Evans sits down with vocal coach, collaborative pianist, conductor, and long-time friend Marie-France Lefebvre to talk about her upbringing in rural Quebec and how she works hands-on with opera stars and students alike as a professor at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Plus, hear what it’s like to be one of the only people who can talk during a live opera performance: the prompter!
Show notes
Conductor Mark Gibson, the current Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), invited Lefebvre to participate in a CCM summer program in Luca, Italy.
Gustav Meier was a Swiss conductor and professor of orchestral conducting at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.
Elisabeth Schwartzkopf was a German-born soprano and is considered one of the top singers of the 20th century. In her performing career, she specialized in German-language art song (lieder) and Viennese operetta; later in life, she became an international renowned voice teacher.
Nana Mouskouri is a popular Greek singer whose extensive discography includes over 200 albums in at least twelve different languages.
English-Italian conductor Annuzio Mantovani led his own orchestra (the Mantovani Orchestra) in the mid-20th century and became famous in the “light music” style.
Mario Bernardi was a Canadian conductor and pianist.
Dale Bartlett was a Canadian pianist, educator, and collaborative pianist.
Vladimir Horowitz was a renowned Russian-born classical pianist who spent most of his life in the U.S.
“Il mio tesoro” is a famous tenor aria from W.A. Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni.
Beverly Sills was one of the most notable sopranos of the 20th century and, after retiring from singing, became the General Manager of the New York City Opera and later the Metropolitan Opera.
Renée Fleming is an actively performing American operatic soprano and the current Creative Consultant at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Franco Zeffirelli was an Italian director and producer of opera, films, and television. Many of his opera productions are still in use today around the world.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin is a Canadian conductor and pianist. Currently, he is the Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Orchestre Métropolitain in Montréal.
Hungarian pianist Franz Liszt set three sonnets by Italian Renaissance poet Petrarch to music in the collection “Tre sonetti di Petrarch” (“Three Petrarch Sonnets”).
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts center based in Brooklyn, New York.
Françoise Frenkel’s memoir A Bookshop in Berlin follows her escape from the rise of fascism in Germany and, later, her evasion from Nazi occupation in war-torn France.
Grey’s Anatomy is an American medical drama television series.
Kanopy is an online film streaming service specializing in classic, independent, and foreign films.
Duolingo is a Google-owned mobile application and website for studying foreign languages.
WhatsApp is a Facebook-owned mobile application for messaging and calling over the Internet.
Lefebvre enjoys eating at restaurant Red Feather Kitchen in Cincinnati.
Nico Castel was a tenor and notable language and diction coach.
Oscar Peterson was a famous Canadian jazz pianist and composer.