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Montreal Philharmonic Orchestra: “From the Kyrie to the Agnus Dei, the Quebec soprano demonstrated exceptional vocal agility and sensitivity, infusing the ensemble passages with vibrant expressiveness.”
Internationally, the Acadian soprano continues to garner enthusiastic acclaim. She performed with the Orchestre Symphonique de Douai in France in a series of lyrical concerts under the baton of Guy Condette, and in Paris as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 for the Association des Concerts Colonne. She also appeared at the Festival de la Semaine Acadienne in August 2023 in Courseulles-sur-Mer, performing alongside her brother, Armand Dionne, in a celebrated series of concerts.
On the opera stage, Ms. Dionne has been praised for her portrayals of Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen, Véronique in Messager’s Véronique, and Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Volksoper in Vienna. In Quebec, she has graced the stage at Opéra de Québec as Françoise in the latest operatic adaptation of André Gagnon’s Nelligan, and as one of the Flowermaidens in Wagner’s Parsifal under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin at the Festival de Lanaudière.
She has performed with many leading orchestras, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Métropolitain under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Trois-Rivières Symphony Orchestra under Jacques Lacombe, the Sherbrooke Symphony Orchestra under Stéphane Laforest, the McGill Chamber Orchestra under Boris Brott, the New Brunswick Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta del Nuevo Mundo (Mexico City), the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Teatro Regio in Turin, Italy.
Most recently in Quebec, she starred as Albertine at 50 in the world premiere of Albertine en cinq temps, the operatic adaptation of Michel Tremblay’s landmark play, with music by Catherine Major. The production toured in the spring and fall of 2023, drawing widespread praise. Critics lauded this pioneering opera in joual – the vibrant vernacular of Tremblay – as a bold and resounding success.