{"id":125471,"date":"2026-06-26T15:56:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T19:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=125471"},"modified":"2026-06-26T15:56:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T19:56:19","slug":"interview-opera-musical-theatre-cabaret-yanik-gosselin-fringe-show-brava-cabaret-devotions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2026\/06\/26\/interview-opera-musical-theatre-cabaret-yanik-gosselin-fringe-show-brava-cabaret-devotions\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | From Opera To Musical Theatre Cabaret \u2014 Yanik Gosselin On His Fringe Show Brava: A Cabaret Of Devotions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Yanik
Yanik Gosselin in Brava: A Cabaret Of Devotions (Stylist: Aemilia Moser; Photo: Matt Hertendy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brava: A Cabaret Of Devotions is a new show by vocalist Yanik Gosselin. He\u2019s known to Toronto audiences and beyond as an operatic tenor, and the show marks his Toronto Fringe Festival debut.<\/p>\n

Gosselin has a wide ranging repertoire that includes everything from early Baroque opera to the premieres of contemporary works, pop, rock music, art song, and chamber music. He\u2019s a storyteller and a dedicated musician.<\/p>\n

LV caught up with Yanik to talk about his career, and the show.<\/p>\n

Yanik Gosselin<\/h2>\n

Yanik Gosselin grew up in the Lake Temiskaming area in northeastern Ontario. He\u2019s currently based in Toronto.<\/p>\n

Yanik earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Ottawa, followed by a Master of Music from McGill University. While he was still in high school, and as an undergrad student, he sang with and conducted the Ch\u0153ur du Moulin choir in Rockland, Ontario, and returned to perform with them as a guest soloist this past season.<\/p>\n

Other highlights of 2025\/26 include performing Blondel in Gr\u00e9try\u2019s Richard C\u0153ur-de-lion with Opera in Concert, singing in Haydn\u2019s The Creation with the Avanti Singers, and in the role of Edoardo Milfort in Rossini\u2019s La cambiale di matrimonio with the Glenn Gould School.<\/p>\n

Highlights from previous seasons include performances with Grande Prairie Opera, Opera in Concert, Toronto Operetta Theatre, and Opera McGill, and his first performance as the Evangelist in excerpts from Bach\u2019s St. Matthew Passion at the Banff Centre. While in Banff, he also participated in workshops of new music by composer Karim Al-Zand.<\/p>\n

As a tenor soloist, his repertoire includes Mozart\u2019s Requiem, Honegger\u2019s Le Roi David, and Rossini\u2019s Petite messe solennelle. Gosselin has curated and performed several solo recitals, including I give him songs\u2026, which explores themes of love, loss and legacy, and features Wind and Wood, a new song cycle composed for him by John Gordon Armstrong to poetry by Seymour Mayne.<\/p>\n

Yanik also works as a project coordinator for non-profit arts organizations. One of his passions is community engagement through the arts. Since 2025, Yanik sits on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Art Song Project.<\/p>\n

\"Yanik
Yanik Gosselin in Brava: A Cabaret Of Devotions (Stylist: Aemilia Moser; Photo: Matt Hertendy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yanik Gosselin: The Interview<\/h2>\n

Yanik was sure of his musical passion from childhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was always,\u201d he says, \u201cdefinitely I always considered myself a singer, from an early age. From as far as I can remember, I was a singer, or the little singer, as my aunts used to call me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turning singing into a career was an idea that naturally came later.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it was first what I wanted to do, or I didn\u2019t necessarily see it as a career,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Gosselin always had an artistic bent, and was drawn in particular to storytelling along with song. Those twin passions have fuelled his career.<\/p>\n

\u201c[When it comes to] my background, definitely, I loved musical theatre, and I\u2019ve done musical theatre in high school,\u201d he says. \u201cI did rock bands in high school.\u201d When it came to music, his early efforts were on into the world of pop.<\/p>\n

Opera came along later, in university.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw Schubert\u2019s Winterrieise as just as much a concept album as Pink Floyd\u2019s The Wall would be to me,\u201d he says. \u201cBut, I was told I had to pick either one or the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that many teachers try to streamline their vocal students into one genre or another, rather than encouraging learning multiple skills and techniques. After finishing school, however, he worked with mentors who told similar stories of having a love for different kinds of music.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t necessarily something that they had at a young age,\u201d he recalls hearing. \u201cMaybe it wasn\u2019t so dangerous to do a bit of both.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recently, he asked a mentor about how to approach a specific song \u201cHe just pulled up a YouTube of Tom Jones. I though, yes, good singing is good singing,\u201d Yanik says. \u201cMaybe I\u2019ll explore repertoire outside what I thought was limited to \u2014 outside what I thought I had to stick to.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it came to putting together material for his Fringe show, he was looking for songs with a very personal connection. That includes songs by iconic artists like Liza Minnelli, Bette Midler, and C\u00e9line Dion, alongside the music that was introduced to him as a child by two beloved aunts, including the soundtrack to the movie Grease.<\/p>\n

\u201cI chose songs that have spoken to me from a young age,\u201d Gosselin explains. \u201cSongs that I thought I could interpret in a unique and personal way.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Next?<\/h3>\n

Yanik is combining both his operatic and musical theatre streams into his career goals for the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho knows what will come next?\u201d he muses. \u201cI realized that as long as I\u2019m singing and telling stories, the genre doesn\u2019t matter any more,\u201d he adds. \u201cI understand that every genre or style requires just that, a different style.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s just coming off his debut in the role of Tonio in La Fille du r\u00e9giment with Grande Prairie Opera.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t be singing Tonio\u2019s aria as Tom Jones,\u201d he laughs. \u201cBut it still comes from a very similar place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working in multiple styles of singing does present its challenges. \u201cIt\u2019s such a challenging thing,\u201d he notes. That includes both from a performance and teaching perspective. \u201cTo discover those different styles, one must make those strange noises,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be uncomfortable at first, but if you\u2019re well guided, and you\u2019re pushed away from harm, and you\u2019re in a space with a teacher where you can say, this hurts, and this feels uncomfortable, [it can work],\u201d Yanik says. \u201cYou need to be well guided.\u201d<\/p>\n

Switching requires the right mentors. Still, it\u2019s not that it\u2019s unheard of.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s not unique. Therevare some great people out there who are doing it successfully, who are jumping from one genre [to another].\u201d<\/p>\n

As he points out, with the arts sector nowadays, it\u2019s always advantageous to add to your skillset. It opens more doors. \u201cIt\u2019s better to be a more rounded singer,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

In the end, he\u2019s less concerned with labels.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I found it more exciting to ask myself, not so much what do I want to sing, but why do I want to sing?\u201d Gosselin states. \u201cTo be a storytelling singer, is way more compelling to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stories and music together can reach an audience more deeply.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the exciting thing about live performance, is that there\u2019s an audience. That\u2019s really the part that\u2019s outside of our control as creators,\u201d he points out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we get to share something that resonates with them, then we get something in return.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Vocalist
Vocalist Yanik Gosselin (Photo: Matt Hertendy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brava: A Cabaret Of Devotions<\/h3>\n

\u201cHow I\u2019ve structured it is very much a scene per diva,\u201d he says. He\u2019ll talk about what lessons he\u2019s taken from each singer or diva, wrapping up the story with an iconic song from each artist\u2019s well known repertoire. The stories are as important as the songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives meaning to why I\u2019m singing these songs,\u201d he explains. \u201cThey\u2019re all very personal and fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those great women of the stage have influenced him in various stages of his artistic life. He\u2019s including the vital and early influence of his two aunts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were very early enthusiastic audiences for me on stage while they were here with us, and I stitll carry them with me every time I sing,\u201d he says. \u201cThey introduced me to Grease when I was very young. It was one of my first obsessions as a theatre kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

He cites the great music and dance sequences, and the great performances in the original film.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery element about it was exciting to me,\u201d he says. His aunts turned him on to the film when he was only seven, and he didn\u2019t quite get the plot. \u201cBut I was amazed by the dancing and singing,\u201d he laughs. He admits that some of the PG sequences were probably beyond his comprehension.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were those kinds of aunts,\u201d he says, \u201cthe cool older relatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s hoping his very intimate take on the songs will connect with the Fringe audiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all personal stories, which makes it exciting, and also a little bit scary for a Fringe debut,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that people leave heart warmed. I hope that people leave remembering similar stories in their own lives,\u201d he says. Perhaps it will connect with their own memories of key figures from their early lives. \u201cAnd remember these people that shaped them.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says his initial inspiration for the show was Peter Allen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI open with Quiet Please, There\u2019s A Lady On Stage,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019re singing from the audience point of view,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cStay quiet, and listen to what she\u2019s doing, you might learn something or get something out of it. It\u2019s me being both audience and performer, channeling what they taught me,\u201d Gosselin says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope audiences leave feeling like they had a good time,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, and most likely, they will have one or two songs stuck in their heads for a long time \u2014 maybe even sing along. I very much focus this show on the women in my life but it can be anyone who has had an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a mentor told him, when you\u2019re sharing stories on stage, the audience is remembering their own similar stories. Using such famous icons also has a very individual effect on the audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe names resonate in very different ways,\u201d he says. \u201cWe all have our own version of them. These divas become cultural landmarks.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can get a taste of Yanik\u2019s work here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Show Details<\/h2>\n

Brava: A Cabaret Of Devotions, by and starring Yanik Gosselin is presented by My Fair Divas, Gosselin\u2019s own produciton company. Music direction and piano are by Benjamin Kersey, a two-time Dora Mavor Moore Award nominee, and lighting design is by Mabel Wonnacott.<\/p>\n

It takes the stage at Soulpepper Theatre\u2019s Kevin & Roger Garland Theatre from July 2 to 12, 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n