Sharon Azrieli
Biography
A Montrealer, soprano Sharon Azrieli has enjoyed international success at world-famous venues, including Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Opéra Bastille de Paris. In 2019, she was awarded the National Order of Quebec (Chevalière du Québec) for her achievements as a performer.
2024 began with a very exciting collaboration for Sharon. She translated nine of Frank Wildhorn’s songs into French and they recorded them in Honolulu. Their second album will be orchestrated by Jason Howland of Broadway fame and should be released within the year. In March, 2024 Sharon makes a long-awaited return to New York City, at Alice Tully Hall, with the Orchestra of St Luke’s under the direction of Steven Mercurio; where she will sing “Out of the Depths” by A. Harlap. Then, she is slated to perform the Narrator in a new work by Quebecois composer Simon Leclerc with Voces Boreales in Montreal on April 13, 2024. In May 2024, Sharon will receive an Honorary Doctorate from Tel Aviv University, and she will also teach a class on Jewish Music. In June she will give a recital of Jewish music at the historic Allenberg Synagogue in Amsterdam. In October 2024 Sharon will make her debut with L’Opera de Montreal, in the role of Bertha, in Rossini’s Barber of Seville. Also in October 2024, Sharon will host the 10th annual Azrieli Music Prizes at the Maison Symphonique before going to Israel where she will launch her newest creation of a three-day concert event across Israel commemorating the lives lost in the October 7th war.
In 2023 Sharon acted in her first comedic movie, Wingman directed by Harland Williams and starting Russell Peters. In 2023 Sharon played the role of Helen in the movie Irena’s Vow, directed by Quebecoise Louise Archambault, which made it to TIFF in September of 2023. In December she sang in the Celine Dion concert with L’Orchestre Symphonique de Longueuil at Maison Symphonique conducted by Alexandre DaCosta. She then performed the role of God in a reading of Heaven Knows, an Off-Broadway musical in New York City. Sharon is signed with the prestigious DGRW talent agency in New York City to pursue her love for Broadway and theatre. In July, Sharon sang in Cluj, Romania, and taught masterclasses there. In 2023 Sharon released the following CDs: Three Concerts with Boris Brott, Go to Sleep My Babies (a Lullabies album), and I Am Easily Assimilated (a jazz album with Matt Herskowitz). Sharon also released Out of the Depths I Have Cried unto Thee Conducted by Nicolas Ellis with L’Orchestre Métropolitain on New Jewish Music Volume 4, on the Analekta label.
In March 2022, Sharon sang across North America with Tamir Hendelman and a jazz quintet during the debut tour of her album Secret Places, a homage to Michel Legrand, released on the LML Label. They played at renowned venues such as Hermann’s, Frankie’s, Yard Bird Suite, The Royal Room, Piedmont Piano Company, and the Catalina Jazz Club, among others. 2022 marked Sharon's screen debut, with her portrayal of Dinah in the Yiddish film SHTTL, shot in Ukraine and subsequently released to theatres in France. April saw Sharon grace the stage of 54 Below in NYC with Steven Brinberg for his show Barbra at 80. By July, Sharon was in Syros, Greece, where she performed and taught masterclasses. In August, she performed with Alexandre de Costa and L’Orchestre Symphonique de Longueuil, touring five cities in South America. October was the world premiere of Out of the Depths at Maison Symphonique, under the baton of Alexandre Bloch, accompanied by L’Orchestre Métropolitain. In May, Sharon sang with the Hebrew University Orchestra, conducted by Anita Kamien.
In January 2021, Sharon performed in the concert S’unir dans la Mémoire with Wonny Song in a virtual remembrance concert for the 76th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, presented by Orford Musique. In 2020 Frankly, Sharon was released, showcasing Broadway melodies by Tony award-winning composer Frank Wildhorn. Sharon translated nine of Wildhorn’s songs into French, Italian and Hebrew. Also, in 2020 she performed an arrangement of Québécois composer Pierre Mercure's Dissidence for the Medici televised version of the Azrieli music Prizes during covid, with Le Nouvelle Ensemble under the direction of Lorraine Vaillancourt.
2019 was a banner year for Sharon when she released three albums under the Time-Life label. The first was Rare French Arias of the 19th Century with Steven Mercurio accompanied by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. The second was The Gift of Joy, which is a multilingual holiday album orchestrated by Jonathan Monro. The third album released was Sharon Azrieli Sings Broadway which is a musical theatre album arranged by the great Broadway musical Director, Marvin Laird. In 2019 Sharon’s voice was featured in the end credits song of the film Stand (rel. 2019) directed by Robert Adetuyi, as well as in two featured songs in Lynn Roth's The Story of a Jewish Dog (rel. 2019) and Thom Fitzgerald's Stage Mother, starring Lucy Liu (rel. 2020).
In 2018 Sharon collaborated on the Tony award-winning production of Yiddish Fiddler on the Roof for the cast album in which she sings three songs. She sang Canadian composer Srul Irving Glick's Seven Tableaux from the Song of Songs with Conductor Boris Brott at Maison Symphonique, with Orchestre Classique de Montréal. In August she sang Liu in Turandot in Siracusa, Sicily with the late Marcello Giordani and the Orchestra di Bellini.
In August 2017 Sharon starred as Nedda in Pagliacci with the Bellini Orchestra of Italy conducted by Antonio Manuli in Catania, Sicily. Also, in November of 2017, Sharon performed Russian arias for a Gala Concert at the Helikon Moscow Opera, conducted by Valery Kyrianov.
In November 2016 Sharon performed a Concert with the Orchestre de Chambre de McGill (OCM) conducted by Roï Azulay. Sharon Released, Song of Songs by French Composer, Lukas Foss, on the album New Jewish Music Vol.2. On the Analekta label. All of Sharon's albums can be heard on all popular streaming platforms.
In March 2015 Sharon gave a solo performance in Kaddish by Leonard Bernstein, with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra conducted by Steven Mercurio, in tribute to her late father David Azrieli. In June, she gave two performances with the McGill Chamber Orchestra conducted by Boris Brott. For Broadway records, Sharon sang the bonus track When the music played for the Broadway cast recording of Doctor Zhivago. In July Sharon performed Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, with the Teatro Massimo Bellini of Catania orchestra conducted by Antonio Manuli in Augusta, Italy.
Over her long international career as an opera singer, Sharon has performed, among others, the roles of Aida, La Gioconda, Mimi and Musetta in La Bohème, Suzanna and Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Adriana Lecouvreur, Leonora in Il Trovatore and La Forza del Destino, Juliette in Romeo and Juliette and Liu in Turandot. She has sung great oratorios including Verdi’s and Mozart’s Requiems, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Bernstein’s Songfest, and Kaddish with great orchestras such as; the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Orchestre Métropolitain and the New England Symphonic Ensemble.
Sharon created the Azrieli Music Prizes for the Azrieli Foundation in 2014 and is devoted to arts education and philanthropy. She is a director on the board of the Azrieli Group and the Azrieli Foundation and is chair of the Azrieli Music Art and Culture Center (AMACC). She sits on the Boards of the following foundations: The National Arts Centre of Canada, the McCord Museum, and the Sharon Azrieli Foundation for the Arts. Aside from Sharon's operatic, Broadway, orchestral and philanthropic roles, she has enjoyed a career as a Cantor. Sharon began her first job as a Cantor for Temple Adas Israel in Sag Harbor in 1998 and from 2001 to 2003 as the full-time Cantor at Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom in Westmount, Montreal.
AWARD
Prix Virtuoso, La Petite Maison Des Arts, 2015
WINNER
Jarmila Novotna Competition NY, 2000
Jarmila Novotna Competition RTIVC, 1995
Metropolitan Opera Auditions, 1993
Boca Raton Music Guild Competition, 1990
Canadian Women’s Club Competition, 1990
FINALIST
Luciano Pavarotti Competition, 1991 – 1992
American Opera Auditions, 1990
GRANTS
Metropolitan Opera National Council, 1991 & 1992
Francisco Viñas Competition, Spain 1990
"Having heard her in Mozart last September, I found that the shift into romantic high gear becomes Azrieli. Her engagingly clear and vibrant voice matched the sentiments -and sentimentality- of the Tchaikovsky songs. Azrieli sang in Russian and rendered the songs with a vocal exuberance"
Ilse Zadrozny — The Montreal Gazette
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