Photo credit: Luc Desilets
SHARON AZRIELI
Soprano falcon
Renowned singer Sharon Azrieli has a rich and wide-ranging voice that allows her to interpret the great soprano roles as well as some mezzo roles, thus specifying her as Soprano Falcon. Sharon Azrieli’s magnificent soprano has been heard to great acclaim across the globe, from New York to Tokyo, and from Tel Aviv to her native Montreal. From her debut as Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) to recent portrayals of Gioconda (La Gioconda) and Nedda (I Pagliacci), Azrieli has been deemed “utterly charming” (Sarasota Herald Tribune) and praised for her “exceedingly beautiful voice, full of feeling” (Ha’aretz).
Sharon Azrieli's new album "Secret Places" "A Tribute To Michel Legrand" was released on March 4, 2022, ranked No. 1 on its release, in the Vocal JAZZ new releases, mixed and produced by David Merrill with arrangements by Tamir Hendelman to music by Michel Legrand. An American and Canadian tour of this magnificent album is scheduled with Tamir Hendelman and his musicians in March 2022. Coming in 2023, Sharon Azrieli will be soloist of the Liverpool Oratorio: Orchester Classique de Montréal and Grand concert at the FestivalOpéra de Saint-Eustache des Grandes Laurentides in July 2022, as well as other roles to be announced, notably at the Opéra de Montréal.
Dr. Sharon Azrieli had a busy year in 2021, notably with the interpretation of Dissidence by Pierre Mercure under the direction of Maestra Lorraine Vaillancourt and Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne during the Azrieli Awards which was also recorded, on the Analekta label and which is nominated for a Juno with Keiko Devaux. Sharon Azrieli also presented a Grand Concert in New York in October 2021 which received critical acclaim with Ensemble Talea in a US Premiere Program featuring the winners of the 2020 Azrieli Prizes. She also performed and recorded a Grand World Premiere “ Three Songs” by Jaap Nico Hamburger.
Latest achievements in 2020 include a new Time Warner album, featuring great American composer Frank Wildhorn “Frankly Sharon”, wonderful songs translated into French, Spanish and Hebrew by Sharon Azrieli, Three lieder by composer Jaap Nico Hamburger on Else's poetry Lasker-Schüler “Saying goodbye” presented in World Premiere “Holocaust Remembrance Day” Concert: Ravel Kaddish, virtual outdoor recitals in Quebec, FestivalOpéra de Saint-Eustache, the “All that jazz” Concert with pianist Matt Herskowitz, clarinetist André Moisan and the Orchester Classique de Montréal, Azrieli Gala Concert Music Prize: Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and which will be released on the Analekta 2021 label,
In 2019, the Christmas CD "Gift of Joy" under the direction of Jonathan Monro with Time Warner was released as well as the CD album "Broadway" under the musical direction of Marvin Laird.
Sharon made her Metropolitan Opera debut in November 2018, as the “highly credible and vivacious” (Arthur Kaptainis – Montreal Gazette) Sister Dolcina in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. In March 2019, she has performed with success the renowned Berlioz “Les Nuits D’Été” with the OCM. In May 2019, she sang a concert in Israel, with Ramat Gan Orchestra. Then in June 2019, she sang for the first time the role of Marcellina in Le Nozze Di Figaro of Mozart under the direction of Alexander Shelley at the National Arts Center in Ottawa and she was soloist at Domaine Forget in Seven tableaux from Song of Songs, Srul Irving Glick , August 2019 she was Liu in Turandot, with Marcello Giordani at Taormina Opera, Italy and in September at Polin Museum under the direction of Yoav Talm and she sang another concert: Seven tableaux from Song of Songs, S. I.Glick with Czech National Symphony, Prague under the direction of Steven Mercurio.
Leading roles with orchestras in Concert and Oratorio works include: the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Kent Nagano,m Jerusalem Symphony, One World Sympnony, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Haifa Symphony Orchestra,, and McGill Chamber Orchestra, Mid America Orchestra, among many others. Her varied orchestral and sacred work has included Leonard Bernstein’s Kaddish,(narrated by Richard Dreyfuss) Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo with Tracy Resseguie as well as the Gabriel Fauré Requiem in D Minor, Op. 48 with Alex Qian, both of which were performed at Carnegie Hall. Sharon has also sung many world premieres, most notably: Esther Diaries by H. Stafylakis (2014) and Cantata for the Unsung by James M. Stephenson (2016). She sang Santuzza, (Cavalleria Rusticana) with Marcello Giordani in Sicily in 2015 and returned to sing Nedda in I Pagliacci with him last summer (2017) with the Bellini Orchestra in Catania, Italy under the direction of Antonio Manuli.
Leading operatic roles have included: Mimi (La Bohème); Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro); Elvira (Don Giovanni); Liu (Turandot); Aida (Aida); Leonora (Il Trovatore) and Adriana Lecouvreur with such Opera Houses as the New Israel Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, L’Opera de Paris à la Bastille, and Sarasota Opera, among others. Of her Laurette in Le Docteur Miracle with L’Opéra Français de New York, Andrew Porter of The New Yorker hailed her as a “mistress of merry inflections, piquant phrasing and pointed words.”
Dr. Sharon Azrieli holds a BA in Art History from Vassar College, an Associate’s Degree in Interior design and Illustration from the Parsons School of Design, an Advanced Certificate in Performance from the Juilliard School, and Masters and Doctorate Degrees in Music from the University of Montreal. She sits on the Boards of the following Philanthropic organizations: The America Israel Cultural Foundation, the McCord Museum, the National Arts Centre Youth Education Program, The Opera Cares Foundation, as well as the Azrieli Foundation, and serves as a Director on the Board of The Azrieli Group, in addition to her many diverse business interests. She also publishes the very popular home design magazines: Montreal Home, Toronto Home, and Vancouver Home, which can be seen on the web athomeincanada.ca . She also serves as a judge for the Azrieli Architectural Prize and the Grand Prix du Conseil des Arts de Montréal.
Dr. Sharon Azrieli is a graduate of Vassar College (BA), the Parsons School of Design (Assoc.), The Juilliard School (Adv. Cert.) and the University of Montreal (MM and D. Mus.) and has received the order of Quebec in 2019 for her vocal achievements and her philanthropy.
For more information on Sharon and her performances, please visit her website and for more on her life and career see her Wikipedia page.
Our Sumptuous Soprano Falcon Sharon Azrieli shone at the Benefit Concert of the Stradivaria Festival under the direction of Renowned Violinist Maestro Alexandre Da Costa!
Sharon Azrieli magnificently performed Lehar's Heure exquise and arias by Michel Legrand from her latest album.
First interview with the journalist Hamid Si-ahmed of the Journal The Initiative »
Second interview with the journalist Hamid Si-ahmed of the Journal The Initiative »
Soprano Sharon Azrieli and composer Frank Wildhorn create a dream team for this album – Frankly Sharon – featuring musical theatre and world songs from sultry French to passionate Italian and poignant Hebrew, with translations all done by Sharon Azrieli. Not only is Sharon Azrieli a cherished star in Canada, having been recognized in 2019 with the Order of Quebec (Chevalière du Québec), she has been enchanting audiences around the world with an expansive operatic career. And Frank Wildhorn’s music is as charismatic as he is: from his soaring melodies to his complex harmonies, he has a way of speaking directly to the heart.
Sharon Azrieli is a visionary. She has the ability to take an idea and turn it into something fresh, exciting, and unforgettable. The heartfelt interpretation of each selection allows the songs to be melancholy but still hopeful. The message of hope is one that sums up the miracle of this collaboration: that “if you trust your heart, anything can happen.”