Biography
Biography
With her “accomplished lyrical voice, sparkling clarity of tone, vibrant middle range, supple articulation and iridescent high notes” [Olyrix] “fresh, luminous, agile, accompanied by exemplary diction” [Forum Opera] “unparalleled poise and vocal clarity,” [Le Devoir] "a vocal powerhouse whose soaring soprano belies her petite frame" [The Arts Desk], soprano Elisabeth Boudreault has built on early success in her native Canada with a strongly developing career in Europe, praised for her “clear and rich timbre, and formidable projection, without the slightest stridency piercing through the silver metal of her tone.” [CultNews]
She received notable acclaim in 2024 for her debut at Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Frasquita “with gloriously joyous gestures and a delightfully resonant voice" [Daily Express] "especially athletic and witty in both voice and movement", "tiny in stature, huge in persona and talent, performed with remarkable beauty; a force to be reckoned with" [Operawire] "audience favourite (deservedly, for her esprit and considerable heft)" [The Arts Desk], "there remains something extra-special about Boudreault" [Seen and Heard International]. In summer 2025 she returns to Glyndebourne as Barbarina, and covering Susanna, in Mariame Clément's new production of Le Nozze di Figaro conducted by Riccardo Minasi, with another performance at the prestigious BBC Proms.
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Boudreault, tiny in stature, HUGE in persona and talent…a force to be reckoned with
OPERA WIRE
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Boudreault, tiny in stature, HUGE in persona and talent…a force to be reckoned with
OPERA WIRE
In recent seasons she made her debut at the Opéra de Rouen as Pamina Die Zauberflöte, showcasing “a sonorous and well-placed technique, that rises to an incandescent high register, the voice easily fills the room, swirling in volume, but she knows just as much how to suspend the attention of the audience to the most delicate nuances, all of which are audible [bringing] together the intense elegance of her resources and the scintillating high notes" [Olyrix], at the Opéra Comique in Paris as Miss Ellen Lakmé, and in 2024 gained particular notice as Jemmy in Rossini's Guillaume Tell "clearly the revelation of the evening" [Concerto Net] "with incredible stage presence and an extraordinary vocal projection" [Classique News] at Opéra de Lausanne, and as Sophie in Battistelli's 7 Minuti at Opéra de Lyon. Her 25/26 season includes debuts as Musetta in Puccini's La Boheme for Opéra de Quebec, and the title role in Massenet's Cendrillon for Opéra du Royaume.
Four-time winner of the Canadian Music Competition, she made her operatic debut at the age of 16 as Lisa in La Sonnambula, and has progressed to repertoire including Die Königin der NachtDie Zauberflöte, SophieWerther, Soeur ConstanceLes Dialogues des Carmélites and ServiliaLa Clemenza di Tito, Frau SilberklangDer Schauspieldirektor at the Opéra de Québec and FloraThe Turn of the Screw at the Opéra de Montréal, leading to accomplished European debuts including "a crystalline and elegantly sung Barbarina" Le Nozze di Figaro at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in a new production by Lotte de Beer conducted by Thomas Hengelbrock, "a Papagena whose vocal and stage presence are both equally intense" [Dernière nouvelles d’Alsace], "an acrobatic and mischievous elf" [Transfuge], GretelHänsel und Gretel and PapagenaDie Zauberflöte at the Opéra National du Rhin, Barbarina at the Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg, ObertoAlcina at the Opéra National de Lorraine, and La Fille ainée in Katie Mitchell’s staging of Nuit funèbre/Trauernacht at the Opéra National de Lyon.
Her burgeoning and eclectic concert career ranges from the baroque and Classical repertoire, including Beethoven’s Mass in C with Slovakia’s Košice Philharmonic Orchestra and Mozart’s Ch’io mi scordi di te? with Capella Augustina under Andreas Spering, to recital performances featuring Britten, Schubert and Strauss in Japan, to a notable commitment to contemporary voices. She has performed Gérard Grisey’s Quatres chants pour franchir le seuil under Guillaume Bourgogne, and in the 25/26 season she will have a ‘Carte blanche’ project with Ensemble Éclat, performing two new pieces commissioned for solo soprano and orchestra, for the 60th anniversary of the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec. She sang the role of Léa in L’Hiver attend beaucoup de moi by Laurence Jobidon (Musique 3 Femmes), Tapestry Opera’s Songbook IX and the American premiere of Miguel Azguime’s Th(S)inking Survival Kit with the McGill Contemporary Ensemble, and sang the lead role in the North American premiere of East o’ the Sun, West o’ the Moon by James Garner, who is writing the role of Hero in his opera Much Ado About Nothing especially for her voice.
Laureate of the Vienna International Competition and of the Wirth Vocal Prize, Elisabeth Boudreault studied under the tutelage of Aline Kutan at McGill University in Montreal. She was four-time winner of the Canadian Music Competition, and nominated as one of the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s 30 hot classical musicians under 30. Her discography includes guest appearances on recital discs by Aigul Akhmetshina (Decca) and Huw Montague Rendall (Warner-Erato), and she has collaborated with a growing list of notable conductors including Marko Letonja, Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, Jérémie Rhorer, Ben Glassberg and Raphaël Pichon.
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Full of freshness and enthusiasm, with incredible stage presence and an extraordinary vocal projection…
CLASSIQUE NEWS
