BIOGRAPHY
The Coloratura soprano Natacha Demers is known to dazzle as much by her exciting voice and effortless high notes as for her naturally charismatic stage presence and vibrant interpretations. She is the recipient of several awards, including grants of excellence from the Fondation du Conservatoire de musique du Québec, the Fondation des Jeunesses musicales du Canada and the Opéra Bouffe du Québec, and won a 1st prize in the Pierre-de-Saurel Competition, Quebec. She is completing her Master's degree in Classical Singing at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal.
Endowed with a versatile voice, she blossoms in a varied repertoire, equally in opera, recital and concert repertoire. Her opera roles include Olympia (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Belinda (Dido and Aeneas), Taumännchen (Hänsel und Gretel), Amore (Orfeo ed Euridice), the Son (The Juniper Tree), as well as Daphné and Aréthuse (Actéon). She has also performed excerpts of the roles of Tytania (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Madame Herz (Der Schauspieldirektor), Marie (La fille du régiment), and Lady with a Hand Mirror (Postcard from Morocco). She made her debut in 2023 with the Opéra Bouffe du Québec in La Périchole (Offenbach) as Mastrilla and Ninetta, where she was praised for her exceptionally engaging and humorous performance.
Natacha has recently appeared as guest soloist in the Concerts Lachine's Notes et brioches recital series, as well as at the FestivalOpéra de Saint-Eustache, was selected as an artist in the Canadian Opera Company's Summer Opera Intensive 2024 and as laureate of the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques du Canada, for which she participated in a series of concerts in front of international directors and their 30th Gala. She has worked with conductors Jacques Lacombe, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, Luc Beauséjour, Yves Léveillée, Lisette Canton, Benoît Gauthier and John Gomez. Guest soloist with orchestras and ensembles, she has sung Fauré's Requiem and Mozart's Vesperae solennes de confessore. A fervent supporter of Canadian music, Natacha took part in the creation of several Canadian works as soprano soloist : Geneviève Ackerman's Requiem pour Empédocle at the Maison Symphonique de Montréal and Sébastien Tremblay's Tableaux symphoniques du temps des Fêtes with the Orchestre Symphonique de Gatineau, and the work Fragments d'une consolation, for Pipe Organ and Soprano, written especially for her voice by Quebec composer Sébastien Goulet as part of a series of concerts by Le Vivier.
A MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTIST
Natacha is also an instrumentalist and dancer. She graduated from college with a double specialization in classical singing and French horn performance. She also played violin for a decade, as well as studied piano. With many years of experience under her belt as an orchestral musician, she has has played as hornist with the Orchestre de la Rive-Nord, the Orchestre symphonique du Conservatoire de Gatineau, the Ottawa Youth Orchestra, and has collaborated with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Orchestre Symphonique de Gatineau. Natacha is also noted for the elevated elegance of her movement and energetic stage presence. A passionate dancer, she has been practicing Baroque dance for several years, during which she has also been introduced to Renaissance dance and contredanse. Natacha's dancing has been featured in dance solos in opera productions directed by dancer/director Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière.
REVIEWS
"She dazzled the audience with a series of well-chosen and challenging operatic arias and intriguing art-song selections. I was as equally impressed by her ability to delineate musical characters and differentiate musical styles as by the clarity of her lyrical diction in several languages. She displayed, once again, her lyric coloratura to stunning effect rising easily to high Fs as well as demonstrating her customary trademark powers of communication and tremendous expressive possibilities."
Richard Turp, Concerts Lachine
Recital, Notes et brioches Series (Fev 2024)
"They are all excellent, but the one who particularly made me laugh with her gestures and her facial expressions is Natacha Demers."
Valérie Garrigue, Cultures Gourmandes
La Périchole (2023), Opéra Bouffe du Québec
"Great ease of communication and natural presence, Natacha easily sings those great Mozart-like coloraturas. She is an artist in every sense of the word.
Patricia Fournier (April 2023)
"Natacha has a lovely instrument and excellent stage presence. Her voice is clear and ringing. She is engaging and elegant, a true joy to watch! She tells a story."
Matthew Treviño (April 2023)
"A beautiful and luminous artist with much to communicate."
Louise Marcotte, Concours de musique de Pierre-De Saurel
First Place Winner, 23 and younger (2022)