Measha Brueggergosman, soprano
Roger Vignoles, piano

Measha Brueggergosman

Noted by the San Francisco Chronicle as, "a singer of rare gifts and artistic intensity" and by the Washington Post for singing with "an all-encompassing warmth and joy, melding honed artistry with youthful enthusiasm," Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman has emerged as one of the most magnificent performers and vibrant personalities of the day. She is critically acclaimed by the international press as much for her innate musicianship and radiant voice as for a sovereign stage presence far beyond her years. Her extraordinary versatility, intuitive musicality, and radiant star quality have yielded an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon.

A dynamic scope of repertoire coupled with a profound depth of artistic commitment bring Measha Brueggergosman together with many of the finest international orchestras and most esteemed conductors of our day. During the 2006-07 season symphonic performances include Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Franz Welser-M?st and the Cleveland Orchestra (in Cleveland and on tour) as well as with Daniel Barenboim and the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro alla Scala, opera arias with Sir Andrew Davis and the New York Philharmonic, season opening gala concerts of Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Peter Oundjian and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Sch?nberg's Brettl-Lieder and Mahler's Symphony No. 4 with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Gershwin songs with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at Glasgow's Proms in the Park concert, and, with Gustavo Dudamel, performances of Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and of Strauss' Vier Letzte Lieder with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on tour in Sweden and France. She also joins Michael Tilson Thomas, Maxim Vengerov, and the New World Symphony for a gala concert inaugurating Miami's Carnival Center for the Performing Arts.

Deeply committed to the art of recital where her programs are likely to include less frequently-heard songs by Bolcom, Satie, and Montsalvatge alongside more familiar works by Mahler, Ravel, and Strauss, Ms. Brueggergosman's busy schedule includes solo recitals at London's Wigmore Hall and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels with Roger Vignoles, in Gstaad with Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and at Hertz Hall in Berkeley and at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor with J.J. Penna amongst many others.

Highlights of the 2005-06 season included operatic debuts at Vancouver Opera as Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites under Jonathan Darlington and at the Staatstheater Stuttgart as Juno in Joseph Martin Kraus' Aeneas in Karthago conducted by Lothar Zagrosek. She gave a sold-out recital at Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall, and also appeared in recital at the University of Chicago, the Hattie Bishop Speed Endowed Series, the Verbier and Tuscan Sun festivals, and at the World Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan under the auspices of the Government of Canada. A busy concert calendar included performances with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and the Detroit Symphony, Itzhak Perlman and the Seattle Symphony, Leonard Slatkin and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and with James Gaffigan and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Notable performances of the recent past have included Strauss' Vier Letzte Lieder with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Janá?ek's Glagolitic Mass with the Stuttgart Philharmonic and Sebastian Weigle as well as with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas, the Verdi Requiem with Sir Andrew Davis and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Hans Graf and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, Krzysztof Penderecki's Credo conducted by the composer, as well as Dvorák's Te Deum with Jiri Belohlavek and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, opera arias with Patrick Summers and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and Experience with Leonard Slatkin and the orchestra and chorus of the University of Michigan (recorded and released commercially by the Naxos label and winner of multiple Grammy Awards). Recital appearances have brought her to the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Spivey Hall, University Musical Society, the Edinburgh and Bergen festivals, and to concert series in Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Augsburg, Berlin, Bamberg, and Barcelona amongst many others.

Ms. Brueggergosman has been honoured to participate in a number of very special events including the gala re-openings of Roy Thomson Hall and of the University of Michigan's Hill Auditorium, Canada Day celebrations from Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and the opening ceremonies of the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto - her performance presented under the auspices of MAC Cosmetics - sharing the stage with Bill Gates and President Bill Clinton. She has performed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland during two consecutive years, and has given a Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth II. She also has sung for the Prince of Wales, President Tarja Halonen of Finland, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson and numerous other leaders of Canada, as well as for Nelson Mandela.

So Much to Tell, Ms. Brueggergosman's first solo commercial recording on the CBC Records label, with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and conductor Roy Goodman, features music by Barber, Copland and Gershwin. Her second release for CBC Records, Extase, presents a sumptuous program of Berlioz's Les nuits d'été and Massenet opera arias with Yoav Talmi and the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec.

Measha Brueggergosman has been the subject of a full-length feature documentary, Spirit in her Voice, aired by the CBC network and she has starred in numerous independent short music-films including Go Diva! and Infinite Dream. She has served as hostess of the Toronto Variety Show, on the Sun TV network, bringing viewing audiences into the clubs, out onto the streets, and into the lives of Toronto's most dynamic rising artists and she also has taken centre stage in Bravo! Canada's Gemini Award-winning television concert series Live at the Rehearsal Hall, performing a mixed selection of classical repertoire, gospel hymns, and jazz standards. Ms. Brueggergosman joined an illustrious panel of celebrity judges on the Idol Underground competition, an artist driven alter-ego of the American Idol and Canadian Idol brand, and appeared as a special celebrity guest on television episodes of The Surreal Gourmet, Opening Night, Bathroom Divas, and Bravo Arts & Minds. Comprehensive performance and career information is found at www.measha.com.

Measha Brueggergosman was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2002 Jeunesses Musicales Montreal International Competition and has been a prizewinner at The Dutch International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch, the Wigmore Hall in London, George London Foundation in New York, The Queen Sonja International Music Competition in Oslo, and the ARD Music Competition in Munich. She also is a recipient of the prestigious Canada Council and Chalmers Performing Arts Grants. She studied at the University of Toronto with Mary Morrison and pursued postgraduate studies in Germany with Edith Wiens. She also has worked with such distinguished musicians as Christoph Eschenbach, Ruth Falcon, Brigitte Fassbaender, Margo Garrett, Håkan Hagegård, Jessye Norman, Rudolf Piernay, and Thomas Quasthoff.

Roger Vignoles

The pianist Roger Vignoles is one of Britain's most outstanding musicians.  Originally inspired by the playing of Gerald Moore, he decided on leaving University to pursue a career as a piano accompanist, completing his essential training with the distinguished Viennese-born teacher Paul Hamburger. 

Since then reviewers worldwide have consistently recognised his distinctive qualities as a player.  Among his first partners was the great Swedish soprano Elisabeth Söderström, whom he regularly accompanied throughout the 1970s and 80s.  During this period, he also developed particularly fruitful collaborations with Dame Kiri te Kanawa; with Sir Thomas Allen, recording many works including Schumann's Dichterliebe and Schubert's Winterreise; and with Sarah Walker, in a wide repertoire of song, from German Lieder and French Mélodies to cabaret songs by Gershwin, Britten and others.

Recent seasons have included tours with Sylvia McNair, Dame Felicity Lott, Susan Graham, Véronique Gens, Sir Thomas Allen and Joan Rodgers, as well as recitals with Olaf Bär, Kathleen Battle, Christine Brewer, Brigitte Fassbaender, Bernarda Fink, Christine Schaefer, Thomas Hampson, Lorraine Hunt, Stephan and Christoph Genz, Monica Groop and Sarah Walker, including appearances at the Bath, Cheltenham, Brighton, Aldeburgh, Prague, Schleswig-Holstein, Verbier and Ravinia Festivals.  He is also a regular visitor to the Schubertiade in Feldkirch.

In 1997, the Schubert year, he devised and directed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London a week-long series entitled ‘Landscape into Song’, in which his culminating performance of Winterreise with Robert Holl was described by The Times as ‘one of the most memorable performances of the year’.  In 1998 he inaugurated the Nagaoka Winter Festival in Japan, giving recitals and masterclasses based on Schubert’s Winterreise and has subsequently returned each year as artistic director. Last December he was the subject of BBC Radio 3’s “Artist in Focus” series.  In 2001 he took part in the Schumann Festival at the South Bank in London giving recitals Wolfgang Holzmair, Christiane Oelze and Robert Holl and gave staged performances of the complete Britten Canticles in Barcelona with John Mark Ainsley and Michael Chance.

Among his recordings, La Belle Epoque with Susan Graham (devoted to the songs of Reynaldo Hahn), Nuits d’Etoiles with Véronique Gens (Fauré, Debussy, Poulenc) and a CD of Strauss, Mahler and Marx with Katarina Karneus all have been nominated for Gramophone awards, while his recording of Beethoven songs with Stephan Genz on Hyperion won the 1999 Award in the Song Category.  Recent releases include the complete Wolf Mörike-Lieder with Stephan Genz and Canciones Amatorias, a CD of Spanish Songs with Bernarda Fink and Strauss Songs with Christine Brewer on Hyperion.