ABOUT PASCALE
“At the second of four performances, Pascale Spinney displayed a silken, dark-hued mezzo as Léonor, and acted the role with clarity and poise. Her moving rendition of ‘O mon Fernand,’ the score’s best-known lament, earned deserved cheers from the capacity crowd.” Cameron Kelsall of BroadStreetReview.com
Spinney is a graduate from the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. Following the conclusion of her studies, she appeared as Dido in Dido and Aeneas and as Maddalena in Rigoletto at Central City Opera’s 2021 Summer Festival, made her debut with Tulsa Opera as La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi and performed as a soloist with LyricFest in their recital titled My Letter to the World. While her Canadian contracts were cancelled or postponed in the winter of 2022 due to COVID19 case numbers rising, she was able to cover the roles of Sally and Nelly/Heather in Philadelphia Orchestra’s concert version of Kevin Puts’ The Hours and the role of Sally Bowles in Atlanta Opera’s production of Cabaret. She also sang the alto solo with the York Symphony in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Choral Fantasy and recorded and performed in the music video of Recording Academy / GRAMMY nominated composer Joseph Summer's piece O God, That I were a Man.
In the 2019–20 season, cut short by the measures taken during the COVID19 pandemic, Spinney appeared at the Academy of Vocal Arts as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro and as Léonor in La favorite.
Her 2018–19 season included Mercédès in Carmen at Opéra de Montréal and appearing at the Academy of Vocal Arts as First Lay Sister and Infirmary Sister in Suor Angelica, Turnspit in Rusalka, and Dorabella in Così fan tutte. Concert work this season included the alto soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Kennett Symphony and Beethoven’s Mass in C major with the Guelph Symphony Orchestra.
Other notable engagements from past seasons include Ines in Il trovatore and Flosshilde in Das Rheingold, and covering Der Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Academy of Vocal Arts; Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with the Guelph Symphony Orchestra and alto soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Thunder Bay and Edmonton Symphony Orchestras. She sang Dora in A Little Too Cozy, a collaboration of the Banff Centre, Against the Grain Theatre and the Canadian Opera Company; Stéphano and Gertrude in Roméo et Juliette with the Jeunesses Musicales Canada; and soloist in Duruflé’s Requiem with the Choeur classique de Montréal. Spinney has also performed Hansel in Hansel and Gretel and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro at the Vancouver Opera. She spent two summers as an apprentice with The Santa Fe Opera, where she covered Clairon in Capriccio and Ruggiero in Alcina, where she received the Outstanding Apprentice Award in 2016.
Spinney has received numerous honours throughout her young career. She was a 2015 finalist in the Canadian Opera Company’s Centre Stage and a 2016 finalist for Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center. She won the People’s Choice Award in the Western Canada District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and went on to become a national semi-finalist in 2017. She received a bursary from the Jeunesses Musicales du Canada in 2017 upon her acceptance at the Academy of Vocal Arts. In 2018, she received an Encouragement Award from the Gerda Lissner Foundation.
Hailing from Montreal, QC, she obtained her Baccalaureate and Master’s degrees from the Schulich School of Music of McGill University. Upon graduating in 2013, she joined the roster of the Atelier Lyrique of Opéra de Montréal and made her company debut as Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. As a young artist, she also performed the role of Fatmé with Les Violons du Roy in their production of Zémire et Azor.
In 2022, Spinney initiated the immigration to the US process and is currently awaiting her documents allowing her to work within the US and allowing her to travel for work. In 2023, she will be making her Carmen role debut with the Glacier Symphony Orchestra in Montana.
Updated 08/19/2022