Dominique Labelle

Born: Montreal, Canada

The Canadian soprano (and mezzo-soprano), Dominique Labelle, was New England First Place Winner in 1989 and National Council Winner in 1989. She is a National Winner of the Metropolitan Opera competition, and is also the recipient of a George London Foundation Award, and Boston University's Distinguished Alumni Award.

Dominique Labelle first came to international prominence as Donna Anna in Peter Sellars' production of Don Giovanni, which she performed in New York, Paris, and Vienna. Whether in opera or in concert, the luminous beauty of her voice, her charismatic stage presence, and her impeccable musicianship are unmistakable. She is sought after by such conductors as Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink, Christopher Hogwood, Kurt Masur, Nicholas McGegan, John Nelson, Sir Roger Norrington, Seiji Ozawa, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Tilson Thomas, Franz Welser-Möst and David Zinman, and has sung with most of the major USA orchestras including Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, Minnesota, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, among many others.

Concert highlights for Dominique Labelle include Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2, Francis Poulenc's Stabat Mater, Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortileges, and Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and Symphony No. 9, both with the late Robert Shaw. She particularly enjoyed performances of the Symphony No. 9 with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic on tour in Asia.

Certainly one of today's finest interpreters of Georg Frideric Handel, Dominique Labelle is closely associated with his recently discovered Gloria. She presented the modern-day premiere of the Gloria at the International Händel Festival Göttingen, with Nicholas McGegan conducting the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and has since performed it with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Wiener Akademie (In Vienna's Musikverein), among others. She is much in demand for performances of the works of J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel, and Mozart, with modern- and period-instrument orchestras alike.

Dominique Labelle's most recent opera roles include the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor (Seattle and Boston), Violetta in La Traviata (Boston), and the title role in G.F. Handel's Rodelinda (Göttingen). She reprised Donna Anna in an abridged film version of the work, starring Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Also available on home video is the PBS telecast of the Sellars production of Don Giovanni, which was broadcast internationally.

Outside North America, Dominique Labelle's engagements have included the International Händel Festival Göttingen, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the BBC Proms, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the English Concert, the Gabrieli Consort, the Bach Collegium of Japan and the Melbourne Symphony.

A committed recitalist, Dominique Labelle has touched audiences with her profound and sensitive interpretations of music and text. Her appearances have included solo recitals at New York's Weill Hall, Lincoln Center, the 92nd St. Y, The Vocal Arts Society in Washington, D.C., and appearances in Boston, Montreal, Moscow, Quebec and London, among others.

Dominique Labelle's many recordings, with repertoire from the 17th to the 21st centuries, appear on Virgin Veritas, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, RCA Victor Red Seal, Koss, Denon, New World, and Musica Omnia labels. Her recording of G.F. Handel's Arminio won the 2002 Händel Prize.

Dominique Labelle lives in central Massachusetts with her husband and two children. She is represented by Schwalbe and Partners.