{"id":8077,"date":"2012-11-30T08:15:28","date_gmt":"2012-11-30T13:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=8077"},"modified":"2012-11-30T08:15:28","modified_gmt":"2012-11-30T13:15:28","slug":"soprano-simone-osborne-wins-jeunesses-musicales-first-maureen-forrester-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2012\/11\/30\/soprano-simone-osborne-wins-jeunesses-musicales-first-maureen-forrester-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Soprano Simone Osborne wins Jeunesses Musicales first Maureen Forrester Award"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Connor Beaton photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Former Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio member, soprano Simone Orborne<\/a>, is the first winner of Jeunesses Musicales Canada’s new Maureen Forrester Award.<\/p>\n

Torontonians might remember Osborne most vividly from an endearing turn as Lauretta in the Canadian Opera Company’s double-bill production of Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi<\/em> last spring.<\/p>\n

The main component of the award is two seasons’ worth of recitals across Canada — more than 40 in total. The 25-year-old singer will perform with pianist Anne Larlee.<\/p>\n

The Forrester award also includes a commission for a new vocal work set on Canadian verse from the Toronto-based Canadian Art Song Project<\/a>. This goes to Toronto composer Brian Current<\/a>, who heads the New Music Ensemble at the Royal Conservtory of Music’s Glenn Gould Professional School.<\/p>\n

Jeunesses Musicales tours are the only source of professional-quality art music in many small towns across the country. The artists who participate in these tours also get to perform in larger centres.<\/p>\n

Maureen Forrester enthusiastically performed several cross-country tours, championed Canadian composers and was president of Jeunesses Musicales Canada<\/a> in the early 1970s.<\/p>\n

“It is in the spirit of this remarkable artist that Jeunesses Musicales Canada created this prize, a triennial tour, which will highlight an exceptional Canadian vocal artist ready to embark upon an international career, as well as promote the talent of a collaborative pianist, composer, and poet,” stated the organization in its press release.<\/p>\n

Here is Osborne in full flight with accompanist Leslie Dala for the students at Vancouver’s Saint James Music Academy last year:<\/p>\n