Early Music Vancouver names soprano Suzie LeBlanc as its executive and artistic director
The singer becomes the first woman to run the 50-year-old organization
Suzie LeBlanc has sung in many EMV concerts over the years.
CELEBRATED Canadian soprano Suzie LeBlanc is set to step into a new role: helming Early Music Vancouver.
LeBlanc, chosen by the EMV board after an international search, is the first female to run the group since its founding in 1970. She takes over the position, last held by Matthew White, on January 4, 2021.
LeBlanc is well known from EMV concerts over the years, specializing in performing 17th- and 18th-century repertoire.
"I am tremendously excited to be joining an organization I have long admired—and with whom I have a deeply personal connection—having first performed with EMV in 1984. As I lead EMV in its next chapter, I approach this opportunity with great enthusiasm and a profound sense of responsibility,” LeBlanc said in the press announcement today. “We are in an unprecedented time fraught with challenges, but also with great opportunity. I look forward to building on the strong foundations of EMV and its excellent reputation to create meaningful and inspiring experiences for performers and audiences alike. Throughout my career, it has been important to me to uncover the work of women composers and amplify undervalued voices in historical music.”
LeBlanc’s first professional performance was for Early Music Vancouver in 1984, joining the Montreal-based Musica Secreta ensemble. She has performed on main stages around the world, from the Het Concertgebouw to the Vienna Konzerthaus and the Proms. She’s taken the stage with both major Canadian and U.S. symphonies, and has put her voice to 70 professional recordings, including the GRAMMY-Award-winning Thésée. In 2005, she founded the Montreal-based company Le Nouvel Opéra—alongside Alexander Weimann, also artistic director of Pacific Baroque Orchestra, who will become her collaborator again as LeBlanc leads EMV.
LeBlanc succeeds White, who took the role in 2013 after the retirement of long-time artistic director José Verstappen. White is now CEO at Victoria Symphony.
For this pandemic 2020-21 season, Early Music Vancouver has been hosting pre-recorded concerts online, broadcast via its Digital Concert Hall.
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