Our first featured performer is Éric Charbonneau, the conductor for Kurt Weill’s Street Scene. He made his debut with us last year as the music director for the Opera Scenes program as well as the Musical Theatre night.

Éric is from St-Félicien, Lac-St-Jean, Qc and has had a passion for Musical Theatre since high school. His excitement for opera is more recent. It all started in his undergraduate studies when he got to assist famous Quebec stage director Normand Chouinard at the University of Sherbrooke for their production of Massenet’s Cinderella. Since then, Éric completed a masters of music in collaborative piano and discovered so much about the world of singers!

Éric is now a Vocal Coach at Western University, London, On and is frequently music director musical theatre and opera productions.

Éric started studying piano at the age of 5.

In opera land, Eric dreams of working again on Verdi’s La Traviata. In the world of musical theatre his life won’t be complete until he directs a production of RENT!

If Eric was a singer he would love to perform his favourite aria – Saint-Saëns’ Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix from Samson et Dalila.

Eric has a lot of admiration for wonderful musicians he worked and studied with such as Dr. John Hess & Maestra Judith Yan!

Eric strongly believes in making opera more accessible and more intimate. He is currently music directing a very exciting production of Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment in a small theatre with limited seating (72 seats). His colleague Mireille Camier (stage director from Montreal) is transforming this operetta into a shorter interactive contemporary version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPm3IV1NSaA

Street Scene is the perfect opera at the crossroads between Musical Theatre and Opera! What an exciting project to work on! Eric also is looking forward to work with young kids!

Are you a participant this year? Why not submit your own answers to our questionnaire!