Internationally renowned Acadian soprano Suzie LeBlanc's singing career includes performances and widely acclaimed recordings with keyboardists, chamber ensembles and orchestras in new, early and traditional repertoires.
She received the Order of Canada (2015) and four honorary doctorates for her prolific performances of early music, as well as for her contribution to Acadian culture. In 2021, she was the recipient of the Prix Éloize for the most distinguished artist outside Acadia. She commissioned eleven Canadian compositions set to the poetry of Pulitzer-Prize recipient Elizabeth Bishop and recorded them on the album “I am in need of music” which won an ECMA for Best Classical Recording.
Ms. LeBlanc began her career as a well-known performer and scholar of Baroque repertoire. Residing in Europe between 1987 and 1999, she performed on main stages such as Het Concertgebouw, De Nederlandse Opera, The Vienna Konzerthaus,Wigmore Hall and the Proms in London. She toured Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, the US and South America with world leading early music ensembles. In 1998, she was invited to perform for the former president of Czechoslovakia, Václav Havel, at the Canadian Embassy in Prague.
Returning to Montreal in the year 2000, she performed with major symphony orchestras on both sides of the border. In 2005, she founded Le Nouvel Opéra, a Montreal-based company that produces baroque opera and contemporary works. Three of Le Nouvel Opéra’s productions were featured in Early Music Vancouver’s Summer Festival (2005, 2006 and 2008).
Her thirst and curiosity for new vistas led her to expand her repertoire from mainly Baroque to a full range of classical and modern, as well as improvisation. After her Mozart lieder album with the renowned conductor and pianist Yannick Nezet-Seguin, she recorded works of Olivier Messiaen, winning a Quebec Opus award for best contemporary music recording, explored the art of improvisation with the ensemble Mélosphère on the CD "Tempi con Variazioni," which won an Opus Award for best World Music. Fascinated by the music of her native land, she recorded three CDs of Acadian traditional music (ATMA). Her recordings, numbered at 70, have received international praise and several prestigious awards: a Grammy award for Lully's “Thésée” and a CINI award (Italy) for the opera "Orfeo" by Sartorio, in which she sings the leading role.
Moved by the migrations and upheavals of her Acadian ancestors, she created a multimedia performance with composer Jerôme Blais: “mouvance” unites the words of 13 contemporary Acadian poets to Blais’s original music. The pivotal project will be released as a CD in November of 2023.
In January 2021, Suzie took on the role of Artistic and Executive Director of Early Music Vancouver, where she now resides.