GUY LESSARD

Tenor

​

Guy Lessard has a powerful and expressive tenor voice and remarkable stage presence that allow him to sing the main dramatic roles . His future engagements in 2015-16 are: the Christmas Oratorio of Saint-Saens with Les Rhapsodes,a Christmas concert with  l’ensemble  à  cordes  de  Baie-Comeau and the Concert Il était une fois ... Noël, opening of the German Christmas market in Quebec. Magic Flute (Armed man) with Opéra de Québec, Il était un  fois...Noël with Quebec german Market, Opéra au Palais with Chœur   Les   Rhapsodes, Russian with the pianists duett Krasnyanskaya-Schneider and Norma (Pollione) with Opéra de Rimouski.

 

Guy Lessard sang many roles, including Alfred (Die Fledermaus 2002), Abelard (Heloise and Abelard 2006) Levko (The night of May 2010), Don José (Carmen, 2006, 2010) and Du Sotin (Lucas and Cecile 2011). Regular guest at the Opera Festival of St- Eustache, he sang at 2012 Gala and in the concert Wagner en plein air in 2013. In addition tointerpreting several supporting roles at opera Quebec, he participates annually in the International Opera Festival of Quebec. He also participated to Robert Lepage’s   trials   for   different opera productions.

 

In addition to the Wagnerian repertoire he is also well suited on stage as Canio (I Pagliacci), Otello and Max (Der Freischütz). With his own "Tempêtes et Passions" Productions, he has interpreted the first act of "Die Walküre" (Wagner) in Québec and a condensed version of Tannhäuser (Tannhaüser). With them, he also performed Évasion   slave,   Duos   d’amour   romantique,  Sérénades  d’un  soir  d’été,  Opéras  véristes, the famous concert Canciones del sol (tangos and zarzuelas, and Voyage en Italie with I Gondolieri (touring since 5 years) and the Great Romantic Concert Verdi-Wagner (2013). With Tempêtes et Passions, he organized and participated in the concert Wagner for the Quebec Opera Festival, described by many as the favorite concert in 2014 Festival.

 

He was heard in concert at the Festival International de Lanaudière where he performed in « Tangopéra » with Quartango. He has performed with Orchestre des jeunes du Québec, chœur   Les Rhapsodes, chœur  polyphonique  de  Charlevoix,  l’Orchestre  symphonique  de  Saguenay-Lac St-Jean, l’ensemble  à  cordes  de  Baie-Comeau et  l’ensemble  de  clarinettes  de  Trois-Rivières. With Orchestre Philarmonique du Nouveau Monde, he performed the Mozart Requiem and the Messa di gloria by Puccini and also A special Christmas with Nathalie Choquette. His performances also include Mozart’s Grande messe en C, Lauda per la Natività del Signore (Respighi), Misa y Tango, le Stabat Mater (Dvorak), La Création (Haydn) les Sept Paroles du Christ (Dubois) and Oratorio de Noël (Saint-Saens).

 

His discography includes Canciónes del sol, a CD with Argentine tangos of Carlos Gardel and Zarzuela arias, and a recording of Christmas carols with L'Orchestre Symphonique des jeunes of Montreal, under the direction of Louis Lavigueur. In 2001, Mr. Guy Lessard was a finalist of the prestigious Liederkranz Foundation singing competition in New York. Since then he has been invited to perform a concert sponsored by this foundation. He also received a grant from the Wagner Society of New York. In 2002, Guy Lessard received a grant from the Canada Council of Arts for his Tristan and Tannhaüser project. He has a Music Master (Singing) from Université Laval and completed several sessions at Wilfrid Laurier.