Olivier Bergeron
Born in Montreal, French-Canadian baritone Olivier Bergeron made his stage debut at Opéra de Montréal at the age of 16, singing the role of the Younger Brother in Dead Man Walking. A graduate of the Verbier Festival’s Atelier Lyrique, he enjoys a budding career both in Europe and North America. Praised for his “impeccable diction”, his “supple and round voice” as well as his “convincing acting” (Opera Canada), he is equally at home performing opera, recitals and concert work.
Following his studies at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and at the École normale de musique de Paris, he made his European debut in 2017 with Les Talens Lyriques in the title role of La morte d'Orfeo (Landi) at the Abbaye de Royaumont conducted by Christophe Rousset, with whom he also performed Dido and Aeneas at the Festival de musique de Menton. Since then, he has appeared at Opéra Grand Avignon, Opéra de Reims and the Philharmonie de Paris. During his time as a member of Opera Fuoco's young artist program, he performed the roles of Riff (Bernstein's West Side Story), Il Poeta (Salieri's Prima la musica e poi le parole) and Andrea Coclé (Korngold's Die stumme Serenade).
Dedicated to the art song repertoire, he has appeared in recital at Wigmore Hall, the Petit Palais and Salle Cortot in Paris, at the Lachine Music Festival, with the Société d'art vocal de Montréal and at the Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur in Montreal. While a member of the Verbier Festival Academy, he was invited to perform Poulenc's Le bal masqué in the UNLTD series with the Ensemble Appassionato. He has recently recorded his first album on the Passavant Music label and is currently taking part in the recording of a new complete collection of Reynaldo Hahn's songs with Raquel Camarinha, Michèle Losier, Cyrille Dubois, Olivier Godin and Michael McMahon.
Recent projects include a residency at the Musée d'art de Joliette, where he performed Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin with Carl Philippe Gionet, the Fauré Requiem with the McGill Choral Society, performances at the Oxford Song Festival as well as the Lanaudière Festival with pianist Chloé Dumoulin, a joint recital with Laurence Kilsby at the Festival de musique de Lachine alongside Olivier Godin and Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda at the Abbaye de Royaumont, conducted by Fabio Biondi.
Future engagements include his mainstage début at Opéra de Québec, a reprise of Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda with Fabio Biondi, recitals at Wigmore Hall, Salle Cortot, Salle Bourgie and with Michael McMahon at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal and with the Société d’art vocal de Montréal. He will soon be taking part in a tour of Eastern Canada with Jeunesses Musicales Canada’s production of Je chante la nuit/La Voix humaine.
September 2024
Not to be altered or copied without permission.
““This pastiche operetta, alternating spoken texts and judiciously chosen arias, was brilliantly played by the young Montréal lyric baritone Olivier Bergeron, who has distinguished himself in Europe in recent years and who has participated in a recording of the complete mélodies of Reynaldo Hahn. His diction is impeccable, his voice supple and round, and his acting was convincing and full of freshness.””
