Gerda Findeisen

• Role of Mother (Opera Trois-Rivière, Canada)
• Donna Elvira (OperAmore, Montreal, Canada)
• Recital work Montreal, Westmount, Val d’Or, etc.
• Tournées with Octuor de France in Italy & France
• Carpe Diem, Holde Kunst, Rosen (chamber operas) (OperMobile, Zürich, Switzerland)
• Festival Lanaudière, Baroque Festival New Jersey, Festival Zempleni
• Tournées Jeunesses Musicales du Canada

Helveto-Canadian soprano Gerda Findeisen is known for her radiant vocal timbre paired with a richly expressive musicality.  On the opera stage, some of her roles include Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni/ Mozart) Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos/ Strauss), Ophélie (Hamlet/ Ambroise Thomas), Olympia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann/ Offenbach) and Zempoella (Indian Queen / Purcell). Gerda Findeisen has had the privilege to collaborate with numerous renowned conductors, including Peter Dala, Kent Nagano, Wayne Ridell, Nicolau de Figueiredo, and Fritz Näf. She has been a soloist with the Orchestra del Teatro Communale di Bologna, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Octuor de France and has performed at prestigious festivals, including the Lanaudière Festival, the Zempleni Festival in Hungary, and the New Jersey Baroque Festival (USA).

On the concert-stage Gerda Findeisen is an avid explorer of newer repertoire and could be heard in Offenes Lied by John Rea, with Trio Résonances in D. Argento’s To be Sung upon the Water, Thibaudeau’s Cantate pour un fleuve (creation) and in the opera Fata Morgana, written in the fascinating semi-improvised sound painting-style. Mrs. Findeisen has been the featured soloist in several silent film-productions (The Phantom of the Opera, 1925, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, 1923), en tournée in France, Italy, Switzerland and Canada. Gerda Findeisen has been soloist in J. Haydn’s Nelson Mass with the Kantorei Binningen, G.F. Händel’s Messiah and Antonio Vivaldi’s Dixit Dominus at St. Andrew & St. Paul in Montreal, in J.S. Bach’s H-Moll-Messe, as well as Pietro Mascagni’s Regina Coeli and Saint-Saëns and J.S. Bach’s Christmas-Oratorios.

Gerda Findeisen has collaborated with pianist Katarina Mikhaylova and given recitals at the Conservatory Val d’Or and the Westmount Arts Festival (Qc) and the Westmount Arts Festival. Other engagements include the role of the Mother/Gertrud in Humperdinck’s Händel und Gretel for Opéra Trois-Rivières, as well as several Gala-programs with excerpts from Puccini’s Bohème (Musetta), Verdi’s Traviata (Violetta) and Gilda (Rigoletto) at the Centro Leonardo da Vinci in Montreal. Upcoming is a recital of French sacred music with organ in Zürich (Switzerland), as well as a new chamber opera for OperaMobile.

Gerda Findeisen is a graduate of the Musikhochschule Zürich and the University of Montreal and received further training at the Orford Arts Centre, Opera Nuova, Nouvel Opéra and Oberlin. Her teachers and mentors include Stefano Algieri, Dana Nigrim, Louise-Andrée Baril, Adrienne Savoie, Jeanette Aster, Jane Thorner-Mengedoht, Nico Castel, Janet Perry and Arlene Shrut.

Recipient of maximum grant and scholarships by the Canada Conseil of the Arts and the Gadbois-scholarship by University of Montreal, she won the WOW-contest in New York as well as the Crescendo International Arts Festival-Competition (Hungary). She was also a semi-finalist in the Classical Singer- and Centre for Contemporary Opera-competitions in New York. \\