Measha Brueggergosman

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Measha Brueggergosman
Measha Brueggergosman at 2014 CFC Annual BBQ
Measha Brueggergosman at 2014 CFC Annual BBQ
Born
Measha Gosman

(1977-06-28) June 28, 1977 (age 46)
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
NationalityCanadian
Occupation(s)Singer, stage actress
Spouses
Markus Bruegger
​
​
(m. 1999; div. 2018)​
Stephen Lee
​
(m. 2021)​
Children2
Websitewww.measha.com

Measha Brueggergosman–Lee[1][2] (née Gosman; June 28, 1977) is a Canadian soprano who performs both as an opera singer and concert artist. She has performed internationally and won numerous awards. Her recordings of both classical and popular music have also received awards.

Background

Measha Brueggergosman performing September 2009

She was born Measha Gosman in

Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf, Germany.[3]

In 2007, Brueggergosman discovered her family's deep history in Canada and the United States. Her paternal 4x great-grandparents were John Gosman and his wife Rose,

colonies during the American Revolution by going to British lines.[4] John was from Connecticut and Rose from Rhode Island.[4] They probably met in New York City
, then occupied by the British. The British gave freedom to American slaves who left rebel slaveholders and sought refuge with them. Tens of thousands of slaves, mostly in the South, took advantage of the war's chaos to escape.

After the war, the British arranged transport to

Bassa people of Cameroon.[4]

Career

At age 20, Brueggergosman played the lead in the premiere of the opera Beatrice Chancy by James Rolfe and George Elliott Clarke. Produced in Toronto in 1998, and in Nova Scotia the following year, the opera tells the story of a slave girl in 19th–century rural Nova Scotia who murders her abusive father, the man who is also her master. The opera and Brueggergosman were well received by critics and audiences. In 2000 it was filmed for the CBC.[3]

Brueggergosman has appeared throughout Canada, where she has performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Geoffrey Moull, National Arts Centre Orchestra under the direction of Pinchas Zukerman, and at Roy Thomson Hall.[3]

She has performed internationally, as well, in the United States, Germany and other nations. She was in Elektra, Dead Man Walking, and Turandot with the Cincinnati Opera. She has also performed the Verdi Requiem with Sir Andrew Davis and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, as well as with Helmuth Rilling at the International Beethoven Festival in Bonn.

In 2005, Brueggergosman was a soloist in recording

Grammy awards, including Best Classical Album.[3]

In July 2007 she was a new performer at the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo, singing in the 'Phantom of the Opera' medley and closing the show with "Ave Maria".

She has also performed in the United States, for instance in the fall of 2009 with the

Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, in their performance of Michael Tippett's oratorio A Child of Our Time
.

She performed role of Jenny in Weill/Brecht Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny in 2010 in Madrid's Teatro Real.

She performed the

Today, as the two hosted it about Brueggergosman's performance of the Olympic Hymn: "That's a hymn for you, right there," and laughed.[5]
She performed an arrangement of the English sung version of the hymn in English and French to reflect Canada's official languages.

In 2012 Brueggergosman was a judge on the Canadian reality show Canada's Got Talent. The show was subsequently cancelled after one season but was revived in 2022.

She has also had acting roles in the Murdoch Mysteries episode "Murdoch at the Opera", and in the films Brown Girl Begins and The Young Arsonists.

In 2021 she created the symphonic short film Forgotten Coast, an exploration of Black Canadian history in Nova Scotia, for the

CBC Gem series Undisrupted.[6]

Charitable activities

Brueggergosman is a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.[7]

In 2007, Brueggergosman became the Goodwill Ambassador for the

African Medical & Research Foundation (AMREF), a charity working for Better Health in Africa.[8] In June of that year she travelled to the war-affected village of Patongo in East Africa to share her voice as a form of musical therapy for children. Brueggergosman described herself after the trip as "never the same" and continues her work with AMREF today.[9]

Personal life

She married Markus Brügger, born in

exchange student in New Brunswick. When they married, they combined their last names to Brüggergosman (also spelled Brueggergosman).[3] They have two sons.[11] They divorced in 2018.[12] In 2021 she married jazz guitarist Steve Lee.[13]

Suffering a heart condition in June 2009, Brueggergosman took some time off to recover from

open heart surgery. She returned to the stage in September 2009 for a performance at the Toronto International Film Festival
.

On June 20, 2019, Brueggergosman underwent another successful open heart surgery (double bypass) in Calgary.[14]

Awards and recognition

She was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2009

Jeunesses Musicales Montreal International Musical Competition and won First Prize at the International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch in 2002. Brueggergosman has been a prizewinner at other competitions, including the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition in London, the George London Foundation in New Deli, the Queen Sonja International Music Competition in Oslo, and the ARD International Music Competition
in Munich.

The recipient of the prestigious Canada Council and Chalmers Performing Arts grants, Brueggergosman has been twice nominated for Juno Awards. She won the 2008 Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral Performance for Surprise, recorded with Deutsche Grammophon, with whom she has an exclusive contract.

In 2015, she appeared in the documentary television series

African-American spiritual music.[3]

Brueggergosman has also appeared as a "judge" on MuchMusic's Video on Trial and on Slice TV's Project Runway Canada.[15]

In 2017, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Concordia University.[16]

Discography

Year Title Works/Composers Additional Artists Record label
Catalogue number
2004 So Much To Tell Songs by Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, and George Gershwin Manitoba Chamber Orchestra
Roy Goodman, conductor		 CBC Records SMCD 5234
2006 Extase Songs and Arias by Hector Berlioz and Jules Massenet Orchestre Symphonique de Québec
Yoav Talmi, conductor		 CBC Records SMCD 5236
2007 Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 Kelley O'Connor, Frank Lopardo, René Pape
The Cleveland Orchestra; Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus; Robert Porco, director		 Deutsche Grammophon
0289 477 7132 6
2008 Surprise Songs by William Bolcom, Erik Satie, and Arnold Schoenberg William Bolcom, piano
BBC Symphony Orchestra
David Robertson, conductor		 Deutsche Grammophon
0289 477 6589 9
2010 Night and Dreams Lieder by Brahms, Debussy, Duparc, Fauré, Liszt, Montsalvatge, Mozart, Poulenc, Schubert, R. Strauss, Wolf, et al Justus Zeyen, piano Deutsche Grammophon
0289 477 8101 1
2010 Wagner: Wesendonck-Lieder, Preludes & Overtures Richard Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder, WWV 91 The Cleveland Orchestra
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor		 Deutsche Grammophon
0289 477 8773 0
2012 I've Got a Crush on You
#90 CAN[17]		 Duets with Martin Short, David Myles, and Lennie Gallant Covers from the songbooks of Feist, Joni Mitchell, Lennie Gallant, Cole Porter, and the Gershwins Kelp Records KP 072
2014 Christmas Christmas songs Aaron Davis, piano Kelp Records

References

  1. ^ "Love lights the way as Measha Brueggergosman-Lee takes the stage for Opera Atelier's 'All is Love'". Toronto Star. February 16, 2022.
  2. ^ "Measha Brueggergosman-Lee on opera, family and creating equity in the arts". The Globe and Mail. October 7, 2022.
  3. ^
    Encyclopedia of Music in Canada
    . Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d "Measha Brueggergosman". CBC. 2007. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  5. ^ 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony (television). NBC Sports. February 12, 2010.
  6. ^ Marsha Lederman, "National Arts Centre Orchestra’s eclectic new CBC Gem series showcases Canadian talent". The Globe and Mail, September 1, 2021.
  7. ^ "Artists - Artists Against Racism". Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  8. ^ "Speak to an Expert". Amref Health Africa. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  9. ^ "Better Health for Africa". Amref Health Africa. Archived from the original on December 4, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  10. ISBN 978-1-4434-3883-4
    .
  11. ^ "Measha Brueggergosman gives birth to second son". CBC News, April 28, 2015
  12. ^ "Measha Brueggergosman: Born to Sing, Born to Live". Ludwig van Toronto (Interview). Interviewed by Joseph So. March 27, 2019.
  13. ^ "Love lights the way as Measha Brueggergosman-Lee takes the stage for Opera Atelier's 'All Is Love'" (Interview). Interviewed by Robyn Grant-Moran. February 16, 2022.
  14. ^ "Measha Brueggergosman recovering from heart surgery in Calgary hospital".
  15. ^ [1] Archived May 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Adams (June 2017). "Honorary degree citation - Measha Brueggergosman". Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  17. ^ "CANOE -- JAM! Music - SoundScan Charts". Jam.canoe.ca. Archived from the original on December 26, 2004. Retrieved December 19, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

External links

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