Measha Brueggergosman
Encyclopedia
Measha Brueggergosman 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.
. As a child, Gosman began singing in the choir of her local Baptist church. She studied voice and piano from the age of seven. As a teen, she took voice lessons in her home town, and spent summers on scholarships at the Boston Conservatory
and at a choral camp in Rothesay, New Brunswick
. She studied for one year with New Brunswick soprano
Wendy Nielson, before moving on to studies at the University of Toronto
, where she obtained a B.Mus
. She went to Germany for five years, where she pursued a Master's degree at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf
, Germany
.
She married Markus Brügger, born in Switzerland
. They first met in high school, when he was an exchange student in New Brunswick. When they married, they combined their last names to Brüggergosman (also spelled Brueggergosman).
In 2007, Brueggergosman discovered her family's deep history in Canada and the United States. Her paternal 4xgreat-grandparents were John Gosman and his wife Rose, African American
s who each escaped from slavery
in New England
colonies during the American Revolution
by going to British
lines. John was from Connecticut
and Rose from Rhode Island
. 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, so many that the plantations were disrupted in South Carolina and Virginia, especially.
After the war, the British arranged transport to Nova Scotia
for nearly 3500 Black Loyalists from the former Thirteen Colonies
. John and Rose Gosman and their five-month-old daughter Fanny, born free in British lines, were recorded in the British embarkation record known as the Book of Negroes
. They had passage in 1783 on one of the last ships to leave New York for Nova Scotia. Measha's 4xgreat-grandparents first lived in Shelburne
, but later settled in Fredericton. Brueggergosman learned of her African-American roots on Who Do You Think You Are, a British-based program bought by the CBC
. According to Y-DNA genetic testing of her brother, it is likely their direct-line paternal African ancestors came from the Bassa
people of Cameroon
.
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
.
In 2007, Brueggergosman became the Goodwill Ambassador for the African Medical & Research Foundation
(AMREF), a charity working for Better Health in Africa. 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.
In 2012 Brueggergosman will be a judge on Canadian reality show Canada's Got Talent
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
.
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
.
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 William Bolcom
's Songs of Innocence and Experience
, which won three Grammy award
s, including Best Classical Album
.
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 the Olympic Hymn at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Games
. During NBC
's broadcast of the opening ceremony, Bob Costas
remarked to Matt Lauer
, co-host of Today, as the two hosted it about Brueggergosman's epic performance of the Olympic Hymn: "That's a hymn for you, right there," and laughed. She performed an arrangement of the English sung version of the hymn in English and French to reflect Canada's official languages.
Montreal International Musical Competition
and won First Prize at the International Vocal Competition ´s-Hertogenbosch in 2004. Brueggergosman has been a prizewinner at other competitions, including the Wigmore Hall
International Song Competition in London, the George London
Foundation in New York, 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.
A documentary feature was made about her. Brueggergosman has also appeared as a "judge" on MuchMusic's Video on Trial
and on Slice TV's Project Runway Canada http://www.slice.ca/Shows/ProjectRunwayCanada/Profiles/guestjudge5.aspx
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
who performs both as an opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer and concert artist. She has performed internationally and won numerous awards. Her recordings of both classical and popular music have also received awards.
Biography
She was born Measha Gosman to Anne Eatmon and Sterling Gosman of Fredericton, New BrunswickFredericton, New Brunswick
Fredericton is the capital of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, by virtue of the provincial parliament which sits there. An important cultural, artistic, and educational centre for the province, Fredericton is home to two universities and cultural institutions such as the Beaverbrook Art...
. As a child, Gosman began singing in the choir of her local Baptist church. She studied voice and piano from the age of seven. As a teen, she took voice lessons in her home town, and spent summers on scholarships at the Boston Conservatory
Boston Conservatory
The Boston Conservatory is a performing arts conservatory located in the Fenway-Kenmore region of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in music, dance and musical theater...
and at a choral camp in Rothesay, New Brunswick
Rothesay, New Brunswick
Rothesay is a Canadian town located in Kings County, New Brunswick. It is a bedroom community of Saint John along the Kennebecasis River.Located along the lower Kennebecasis River valley, Rothesay borders the city of Saint John to the southwest, and the neighbouring town of Quispamsis to the...
. She studied for one year with New Brunswick soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
Wendy Nielson, before moving on to studies at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, where she obtained a B.Mus
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree; the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring a...
. She went to Germany for five years, where she pursued a Master's degree at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
She married Markus Brügger, born in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. They first met in high school, when he was an exchange student in New Brunswick. When they married, they combined their last names to Brüggergosman (also spelled Brueggergosman).
In 2007, Brueggergosman discovered her family's deep history in Canada and the United States. Her paternal 4xgreat-grandparents were John Gosman and his wife Rose, African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s who each escaped from slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
colonies during the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
by going to British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
lines. John was from Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
and Rose from Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
. They probably met in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, 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, so many that the plantations were disrupted in South Carolina and Virginia, especially.
After the war, the British arranged transport to Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
for nearly 3500 Black Loyalists from the former Thirteen Colonies
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
. John and Rose Gosman and their five-month-old daughter Fanny, born free in British lines, were recorded in the British embarkation record known as the Book of Negroes
Book of Negroes
The Book of Negroes is an important historical document which records names and descriptions of 3,000 African-American slaves who escaped to the British lines during the American Revolution and were evacuated by the British by ship to points in Nova Scotia as freedmen.-Background:African Americans...
. They had passage in 1783 on one of the last ships to leave New York for Nova Scotia. Measha's 4xgreat-grandparents first lived in Shelburne
Shelburne, Nova Scotia
Shelburne is a town located in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the shire town of Shelburne County.-History:-Settlers:...
, but later settled in Fredericton. Brueggergosman learned of her African-American roots on Who Do You Think You Are, a British-based program bought by the CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
. According to Y-DNA genetic testing of her brother, it is likely their direct-line paternal African ancestors came from the Bassa
Bassa (Cameroon)
The Bassa are an ethnic group in Cameroon. These people, numbering approximately 230,000, are Bantu. Their language is the Basaa language.-History:...
people of Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
.
Suffering a heart condition in June 2009, Brueggergosman took some time off to recover from open heart surgery
Open Heart Surgery
Open Heart Surgery was released on August 8, 2000 by rock band Virginwool. The band signed to Breaking/Atlantic Records after initially beginning signed to Universal Records. The album was produced and mixed by Brad Wood....
. She returned to the stage in September 2009 for a performance at the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
.
In 2007, Brueggergosman became the Goodwill Ambassador for the African Medical & Research Foundation
African Medical and Research Foundation
The African Medical and Research Foundation was founded in 1957, by three surgeons as the Flying Doctors Service of East Africa. Three doctors – Sir Michael Wood, Archibald McIndoe and Tom Rees – drew up a groundbreaking plan to provide medical assistance to remote regions of East Africa, where...
(AMREF), a charity working for Better Health in Africa. 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.
In 2012 Brueggergosman will be a judge on Canadian reality show Canada's Got Talent
Canada's Got Talent
Canada's Got Talent will be a Canadian reality television series set to debut on the Citytv television network in March 2012, and part of the global British Got Talent franchise ....
Performances
At age 20, Brueggergosman played the lead in the premiere of the opera Beatrice ChancyBeatrice Chancy
Beatrice Chancy is a 1999 Canadian opera. The libretto was written by George Elliott Clarke, and the music by James Rolfe.Based on Percy Bysshe Shelley's play The Cenci, which was itself based on the true story of Beatrice Cenci, the opera transplants the story from 16th century Italy to the...
by James Rolfe
James Rolfe
James Simon Rolfe is one of Canada's leading composers of contemporary music. He studied composition with John Beckwith at the University of Toronto and Jo Kondo in Japan...
and George Elliott Clarke
George Elliott Clarke
George Elliott Clarke, OC is a Canadian poet and playwright. His work largely explores and chronicles the experience and history of the Black Canadian community of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, creating a cultural geography that Clarke refers to as "Africadia".-Life:Born to William and Geraldine...
. Produced in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
in 1998, and in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
the following year, the opera tells the story of a slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
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
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
.
Brueggergosman has appeared throughout Canada, where she has performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario.-History:The TSO was founded in 1922 as the New Symphony Orchestra, and gave its first concert at Massey Hall in April 1923. The orchestra changed its name to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927. The TSO...
, Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is a symphony orchestra based in Montréal, Québec, Canada, with Montréal's Place des Arts as its home.-History:...
, the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra
Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra
The Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra is a professional orchestra based in the Community Auditorium in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It was founded on 29 November 1960 as the Lakehead Symphony Orchestra, debuting at the Lakeview High School auditorium...
and Music Director Geoffrey Moull
Geoffrey Moull
Geoffrey Moull is a professional conductor and pianist.- Education :Geoffrey Moull was born in London, Ontario, Canada and studied conducting with Kirill Kondrashin, Sergiu Celibidache and Martin Stephani...
, National Arts Centre Orchestra
National Arts Centre Orchestra
The National Arts Centre Orchestra is an orchestra in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada's capital. It is a classically-sized ensemble currently conducted by Pinchas Zukerman.-Description:Since 1998, Pinchas Zukerman has been the Music Director. Mario Bernardi C.C...
under the direction of Pinchas Zukerman
Pinchas Zukerman
Pinchas Zukerman is a world-renowned violinist, violist, and conductor. He is considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th and 21st centuries, and his ongoing 45-year career has seen him perform with the world's best-known orchestras and record over 100 works...
, and at Roy Thomson Hall
Roy Thomson Hall
Roy Thomson Hall is a concert hall located at 60 Simcoe Street in Toronto, Ontario. It is the home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Opened in 1982, its circular architectural design exhibits a sloping and curvilinear glass exterior. It was designed by Canadian...
.
She has performed internationally, as well, in the United States, Germany and other nations. She was in Elektra, Dead Man Walking, and Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
with the Cincinnati Opera
Cincinnati Opera
Cincinnati Opera is an American opera company based in Cincinnati, Ohio and the second oldest opera company in the United States .-History:...
. She has also performed the Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
Requiem
Requiem (Verdi)
The Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral mass for four soloists, double choir and orchestra. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist much admired by Verdi. The first performance in San Marco in Milan on 22 May...
with Sir Andrew Davis
Andrew Davis (conductor)
Sir Andrew Frank Davis CBE is a British conductor.Born in Ashridge, Hertfordshire to Robert J. Davis and his wife Florence J. née Badminton, Davis grew up in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, and in Watford. Davis attended Watford Boys' Grammar School, where he studied classics in his sixth form years...
and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, as well as with Helmuth Rilling
Helmuth Rilling
Helmuth Rilling is an internationally known German choral conductor, founder of the Gächinger Kantorei , the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart , the Oregon Bach Festival , the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart and other Bach Academies worldwide, and the "Festival Ensemble Stuttgart"...
at the International Beethoven Festival in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
.
In 2005, Brueggergosman was a soloist in recording William Bolcom
William Bolcom
William Elden Bolcom is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, two Grammy Awards, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. Bolcom taught composition at the University of Michigan from 1973–2008...
's Songs of Innocence and Experience
Songs of Innocence and Experience
Songs of Innocence and of Experience is an illustrated collection of poems by William Blake. It appeared in two phases. A few first copies were printed and illuminated by William Blake himself in 1789; five years later he bound these poems with a set of new poems in a volume titled Songs of...
, which won three Grammy award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s, including Best Classical Album
Grammy Award for Best Classical Album
The Grammy Award for Best Classical Album was awarded from 1962 to 2011. The award had several minor name changes:*From 1962 to 1963, 1965 to 1972 and 1974 to 1976 the award was known as Album of the Year - Classical...
.
In July 2007 she was a new performer at the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo
Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo
-Background:The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo is a show inspired by Military Tattoos given by military bands and display teams. It has taken place annually in Nova Scotia's capital, Halifax since 1979. It is the largest annual indoor show in the world. It is currently held in the Halifax...
, 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
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the SLSO is the second-oldest symphony orchestra in the United States as it is preceded by the New York Philharmonic.-History:The St...
, in their performance of Michael Tippett
Michael Tippett
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett OM CH CBE was an English composer.In his long career he produced a large body of work, including five operas, three large-scale choral works, four symphonies, five string quartets, four piano sonatas, concertos and concertante works, song cycles and incidental music...
's oratorio A Child of Our Time
A Child of Our Time
A Child of Our Time is an oratorio written by Michael Tippett between 1939 and 1941."After more than ten years of thoughtful planning, Michael Tippett summed up his musical, political, spiritual and philosophical beliefs in his first oratorio, A Child of Our Time...
.
She performed the Olympic Hymn at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Games
2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
The Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics was held on February 12, 2010 beginning at 6:00 pm PST at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This was the first Olympic opening ceremony to be held indoors...
. During NBC
Olympics on NBC
NBC Sports' coverage of the Olympic Games consists of broadcasts on the various networks of NBC Universal in the United States, including the NBC broadcast network, Spanish language network Telemundo, and many of the company's cable networks....
's broadcast of the opening ceremony, Bob Costas
Bob Costas
Robert Quinlan "Bob" Costas is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.-Early life:...
remarked to Matt Lauer
Matt Lauer
Matthew Todd "Matt" Lauer . is an American television journalist best known as the host of NBC's The Today Show since 1997. He was previously a news anchor in New York and a local talk-show host in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond...
, co-host of Today, as the two hosted it about Brueggergosman's epic performance of the Olympic Hymn: "That's a hymn for you, right there," and laughed. She performed an arrangement of the English sung version of the hymn in English and French to reflect Canada's official languages.
Awards and recognition
She was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2002 Jeunesses MusicalesJeunesses Musicales
Jeunesses Musicales International is the largest youth music NGO in the world, created in Brussels, Belgium in 1945 with the mission to "enable young people to develop through music across all boundaries"...
Montreal International Musical Competition
Montreal International Musical Competition
The Montreal International Musical Competition is a high-level musical competition for violin, piano, and voice, first established in 2002....
and won First Prize at the International Vocal Competition ´s-Hertogenbosch in 2004. Brueggergosman has been a prizewinner at other competitions, including the Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall is a leading international recital venue that specialises in hosting performances of chamber music and is best known for classical recitals of piano, song and instrumental music. It is located at 36 Wigmore Street, London, UK and was built to provide London with a venue that was both...
International Song Competition in London, the George London
George London
George London may be:*George London , Canadian operatic bass-baritone*George London *Sir George Ernest London, of the Newfoundland Commission of Government...
Foundation in New York, the Queen Sonja International Music Competition
Queen Sonja of Norway
Queen Sonja of Norway is the wife of King Harald V of Norway.-Prior to marriage:Sonja was born in Oslo on 4 July 1937 as the daughter of clothing merchant Karl August Haraldsen and Dagny Ulrichsen .Queen Sonja grew up in the district of Vinderen in Oslo and completed her lower secondary schooling...
in Oslo, and the ARD International Music Competition
ARD International Music Competition
The ARD International Music Competition is the largest international classical music competition in Germany. It is held once a year in Munich.-History:...
in Munich.
The recipient of the prestigious Canada Council
Canada Council
The Canada Council for the Arts, commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown Corporation established in 1957 to act as an arts council of the government of Canada, created to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. It funds Canadian artists and...
and Chalmers Performing Arts grants, Brueggergosman has been twice nominated for Juno Awards. She won the 2008 Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
for Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral Performance for Surprise, recorded with Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
, with whom she has an exclusive contract.
A documentary feature was made about her. Brueggergosman has also appeared as a "judge" on MuchMusic's Video on Trial
Video On Trial
Video on Trial is a Canadian comedy television program that airs on Canadian television network MuchMusic. The show consists of a panel of musicians, comedians, and entertainment columnists critiquing five different music videos in a courtroom-esque manner. The panel acts as the jurors, poking fun...
and on Slice TV's Project Runway Canada http://www.slice.ca/Shows/ProjectRunwayCanada/Profiles/guestjudge5.aspx
External links
- Measha Brueggergosman
- Measha Brueggergosman, IMG Artists