Canadian Michèle Bogdanowicz has taken an important place among the outstanding mezzo-sopranos of her generation. A Fellow at Ravinia’s Steans Institute for Young Artists, she was chosen to present the world premiere of songs “Facing Forward, Looking Back” by American composer Jake Heggie and as a member of the prestigious Merola Program of the San Francisco Opera, she had a resounding success as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro. She made an important debut as Béatrice in Berlioz’ Béatrice et Bénédict with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in Mexico City, she also presented a world premiere of songs composed for her by Canadian composer Norbert Palej at Gallery 345, these songs will be featured on a recording with the Canadian Art Song Project this season. Also this season, she appears with the Pax Christi Chorale in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio as well as with the Bach Elgar Choir in Messiah. She will be featured in the Recitals at Rosedale series, presenting a world premiere of songs composed by Elizabeth Raum and she sings La mère in Charpentier’s Louise with Opera in Concert. She sang Mercédès on the Canadian Opera Company’s mainstage as a member of the Ensemble Studio. Other COC roles include New Ofglen in Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale, Hänsel in Hänsel and Gretel, Nancy in Albert Herring and Papagena in The Magic Flute.

Recent seasons have included Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Winnipeg Symphony and the Brott Music Festival and the title role in Luisa Fernanda for Toronto Operetta Theatre. Further credits include Alexander Nevsky for the Ottawa Symphony, Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte for Opera Hamilton, Berlioz’ Nuits d’été and Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Hamilton Philharmonic, Messiah for the Fanshawe Chorus London and Bach Elgar Choir, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle with the Ottawa Cantata Singers and Zerlina in Don Giovanni for Pacific Opera Victoria, Orchestra London, Opera Lyra Ottawa and Opera Hamilton. She also sang Despina in Cosí fan tutte for Pacific Opera Victoria and was Cuniza in Verdi’s Oberto for Toronto’s Opera in Concert.

Her activities on the concert stage include a recital at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa broadcast by CBC’s Radio Two, an appearance with the Ottawa Choral Society in “Notes from America”, and an all-Debussy programme for the Aldeburgh Connection and Russian songs for the Off Centre Music Salon. She was named a winner in the New Discovery Auditions adjudicated by Music Directors from the Montreal Symphony Chorus, Ottawa Choral Society, Choeur St. Laurent and the Cantata Singers of Ottawa. The prize included a debut recital in Ottawa. She was also a Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Ms. Bogdanowicz has appeared as a soloist with many groups and festivals both nationally and internationally; among them, the renowned EMI recording artists The St. Lawrence String Quartet, the Orford Festival, the Aldeburgh Festival, the Brevard Music Center Festival, the Leith Summer Festival and the Northern Lights Music Festival in Mexico.

Born and raised in Toronto, her heritage is French and Polish and she is fluent in both French and English. She has received grants recognizing her talent from the Chalmers Foundation of the Ontario Arts Council, the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation, the Toronto Symphony, the Merola Opera Program and the Canadian Opera Company. Ms. Bogdanowicz holds an Honours Bachelor Degree in Music and a Diploma in Operatic Performance from the University of Toronto.