Spotlight - Tracy Dahl

“I started off in theatre and musical theatre, which is what I thought I would do,” says the acclaimed opera singer. “I didn’t grow up listening to Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. In my high school yearbook, my ambition was to go to Broadway, not necessarily Lincoln Center!”

After studying musical theatre at what was then the Banff School of Fine Arts, Dahl was bitten by the opera bug when she auditioned at Manitoba Opera. “They sent a notice to registered music teachers in the city, asking them to send people to audition,” she recalls. “I went in singing Gilbert and Sullivan—not opera per se—and they took me on a tour and gave me a small part on the main stage.”

She continued dipping her toes into both opera and musical theatre, rehearsing the opera during the day and performing a musical at the Manitoba Theatre Centre in the evening, which provided her the opportunity to see the differences in the two sectors of the industry. “I didn’t know you were supposed to memorize your music,” she laughs. “In musical theatre, you show up and have a read-through and a sing-through, and everyone learns it as you go. But not in opera!”

Singing with the orchestra proved to be enough of a thrill for Dahl for her to switch her career focus to opera. After performing in her last play, she headed down to San Francisco to study in its renowned opera program and found instant success in the industry, establishing herself as a highly sought-after artist on the international concert and opera stages.

A coloratura soprano, Dahl has performed with every major Canadian and many American orchestras, and has graced some of the continent’s most prestigious opera stages, including those of the Metropolitan Opera and Canadian Opera Company. In 2009, she was recognized for her contributions to the national musical scene, receiving a Ruby Award from Opera Canada.

Having performed in dozens of operas throughout the years, Dahl admits it is difficult to pick a favourite role. She cites a few of her most memorable performances as the first time she hit the stage as Maria in Daughter of Regiment and when she replaced ailing soprano Ruth Ann Swenson in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor in San Francisco, with only six hours’ notice. “I’ve always loved singing Adele (in Die Fledermaus), too,” she says. Another career highlight saw her sing on the opening night of Tales of Hoffman in her San Francisco opera debut, opposite none other than legendary tenor Placido Domingo.

But even working with some of the most famous opera singers in the world doesn’t faze the Winnipeg-raised Dahl. “One of the things that I feel comfortable with, as a performer, is getting into the character,” she says. “Generally speaking, I don’t fall into the elements of the hall or impressing. I just get into who she is at that moment.”

In recent years, Dahl has also added another role to her resume: that of university instructor. When the University of Manitoba lost its voice teacher, Dahl came on board to nurture local talent, a move she says has improved her ear tremendously. “Performing is what I do best—it’s intuitive,” she says. “Teaching is trying to find out what is intuitive in someone else—what’s best for them, what makes them tick.”

And though she continues to teach and mentor university students, her own career remains as jam-packed as ever. She recently sang in Rigoletto for the Edmonton Opera, Nixon in China for the Vancouver Opera and the world premiere of The Golden Ticket at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. This fall, she has performances scheduled across North America, including in the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s Beethoven Mass in C, followed by roles with the Canadian Opera Company and the National Arts Centre. She also has a chamber orchestra concert here in Winnipeg in the spring.

The mother of two admits it can be difficult to balance work and family while constantly on the road. But even though her voice has brought her around the world, Dahl says she will always call Winnipeg home. “I built my career while living here,” she says. “This city’s music scene has always been so rich. I hope we don’t find that in 20 years, we don’t have as rich a performing arts culture here.” With people with her level of passion at the forefront of keeping the performing arts alive and relevant, she needn’t worry about that.