Biography

In 2000, at the age of 24, contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux became the first Canadian to win the 1st Prize as well as the Special Prize for Lieder at the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium .   Winning this prestigious award opened the door to an immediate international career, allowing her to perform in recital and in concert with many great orchestras, such as l'Orchestre National de France, l'Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, l'Orchestre symphonique de la Monnaie, l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, The Academy of Ancient Music, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Les Musiciens du Louvre, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, l'Ensemble Matheus, Les Violons du Roy, l'Ensemble orchestral de Paris, Modo Antiquo, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, l'Orchestre philharmonique de Saint-Petersbourg, l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, The Québec City Symphony, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. She has sung with conductors such as Richard Bradshaw, Franz-Paul Decker, Charles Dutoit, Paul Goodwin, Bernard Labadie, Sir Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Marc Minkowski, Kent Nagano, John Nelson, Gianandrea Noseda, Peter Oundjian, Michel Plasson, Federico Maria Sardelli, Michael Schonwandt, Marc Soustrot, Yoav Talmi, Ilan Volkov and Pinchas Zukerman.

Each year, Ms. Lemieux is invited to sing in international music festivals, both in North America and abroad.   Performing regularly on stage, she sings roles by Berlioz ( Ursule , in Béatrice et Bénédict and ANNA in Les Troyens ), Gluck ( Orfeo , in Orfeo ed Euridice ), Haendel ( BRADAMANTE , in Alcina  ; Cornelia , in Julio Cesare; Unulfo and EDUIGE in Rodelinda ), Honneger ( CATHERINE , in Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher ), Mozart (the Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte ), Rossini ( ISAURA , in Tancredi ), Verdi ( Mrs. Quickly in Falstaff ), Vivaldi ( ORLANDO , in Orlando furioso ), Wagner ( Flosshilde in Götterdämmerung ), etc. In 2005, she made her debut with the Staatsoper Berlin, performing in Monteverdi's Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria under René Jacobs.   Later that same year, she performed the role of MITRENA in the world premiere of the opera Motezuma , by Vivaldi, at De Doelen Centre in Rotterdam.In 2006, she made her US solo debut (recital in Kansas and as a guest soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association). In 2007, she performed on stage Giulio Cesare   in Haendel's masterpiece at Opéra de Nancy, France. Ms. Lemieux has recorded on various labels.   She took part in two recordings with CYPRESS (Belgium); she sang in Mozart's Requiem with Les Violons du Roy, with DORIAN Recordings (JUNO Award); she recorded 3 CD's with ANALEKTA: Haendel ( Italian Cantatas ); Scarlatti and Vivaldi ( Salve Regina and Stabat Mater ) and Brahms ( Lieder ).   In 2004, she recorded the title role of ORLANDO , in Vivaldi's Orlando furioso with Ensemble Matheus , under Jean-Christophe Spinosi for the French NAÏVE label.   This recording was acclaimed as the « Best recording of the year » at the French "Victoires de la Musique" in Paris, in 2005.   In the same year, Ms. Lemieux sung the role of UNULFO in Haendel's Rodelinda with Il Complesso Barocco, under Alan Curtis, for Deutsche Grammophon .   Her first recital CD ( L'Heure exquise ) of French melodies with piano on the NAÏVE label, with which she now enjoys an exclusive contract, was hailed by the critics and the public alike.   In the Fall of 2006, a new opera recording has been released under NAÏVE with Ensemble Matheus, in which Marie-Nicole Lemieux sings the title role of Vivaldi's Griselda . In 2007, still for NAÏVE, she recorded in France a Vivaldi CD soon to be released. Also in 2007, she sang with "Les Violons du Roy" in Quebec City and in Toronto, participated in a tour across Canada with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Kent Nagano and she performed at the opening concert of the prestigious Club Musical de Québec series. On stage, she performed the leading role in Händel's masterpiece Giulio Cesare at Opéra de Nancy (France) and the part of GENEVIÈVE in Debussy's opera Pelléas et Mélisande , at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (Paris), directed by Bernard Haitink.

Among her many projects for 2008 : Pelléas et Mélissande" at Berlin's Staatsoper as well as at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels; a concert version of Vivaldi's Orlando Furioso at the prestigious Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; Falstaff at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris; Gounod's Faust at the "Chorégies d'Orange", France; Georges Enesco's OEdipe at the Capitole de Toulouse, France; recordings with Naïve; and a concert with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.